Southwest Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

Flight # 487 out of austin to houston was delayed over and over. Everyone asked if we would make our connecting flights before we left. They promised 3 different times that everyone would make their connecting flights. Mostly everyone missed their flights. We could not take a later flight because we had tickets for an event that we are trying to get to. We are now sitting in the houston airport waiting for a flight back home. We have been here for five hours so far with another hour to go to wait on our flight. We've been trying to get a hold of customer relations and have been on hold for 1 1/2 hours. This is by far the worst customer service experience I have ever had with an airline.

We flew southwest airlines to baltimore at the end of january, 2019 with the intention of it being a round trip flight. Return flight was cancelled three times. They did not offer to place us on another airline, provide us with a hotel for the night, etc., but only claimed that cancellations were due to weather. The truth was that they had and still have internal issues with their mechanics not certifying planes to fly and thus reducing the aircraft they have available to fly and therefore cancelled flights. It cost us almost $700 to pay for an extra night stay in a hotel, an additional day of car rental, additional day of parking, additional cost of two new one way last minute tickets on another airline (which we had no problem finding alternate flights when southwest could not fly). Complaints to southwest just produced more nice customer service language and lies, but no refund.

Referring to Steve Peterson's comments, we confirm everything he said. In addition,
we would like to say that since Southwest came into business, we always heard wonderful things of people's experiences. This is why saying this is such a shock to us. We feel that the passengers were totally disrespected on this flight. The three flight attendants were not cordial, and the lead was rude, and abrasive. How does a non-people person get into a lead position on the flight crew. We don't get it. It is understood that on a non-domestic flight, there are to be no lines in the isles awaiting the rest rooms. It is one thing to ask the folks to abide by the rule, but to demand it with the threat of being escorted back to your seat was uncalled for. The other thing that stands out, there were some documents that required being filled out; however, not everyone had pens. The lead went on the PA system 5 or 6 times about getting all his "ink pens" returned, as he was sick and tired of them not being returned. I doubt there was a passenger on the flight that was not appalled by this individual. I realize that most can be trained; however, how does a non-people person get into a lead position as this. He does Southwest no favors being in this position. He might be better suited retrieving luggage, or working somewhere else.
The topper is what Steve Peterson commented on regarding this flight. The crew needed to be called out on this, and they were. So from our perspective, this lead was trying to get the mentioned passenger in trouble, and it backfired on him. Unfortunately, we have flown many of the major airlines in our time, and this was the absolute worst.

My email is Stephenie.[protected]@yahoo.com. I paid a lot of money for my one way ticket to get back in time for an event. The day if I receive a message it's delayed taking off. Ok. Then I get to the airport and it's delayed another time. Unacceptable. I want to be recompinsated for this time lost. Is it not possible to redirect another aircraft. I've never been on a flight that's been delayed twice in one day. This is unacceptable.

On February 15, 2019, We had 32 passengers in our group fly on your flight number 1999 from Punta Cana to Midway, Chicago.
The flight attendants were extremely rude and unprofessional in bullying all passengers on flight 1999.
On several occasions, the flight attendants rudely argued with several passengers aboard the flight. When the seat belt warning light was off they would not let passengers use the restrooms or stand up next to their seat. When a passenger did make it to the restroom on returning to their seat they were told not to get up again.
During this flight I never left my seat nor did I take off my seat belt. My mistake was to tell your flight attendant when she rudely screamed at the lady next to me that she was rude and unprofessional. She wanted to argue she was not and i told her I was not debating it . She then went and got the lead flight attendant and he wanted to debate it also. I repeated what I said your all rude end of conversation. You run the show I"ll just file a complaint that is when he stated He'll have security at the gate. Which he did. My were they surprised to see a 70 year old walk out.
So at this time you are being notified that I intend to take legal action on this for your rude and unbecoming behavior. i did nothing but tell your out of control flight attendants that they were rude. I have lots of witnesses that are willing to stand up with me . I also know you are receiving complaints from others on board also. so I'll be looking forward to your response on this formal complaint.

Joseph Boland
204 Sweet Tea Lane
Summerville, South Carolina 29486

[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com

On February 15, 2019, we had 32 passengers fly on your flight number 1999 from Punta Cana to Midway, Chicago. The flight attendants were extremely rude and unprofessional in bullying passengers on flight 1999. On several occasions, the flight attendants rudely argued with several passengers aboard that flight. When the seat belt warning light was off they would not let passengers use the restrooms and were outright rude to a passenger behind me and several colleagues on our flight.

At the end of the flight, they took one of the older passengers off the flight. He just complained to the lead flight attendant about the terrible treatment of all the passengers and he was singled out by this total bully. We have many witnesses to these incidents and it is imperative your CEO knows of these embracing incident. Therefore, I wrote an email to your CEO the night of the incident. Please let me know if you need any witnesses names or telephone numbers.

In closing, please call or email me so we can help your valuable company change the rude behavior and unprofessional customer service that we experienced from your flight attendants.

Thank you.

Steve Petersen
529 Tranquil Waters Way
Summerville, SC 29486

[protected]

On feb 5th 2019 flight # 253 was delayed for 2 hours due to plane problem coming from baltimore to west palm. I did not receive a text and did not know about the 2 hour delay until my wife and I were already at the airport for 2 hours. My wife and I were scheduled to be picked up at isp and go to a dinner that night but because of the delay we had to cancel. It was a family dinner and we are very family oriented people so missing that dinner was upsetting to us. We use your airline when ever we fly to florida and never have had a problem in the past. Since I intend to use your airline in the future my wife and I feel that vouchers for our next flight would be desirable. Yours truly, conrad tromba

Wow--SWA has certainly stopped caring about customer service.
First, the worst customer call experience of my was with an agent, Bronzie, who was so flippant and unhelpful--it makes me question how SWA can achieve such high NPS scores.

A flight was cancelled due to weather, I need a refund, so I called to confirm that I could still receive a refund. I had chosen an alternative, which was not acceptable (the difference between LGA and EWR is huge!), so when I called, the agent's assurance that I would receive a refund prompted me to fly with a different carrier.

I called back to confirm that I would get a refund on my card (not travel funds), and the second agent, the nice Maria, said it was a mistake and I would need to contact Customer Relations to get a refund.

Here is when I get on the phone with Bronzie and the call devolves into a condescending mess. So helpful--she decided to suggest that she read me the terms of my ticket purchase. Excuse me? Are we serious? An agent assured me a refund would come and if that was erroneous or an exception would need to be made--SWA needs to take my complaint seriously.

So, now, I am waiting for a manager call back and Bronize asked me to submit a receipt for the other carrier. Excuse me? How is this relevant? A flight was delayed due to weather and I want a refund. I got myself to LGA, on a different carrier at the approx same time as my original flight.

Now, I am miffed by an agent making a mistake but more so--I can't believe someone like Bronzie works for SWA and is allowed to speak to customers in such a rude way.

We departed Sunday afternoon, January 6, 2019, from SFO to DIA on Flight #4243. The flight was slightly delayed due to an extremely full plane and inclement weather. The issue was the way baggage was handled due to these two situations. Some of our luggage was transported on another flight, while other luggage was allowed to sit on the cart on the tarmac taking on a great deal of water. We actually saw one of our bags from the terminal sitting for an extended period of time completely uncovered in torrential rain. We had lost luggage at arrival to DIA due to the baggage that was transported on another plane. Both issues could have been handled simply by communicating the transportation issue so that we were aware once in DIA to locate the luggage differently, and by placing a tarp over any luggage that has to sit prior to loading.
Since the packed items were essentially unusable upon arrival at our destination, we were forced to clean the items or dispose of items and repurchase. I would be comfortable with a voucher for future travel to reimburse us for our time and losses.

El día 2 de enero se supone que saldríamos a las 7 am desde long islan para west Pam beach lo cual no su cedió, abordamos todo hiba bien cuando nos avisaron que el avión tenía que volver a la plataforma, porque no teníamos suficiente gasolina, lo cual demoró 1y 45 minutos dentro del avión y sin darnos mucha información no nos permitieron bajar del avión que sería lo más indicado ya que yo sufro de anciedad y me comencé a sentir muy mal al ver cómo las personas se quejaban y el aire acondicionado no funcionaba así que no fue una buena situación la que pasamos y fuera de eso, llegamos tarde a nuestra cita por la cual viajábamos así que espero alguien se contacte con migo ya que soy una viajera frecuente muchas gracias alexandra fuchs [protected]@gmail.com

Late night Southwest Airlines flight 2343 from Chicago to Louisville, KY on Thursday, October 25th, 2018 was delayed over 2 hours due to either or both mechanical or flight crew issues. We did not get to Louisville until after 1am which made a very short night and a rough-day on Friday.

Just curious if our 4 person group could receive some Drink Tickets for our next Flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in February 2019!

Best regards,

Eric Bauer cell phone [protected]
18214 Farnam Street
Elkhorn, NE 68022
Southwest Number [protected]

Patty Bauer
Southwest Number [protected]

Taking flight 614 from San Antonio to Dallas then connect to flight 2143 to Omaha. Purchased early bird option for wife since not an A list member. Flight from San Antonio delayed due to maintainence for 1.5 hr. Barely made connecting flight therefore the early bird purchase was a waste since we basically boarded group Z 60. Seems like that portion of flight should be refunded for the early bird. Will call and find out.

November 7, 2018
Southwest Public Relations
To whom it may concern,

My Name is Rebecca Lancaster and my SW Rapid Rewards number is: [protected]

I am a frequent traveler who usually travels on Southwest. On Sunday, November 4th my flight, #53 from Houston to San Diego, was canceled last minute due to weather conditions in my destination city. I have never had a problem with Southwest, and when possible, I exclusively fly with the airline, but this night was an exception.

I completely understand cancelations due to weather and understand the stress that last minute cancelations inflict on airport employees, but the treatment that I received on Sunday has given me a new, unflattering view of Southwest. I arrived on the night of Sunday, November 4 from Liberia, Costa Rica on SW flight 817. I was connecting with SW flight 53 from Houston to San Diego. The flight was delayed over an hour before it was officially canceled, and after waiting in a line for another hour to receive a new flight to get home to San Diego the employees at the Southwest desk told me that they could not get me on a flight to San Diego until Tuesday night- two days after I was originally supposed to arrive. I am a graduating College student who needed to get back to San Diego in order to take an exam and present my research the following day, so arriving on time was crucial. I asked them if they could fly me to any other nearby airports the next day. The employee said the closest they could get me was San Francisco on Monday afternoon, and that there was no way they could get me from San Francisco to San Diego. When I asked what my options were for where I could stay that night in Houston, the employee told me that I needed to find myself a hotel and that they had run out of hotel vouchers so that I should "find another passenger who would share their room with me". As a female traveling alone, this concerned me, and I left the desk discouraged and without a hotel room or a flight. I found a flight to Orange County leaving the next morning on my own and returned to the desk to see if I could switch my flight to that. Your desk employee claimed the flight didn't exist until I showed him the flight on my phone. He then switched my ticket, as well as the tickets of three other women standing behind me, to this flight. We all shared an Uber to get from Orange County to San Diego totaling $170.96/4 (receipt attached). The whole process took nearly three hours, I wasn't compensated for my hotel room or uber from Orange County to San Diego, and I was spoken to rudely by two different Southwest employees (not including the employee who told one of the women traveling with me to Orange County that finding her checked bag was not her job).

I realize this case is an exception, and that at its core Southwest is a good company with great customer service, but the cancelation and lack of assistance I received negatively impacted me financially and professionally. Should I choose to fly with Southwest again, I hope that the treatment I receive as a loyal customer surpasses this experience. I would hope you would compensate me for the hotel room and for my Uber trip as I entrusted you to get me to my destination.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Lancaster
Attachments: SW itinerary, SW Cancelation notice, Uber Receipt

18 October 2018

Southwest Airlines
P.O. box 36647-1CR
Dallas, TX
75235

Dear Customer Relations,

On Sunday, 8/12/18 we missed our flight #6083 (Conf. UY07JP) from Boston to Kansas City. Provincetown was fogged in that morning so at 9:00 a.m. that morning Cape Air gave us a cab from Provincetown to Boston. During the cab ride we used all of our electronic devices (iphones, ipads etc.) to contact Southwest to rebook. After finally reaching an agent on the phone, we were told that they could not help us and we needed to go to the Southwest departure desk at Boston. After waiting 40 minutes to approach the desk, we did this. After informing the desk agent that we had tried to re-book on the phone but were told to go the desk at Boston we were told, "You would have better luck if you called Southwest back on the phone because those agents have more computer screens than I do." We told the agent that we had already done that while travelling by cab from Provincetown to Boston, but were told to Southwest desk at Boston. The agent then told us, "The soonest I can get you out is Thursday."

Although we understand that weather can always be a factor, giving us the circular run around between the Southwest phone agents and the Southwest desk at Boston is unacceptable. Because of this, we were forced to overnight at Boston and take another airline back to Kansas City on Monday. We are both doctors and cannot leave our business unattended for 4 days!

We continue to be mostly positive about Southwest, but this experience was not pleasant one.

Thank-you for any compensation you might provide.

Dr. Thomas Edwin Garrison (Acct #[protected])
Dr. Charles Larry Sullivan (Acct #[protected])

My flight was cancelled and i called the number as instructed and was told by the customer service lady to just come to the airport as scheduled and that i would be placed on another flight also that i would recieve other updates as to what flight number and time i nwver recieved any of that and called back and was place on another flight by the other agent and was told that i was given miss information on the 1st call which then made me unable to get another none stop flight and i had to leave out another city and airport there was also and hour wait to talk to someone on the 1st phone call and a 2 hour wait the 2nd

On August 21 2018 I was leaving Las Vegas McCarran Airport my flight was scheduled to leave at 0800. Around 0700 I went to take my luggage to the ticket counter. I went to the handicap area of the Ticket Counter so I didn't have to stand in the main line. I have a major injury on my left foot which was a crushed ankle and open compound fracture I still have to use hardware and a brace due to my foot having weak bones and high arthritis which causes my foot heavy pain and where I have to sit down or lean to raise my foot off the ground. This in hand causes me to put my full weight on my right foot that after a few minutes of standing causes pain in it also. I can send pics of my foot injury and the surgeries that were required to help make me stand again. Anyways back to when I was standing in the Handicap area there was no others in front of me. The lady that works for Southwest airlines ticket area looked at me and said can I help you. I started to move forward and then she said the Full service area is over there this is for handicap people only. I looked at her and said I know I have a bad left leg and a brace on it you can see I can't stand for a prolong of time and can't make it waiting in that line. She then told me well you look fine to me so go to the full service area I am not going to help you. I said mam I am a disabled Vet and I can't stand in that line my leg will give out. Again she told me to go to the full service line. I then told her what ever and left the handicapped area I proceeded to go and stand in line. When I walked to the full service line another Southwest employee was standing there. I asked her to get me a supervisor I have a complaint to tell him or her about. She left to find a supervisor as I stood there leaning on your post that barley was able to hold my weight up. These are the post where you have your lines made with detachable and retractable belt barriers. Your post was very movable and I had to push making your post lean so it would be steady enough to hold my weight. By the time the supervisor talked to me I told him everything that happened and asked him why I was not allowed to use the handicapped area when I am a disabled Vet and have a brace on my left foot. He asked me if I was in the wheel chair waiting area and talked to the girl there. I told him no I was in your handicap area where you see the sign and I pointed. And that I talked to the girl dressed the same way as the workers are in front of me. He told me I can go down there but I was next to be seen and declined. So he went to talk to the individual that told me she would not accept me in her line as she seen no disability I might have even know I am wearing a brace given by the VA for my damage foot/leg.

(2nd )Incident

When finally done with front counter episode my foot was hurting super bad so had to sit down for a while and my fiancee was with me I told her to go ahead of me I will be there in a few. She gave me my ticket to get through screening so she left and went to the area to wait for the plane. I finally was able to get moving again after the pain calmed down enough to tolerate the rest of the walking and going through TSA. Well had to go through the xray machine and of course it hit on my hardware and brace of my foot. So after the xray part I had to be fully patted down so my backpack they went through physically even know it made it through xray. And again had to lean on a counter so they can hand pat me down. After that my time was going fast for my plane to leave so quickly looked at my ticket. And being I need glasses to read small print I seen B 12 on my ticket so thought that was my gate I needed. I walked down and was only a few minutes from my flight leaving so I did't see B 12 but seen B 11 so I stopped at the Southwest counter and asked her where B 12 was. She looked at my ticket and said no your B 21 all the way at the end of the walk way B 12 is your seating area. I then asked her if she could call down there and let them know I am on my way as I am handicapped and can't move fast to catch my plane. The lady looked at me and said you better run I am not calling anyone. I said mam I am disabled and can't run and I was held up at TSA for my brace and hardware in my leg. She then said well better get going now and maybe you can catch a ride with one of the people driving the little carts around. I said what ever again this is the 2nd time I have been discriminated against with Southwest Airlines. I had to call my fiancee and tell her I was almost there and am in pain as they would not call to hold the plane for me. She then told me the plane was late and I can sit down when I get there that was the only relief I heard that was good for me.

PS. I made complaint when I made it home from Sea Tac Airport by phone and was told it would take approx 30 days before I would hear something. I never heard anything and called back on Sept 21st just to find out they lost my complaint I made back in August. I was not happy at all so they offered to take my complaint again and offered me a 100.00 love voucher which was supposed to come to my email that day. I have checked my email my spam and trash to this date NO Love Voucher. I will be calling them again tomorrow the 24 Sept. 2018 but found this site to make a complaint from so trying this way also.

I was flying from Providence RI to Orlando 9/21/2018. I decided to pay the $40 to upgrade my flight. The agent charged me for a complete new ticket. The agent realized what they had done and refunded it to my debit card. The problem is that was all the money I had to eat for the week and I was told it would take up to 5 working days to get my money back. I called the bank and they said the the airlines could send them a release and the money would be released immediately. I called the consumer affairs department of Southwest Airlines and they said it was out of their control and Bank of America would have to release the funds...they would not even try to get it released. Pretty pathetic that your company creates the problem and will NOT work to get the problem resolved. How would you feel if it were your Mother and she had no money for the week because through no fault of your own your money could not be used. I know when I go to a store and they refund to my card it is there instantly...YOU SHOULD NEVER BE HOLDING ON TO MY MONEY FOR YOUR MISTAKE! I will also be filing a complaint with the banking commission.

on 9/1 we took a family vacation first one with our grandson who is 7 months old we flew from ft Lauderdale to lax with a stop at dallas, flight 3845 we checked in the stroller when we arrived to Los Angeles it was completely destroyed, wheels were crushed the foam from the seat was sticking out, this is a $400.00 stroller and we went to the customer service dept and spoke to the supervisor who's lack of caring and trying to help was worthless, his only comment was they can't do anything about it, they should have offer to reimburse us for it. My daughter and I were so hurt that we started crying at the lack of care in his part and knowing that we had a baby with us and no stroller. We left the stroller at the airport in there office. I would have thought that knowing that this is something a baby needs that more care would have gone to handling the stroller and more empathy from the part of customer service to make this a better situation. we are truly disappointed in the service. we have always flown with your airline and at my office we also fly with your airline but now after this horrible experience we will no longer be flying with your airline. again, a reimbursement should have been given to us. thank you

I have been a customer of Southwest Airlines for many years. During that time I have always admired and been appreciative of the customer service extended to me in every aspect of their operation. It has been exceptional. Their representatives have clearly demonstrated their commitment to providing their customers with the most understanding, competent service. They have shown flexibility in taking into consideration the needs of customers and in making adjustments to allow for customer satisfaction. The core values of Southwest Airlines is stated as dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company spirit..
It is with huge disappointment that I am now faced with one particular agent in Customer Relations, Anna Christiansen, Dallas headquarters, who not only refused to consider my situation but also neglected to follow up with a call following her consultation with another person in her department. I called back to 855 234 4154 extension 5 in an attempt to discussion my situation further. The situation was that in order to keep my Rapid Rewards I had booked a flight within the window of time given by the airline reward department, every 24 months. I did not realize that booking and paying for a flight was not sufficient to keep my rewards account active that it had to be a flight taken within the 24 month period. I e planked to Anna that the website is very ambiguous as to this being an expectation and further that I had talked to an agent in July about the requirements and that he had not specified the flight taken was a requirement. Based so, sly on not being able, if she even looked, pull up this phone called, she flatly denied my request to have my reward points reinstated. When I asked to speak to a team leader she refused my request. When I asked for email addresses for CEO Gary Kelly, Vp Jim Ruppel, Kayla Thompson she refused stating that she did not feel comfortable doing that. Anna had previously stated that she would send an email to Kayla Thompson to get in touch with me but later in the conversation reminded that offer and denied that she had said it. I requested Kayla Thompson's phone contact and Anna said it was the number that I had called when I reached her today and I could only speak with Kayla if, "she happened to answer the phone for 855 234 4654. I requested the address of Southwest headquarters in Dallas. Her response was that it was a secure building and only employees could enter.After muchvstruggling I did get the address, Everything I requested, Anna blocked. I asked the value of 23 000 rapid reward points. She refused to tell me saying she felt uncomfortable with this request. This is not the Southwest Airlines that I know. It is not the Southwest Airlines that I promoted with my clients and friend saying that it the best airline that I know. Any assistance would be so appreciated. I feel totally abandoned with no avenues for a resolution.