Southwest Airlines, a recent problem I encountered on a flight last weekend

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Mike
Are you trying to say he was profiling you? Are you of middle eastern descent?

Well, that is one possibilty I've come up with.

I just don't understand why everyone else was allowed to board the plane with the same size carryon with no problems and I was told to have my baggage checked.

There are a few possibilities here:

Either the employee:

a) Was not aware of Southwest's carryon specification policy (which I highly doubt is the case)

b) Read my last name and recognized it as being middle eastern

c) Looked at me and recognized some middle eastern characteristics (another possibility which I highly doubt because I look straight up white.)

d) Was just having a bad day and decided to take it out on me assuming I wouldnt argue.

Its hard to tell, especially for us since we wern't there. As suggested already, you should have got management involved. I don't think wasting money on a lawyer will help you out.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Genx87
Tell them to get a manager and waste their time. If you met their exact website specs they wont have much to stand on.

I find in the airline industry you either meet really nice people, or complete a-holes. There doesnt appear to be a middle ground. They also have this superiority complex that they are somehow doing you a favor for you flying with them.

So what should I do at this point. It's Thursday now, and this happened on Tuesday. I have prepared a letter for an official compaint, but Im wondering if there's more I should be doing about this like contacting a lawyer.

contact your lawyer?! wtf?! you're such an american...

Normally I would never go forth or even think of going forward with that, but in this case, the more I think about it, the more it just didn't seem right.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: mugs
Racial profiling was my first thought, unless there is more to the OP's story than he's telling us. Carry-on sized bags are pretty much all the same size... I don't know why they'd pick one out for the hell of it. Unless the bag was overstuffed, or he had more than one carry-on + one personal item, then there must be more to this story than we know.

yeah, but then i realized i was profiling him by assuming he was white because of his avatar.

 

[eits]

i never dealt much with racial profiling back home (maryland)... bwi was always a good airport for me. the midwest, however, is a completely different story.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Genx87
Tell them to get a manager and waste their time. If you met their exact website specs they wont have much to stand on.

I find in the airline industry you either meet really nice people, or complete a-holes. There doesnt appear to be a middle ground. They also have this superiority complex that they are somehow doing you a favor for you flying with them.

So what should I do at this point. It's Thursday now, and this happened on Tuesday. I have prepared a letter for an official compaint, but Im wondering if there's more I should be doing about this like contacting a lawyer.

contact your lawyer?! wtf?! you're such an american...

Normally I would never go forth or even think of going forward with that, but in this case, the more I think about it, the more it just didn't seem right.

you'll be wasting your time, man... just bitch at swa until they give you something and an apology.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Mike
Are you trying to say he was profiling you? Are you of middle eastern descent?

Well, that is one possibilty I've come up with.

I just don't understand why everyone else was allowed to board the plane with the same size carryon with no problems and I was told to have my baggage checked.

There are a few possibilities here:

Either the employee:

a) Was not aware of Southwest's carryon specification policy (which I highly doubt is the case)

b) Read my last name and recognized it as being middle eastern

c) Looked at me and recognized some middle eastern characteristics (another possibility which I highly doubt because I look straight up white.)

d) Was just having a bad day and decided to take it out on me assuming I wouldnt argue.

Its hard to tell, especially for us since we wern't there. As suggested already, you should have got management involved. I don't think wasting money on a lawyer will help you out.

Well, unless people suggest I should, I won't take it that far. I will indeed be sending my letter of complaint and I demanded an explanation from Southwest. Besides the letter, I will inform others and share with them this experience.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Mike
Are you trying to say he was profiling you? Are you of middle eastern descent?

Well, that is one possibilty I've come up with.

I just don't understand why everyone else was allowed to board the plane with the same size carryon with no problems and I was told to have my baggage checked.

There are a few possibilities here:

Either the employee:

a) Was not aware of Southwest's carryon specification policy (which I highly doubt is the case)

b) Read my last name and recognized it as being middle eastern

c) Looked at me and recognized some middle eastern characteristics (another possibility which I highly doubt because I look straight up white.)

d) Was just having a bad day and decided to take it out on me assuming I wouldnt argue.

Its hard to tell, especially for us since we wern't there. As suggested already, you should have got management involved. I don't think wasting money on a lawyer will help you out.

Well, unless people suggest I should, I won't take it that far. I will indeed be sending my letter of complaint and I demanded an explanation from Southwest. Besides the letter, I will inform others and share with them this experience.

:thumbsup:

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Genx87
Tell them to get a manager and waste their time. If you met their exact website specs they wont have much to stand on.

I find in the airline industry you either meet really nice people, or complete a-holes. There doesnt appear to be a middle ground. They also have this superiority complex that they are somehow doing you a favor for you flying with them.

So what should I do at this point. It's Thursday now, and this happened on Tuesday. I have prepared a letter for an official compaint, but Im wondering if there's more I should be doing about this like contacting a lawyer.

A lawyer?

That seems a bit excessive, how about just sending that letter to them and seeing how things pan out from there?

 

[torpid]

Did you hear a female chuckling nearby? If so it might have been your GF playing a prank on you.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
I was leaving for Chicago from Baltimore on Saturday, July 29. I never like to check baggage, so I checked Southwest's carryonon specifications. I packed in a bag that met those specs. At the Baltimore terminal, I was able to board the plane for CHicago with no problems. However, at Chicago, leaving for Baltimore, the boarding pass Southwest employee would not let me board the plan without checking my baggage. He said that the baggage was too big and it needed to be checked. The bag met the exact specs of carryon baggage on Southwest's website, yet this employee refused to allow me to board without checking it. Before approaching this employee, I watched at least twenty people board with carryon baggage as big or larger than mine without any problems or comments by this employee. Yet, when he refused to let me carryon my bag because it was "too big." With many people waiting behind me, I complied and let him check the baggage. Once on the plane, I watched more people, nearly every passenger carry on baggage that was either the same size or larger and load it overhead.

Another issue worth mentioning is that when I arrived back in Baltimore, and I located and found my checked baggage, it was stained with a black residue, yet another reason why I always carryon my baggage.

I wrote an official complaint to Southwest.

I just wanted to share and inform you all of this issue with Southwest.

That sucks...hope it wasn't expensive luggage.

Your complaint will likely fall on deaf ears though. You'll be lucky if you get a standard apology letter.

At least you didn't do something stupid like cause a scene and get yourself arrested. :thumbsup:

 

[Dunbar]

You should write a letter, but I doubt you'll get much more than a form letter apology (if that.) You chose to board the plane and get a decent seat rather than ask to speak to a supervisor. Now it's your word against the gate agent, and the incident happened days ago. If it really bothered you than you should have asked to speak to a supervisor and pointed out that your bag was no bigger than the other passengers who were allowed to carry on their bags. It does suck if they applied the rules differently to you but none of us were there. As for the motivation being racial that's pure speculation on your part so drop it, and certainly don't mention it in the letter. You have absolutely no basis for a lawsuit, it would be a complete waste of the courts time.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: torpid
Did you hear a female chuckling nearby? If so it might have been your GF playing a prank on you.

LOL You be quiet

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
I was leaving for Chicago from Baltimore on Saturday, July 29. I never like to check baggage, so I checked Southwest's carryonon specifications. I packed in a bag that met those specs. At the Baltimore terminal, I was able to board the plane for CHicago with no problems. However, at Chicago, leaving for Baltimore, the boarding pass Southwest employee would not let me board the plan without checking my baggage. He said that the baggage was too big and it needed to be checked. The bag met the exact specs of carryon baggage on Southwest's website, yet this employee refused to allow me to board without checking it. Before approaching this employee, I watched at least twenty people board with carryon baggage as big or larger than mine without any problems or comments by this employee. Yet, when he refused to let me carryon my bag because it was "too big." With many people waiting behind me, I complied and let him check the baggage. Once on the plane, I watched more people, nearly every passenger carry on baggage that was either the same size or larger and load it overhead.

Another issue worth mentioning is that when I arrived back in Baltimore, and I located and found my checked baggage, it was stained with a black residue, yet another reason why I always carryon my baggage.

I wrote an official complaint to Southwest.

I just wanted to share and inform you all of this issue with Southwest.

That sucks...hope it wasn't expensive luggage.

Your complaint will likely fall on deaf ears though. You'll be lucky if you get a standard apology letter.

At least you didn't do something stupid like cause a scene and get yourself arrested. :thumbsup:

Yea, well like I said earlier, the luggage isnt really the issue Im angry with. That kind of thing can be expected when you check your luggage. The fact that I was refused the right to bring it on is a problem for me. I do want an explanation and I did state that in the letter.

The reason I did not turn it into a big public scene was because there were about 100 people me waiting to get on the plane, and I just figured I would deal with it formally afterwards instead of possibly causing more trouble. I've heard how crazy airport security can be.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Dunbar
You should write a letter, but I doubt you'll get much more than a form letter apology (if that.) You chose to board the plane and get a decent seat rather than ask to speak to a supervisor. Now it's your word against the gate agent, and the incident happened days ago. If it really bothered you than you should have asked to speak to a supervisor and pointed out that your bag was no bigger than the other passengers who were allowed to carry on their bags. It does suck if they applied the rules differently to you but none of us were there. As for the motivation being racial that's pure speculation on your part so drop it, and certainly don't mention it in the letter. You have absolutely no basis for a lawsuit, it would be a complete waste of the courts time.

I didn't mention it in the letter. My exact words were:

"Your employees should be made aware of and honor your carryon policy as stated on your website. This specific employee was either not aware of your carryon policy or there was another motive behind his actions towards me."

Im not throwing the race card in there, but it is something I speculate.

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
...I needed to return a day early, so I asked them if I could change my flight to a day earlier. Sure they said, no problem. Same flight number and time as it runs every day, plenty of seats available, that'll be $400. What?? I had already paid for a round trip ticket and this was the same freaking flight a day earlier. Why was it an additional $400?

No airline allows you to leave a day early, or go standby a day early, unless you are on a full fare ticket. Sure an agent may take pity on you and allow it, just like some airlines occasionally give free upgrades, but it is not standard practice. The only fare available the day before departure would have been a full fare ticket (which is actually reasonable on Southwest compared to what the legacy carriers charge.) At least Southwest doesn't charge you a $100 change fee plus they allow you to apply the value of your ticket to a future purchase if you have to cancel for some reason. I think your expectations are unreasonable.

 

[JulesMaximus]

They'll probably just say that they reserve the right to check any carry on baggage due to limitations on size of the aircraft and based on how full the flight is. It may have been something as simple as them asking every 5th or 10th person the check their bag so that they wouldn't delay the plane by letting everyone on with their bags and then realizing that there wasn't enough overhead space for all the bags.

I've been on flights were some of my carry on bags were allowed on the first flight but I was asked to check it on the next one. This isn't uncommon.

I would just let it go.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
They'll probably just say that they reserve the right to check any carry on baggage due to limitations on size of the aircraft and based on how full the flight is. It may have been something as simple as them asking every 5th or 10th person the check their bag so that they wouldn't delay the plane by letting everyone on with their bags and then realizing that there wasn't enough overhead space for all the bags.

I've been on flights were some of my carry on bags were allowed on the first flight but I was asked to check it on the next one. This isn't uncommon.

I would just let it go.

I will let it go after I send them the letter. I do wish to get some kind of explanation or apology, but I wont be running to my mailbox everyday.

The whole point of the letter, whether they take it seriosuly or not, is that the situation happened, and a customer was angry about it and that they know that I will share it with other people. With that said, hopefully they will acknowledge it and do their best to not let it happen to anyone else.

I will give you guys an update if I get a response.

 

[Winchester]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
I'll never fly Southwest again. I'd rather take a rickshaw cross country than give those thieves another dime of my money.

Wow, you're the first person I've heard that has that big of a problem with SWA.

My problem with SW:

Went Connecticut to Houston. It was Tuesday to the following Thursday. Something came up and I needed to return a day early, so I asked them if I could change my flight to a day earlier. Sure they said, no problem. Same flight number and time as it runs every day, plenty of seats available, that'll be $400. What?? I had already paid for a round trip ticket and this was the same freaking flight a day earlier. Why was it an additional $400? The CS/ticket agent started making stuff up, saying that since I was leaving early I didn't qualify for the rate where you have to stay over a weekend. I did. He claimed I had used a special discount coupon that required that EXACT itinerary. I didn't. He claimed that the Tuesday-to-following-Wednesday trip was a different price than the Tuesday-to-following-Thursday round trip. It wasn't, I showed him right there on their website. I asked for a supervisor. Got supervisor, she started making up the same excuses. How dumb does a person need to be to try the "Tuesday-to-following-Wednesday doesn't include the stay over a weekend discount"??? Got told to take it to the corportate offices. Took it to the corporate offices, got told to f**k off.

Moving your flight ahead can be seen as buying a new ticket and unless you do it two weeks ahead of schedule then they can charge the full amount for the ticket. Any change will most likely end up with a $50 charge.

You can however try to fly stand-by for free if you already have the ticket, but there are no promises.

 

[brtspears2]

I'm just pissed that when I board the plane and somehow there are seats avaliable but no more overhead bin space.

One time, SWA flight from San Jose to Ontario, originated from Portland, the person next to me felt it was ok to use the space in front of my seat for her makeup caddy. Southwest is a good airline, but with any organization, there are going to be inconsistancies. You just have to deal with it.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I'm just pissed that when I board the plane and somehow there are seats avaliable but no more overhead bin space.

One time, SWA flight from San Jose to Ontario, originated from Portland, the person next to me felt it was ok to use the space in front of my seat for her makeup caddy. Southwest is a good airline, but with any organization, there are going to be inconsistancies. You just have to deal with it.

I hate that too, but if everyone on the flight has a carry-on bag there won't be room. The problem is, for some reason they let people on with two items that are clearly too large to fit under their seat (i.e. a standard carry-on bag and a garment bag), or even if one item will fit under the seat the person sticks it in the overhead compartment anyway. But people are inconsiderate. Business travellers are the worst, because they try to get by with no checked luggage at all. When my wife and I travel we have well over $5000 worth of camera equipment and two laptops in our carry-on bags, so there's no way in hell they're going to get me to check that!

Then there's the idiots who put their bags in parallel to the aisle when the size restrictions are set specifically so you can fit them in perpendicular to the aisle (at least on a decent sized plane).

I hope you made the lady move her makeup case.