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Loading ...Today started out allright, much like any other day, waking up to the annoying sound of my cell phone going off telling me something, somewhere is DOWN! Blech, I hate down, I just HATE it!
Today was supposed to start out my Christmas holiday/vacation, something I’m desperately in need of. What happened instead? Well, let me just say that I thought my return trip from Seattle was bad, this just takes the damn cake.
So, flight time was at 1235. Tony runs me to the airport , we get there a bit later than I like to (1045), but still in PLENTY of time to catch the flight. Or do we?
First thing I do (natural to me now), is find the desk and try to check my stuff in. But WAIT, there’s nobody THERE!! Huh, where’s the staff?
Pretty soon, the line behind me begins to fill up, and I mean fill up. There’s like 30 people in line, and we all want service. Still, where’s the staff?
FINALLY, about 1130, someone decides to grace us with their presence. I check in for my flight, still well ahead of schedule, with an hour to go. Yes, an hour. I allow for these kinds of misgivings at airports to a degree.
So, I sit down, patiently wait the hour to check into security (apparently, someone’s decided that we can’t even get into the terminal until just before we depart). Around 1230, it’s clear the plane isn’t outside, so I get back in line, wait another 15 minutes and finally get someone to look at the issue. Her response:
I’m sorry, but the plane hasn’t left Minneapolis yet, we don’t have flight attendants.. Umm, WTF? This is about THE stupidest shit I’ve ever heard of. You don’t have the staff for flights that were booked OVER a month ago? Okay, great, so when’s the next flight?
Well, they’re not certain, when the plane will arrive, they just have no clue.
Now, if I was taking a nonstop, I wouldn’t care, I’d just be like whatever and get it done. HOWEVER, I’m supposed to catch a flight in Minneapolis going BACK to Seattle at 235. Will I make that flight? Everyone agrees no, I won’t. SO, when’s the next flight?
The next flight is at 435. I ask if the plane will get us there in time for that, and the attendant says probably not. If it DID, I’d have to be routed through Dallas just to go to Seattle, and there’s a good chance that I’d miss that connection as well. Goody goody gumdrops! The next flight afte that? Sometime later, much later.
So, why all the hubub, I’m just going to Seattle, right?
Actually, no I’m not. I had a bus to catch in Seattle at 11p, going to Spokane, back to visit my grandmother over there. Since there was NO way in hell I was going to make that trip, I just bagged it all.
Now, what fucking incompetent overbooked, or underscheduled people? This is just absolutely ridiculous! To think that I’d end up sitting in Dallas on Christmas, or Detroit, rather than where I PAID to go (Seattle) is just fucking absurd. To think that the individuals behind this actually did this DELIBERATELY , again, is just absurd. The fact that I have to eat a 15% cost because of some jackasses screwups is just 100% completely fucking ABSURD!
What the hell is wrong with the customer service industry? Have you people forgotten the BASICS of customer service? Do you not CARE that your business is run to shit because you refuse to do things the proper way?
My god, this is just a complete and total joke. What the hell ever happened to being "on time" and actually staffing people correctly. Management? Yeah right, that’s MANAGEMENT allright, it’s flat out outrageous. You mismanage your flights and crew to the degree that people are left waiting in the airport for 6 hours because you don’t fucking CARE, yet you go home to your big houses and celebrate with your families when the *censored* ever you please. *censored* YOU NWA STAFF!
Incompetence apparently has taken the place of management here. Yes, I said fucking incompetence, because that is exactly what you are, *censored*ING INCOMPETENT! If you can NOT deliver, do NOT promise to do so! What the bloody hell ever happened to that oh so simple piece of logic? Apparently it never existed.
2 Comments
December 24th, 2004 at 5:07 pm
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing
When I was sitting there, at the airport, getting ready to leave, I talked to people who had been there since 7am, WAITING for a flight out. This isn’t ridiculous, it’s damn incompetence. 6 hours at an airport, all because someone didn’t want to go to work today?
There is no way in hell I’ll EVER fly NWA. Their incompetence cost me 15% of my ticket fee (even though it was THEIR fault, I still have to pay this dumbass fee), PLUS a $63 greyhound ticket (nonrefundable, due to the date that it was supposed to be used), as well as a ton of other stuff. Incredibly stupid and irresponsible.
December 27th, 2004 at 5:01 pm
Sooo,
First thing this morning I’m on the phone with these guys. Talk about incredibly drawn out and a BIG pain in my ass.
First call:
I spoke with a representative in the "refunds" department. Her words were that refunds take 7-10 days to get out. My words were, obviously screw that. I explained that this was paid instantly and needed to be refunded just as instantly. She said she’d have the refund ready to go tonight and would have it out tomorrow as soon as she got the paperwork from W’loo . Good, so ONE hurdle passed.
In doing this, I also mentioned that I expected my greyhound ticket to be refunded. She gave me the CS # and said good luck, as they were swamped all day.
First call to them, I got the typical "we can not take your call right now, we are swamped" message. So, I kept calling back, and back, and back, and back, and back. I started at 10 this morning and finally got ahold of someone around 3 this afternoon.
Being a worldperks member (NWA’s elite, or exclusive club), I figured I’d get some sort of treatment, better than the typical brush off. Do I? Well, no.
As soon as I explained the issue to the person on the other end of the phone (that I wanted a refund for a trip which THEY cost me), she started arguing with me about it. Not good, and I knew this was a losing battle. She put me on hold, and as soon as she returned, this was her statement.
Because of the fact that this was due to staffing problems related to the weather (huh??), we can’t help you out here.
Sooooooooo, the weather affects their staffing now? Oh yes, it’s snowing so nobody can drive the 50 blocks to work! Jesus fucking Christ!! It wasn’t even SNOWING in Minneapolis, that is NWA’s HUB, they HAVE employees there, they just refused to call them in, plain and fucking simple.
So, I tell her where to stick her airline, quite literally. She refused to reimburse me the funds that that airline cost me, tripwise, and I will NOT accept that kind of treatment from any organization at all.
Good news?
I THINK (think) I get my entire airline ticket refunded. Will know by the end of the week, definitely.
Bad News?
I’m out the $63 that I spent on greyhound because these fucking jackasses don’t know how to manage a goddamn company, much less an airline.
The long and short:
That was their last chance. HAD they been respectful, courteous and understanding, I would have GLADLY given them another chance. HOWEVER, they were beyond respectful, beyond courteous, they were the complete opposite of BOTH, and as such deserve absolutely no more of my funds. If I have to catch a fucking CAB from now on to the Cedar Rapids airport, I will, just to prove a point. I will NOT fly NWA any longer, no way, no how.