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MG1: in fact, a new term needs to make its way into the American dictionary. Trump............ he's such a "Trump" = ultimate insult. Like, "yray, you're such a trump."
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Some of you may know that during the 2nd week of November, I went with my girlfriend to Las Vegas. While the trip was great, the travel experience was my worst ever. And yes, that IS saying quite a bit considering I lived in China for 5 years and had to fly domestic Chinese flights quite often...
But this one takes the cake. Below is my complaint letter to their "Customer Care" department. I am posting this letter now because I wanted to give them a chance to respond before I caused a fuss. But they've responded with some really lame, seemingly-automated-responses and have offered little explanation to what went on during our trip... So I am performing my duty as your friend to inform you of my horrible experience, so that
a) if you DO fly with them please cover your butts so you don't get screwed over like we did
b) to remind you that yes, the "worst case scenario" does and will happen when you least expect it.
I will put up Alaska Air's response in a few days.
This can take awhile to read, and I apologize for any typos, grammatical errors, and not taking the time to hold onto 'shift' everytime I typed the letter 'i'...
I am open to all feedback, whether it be supportive or critical. Maybe I'm in the wrong here and I do not mind having that pointed out to me at all. No grudge will be held, and I will definitely learn from it. I trust that my friends will always give me an honest opinion.
Please note that there are 3 parts to our story... 3 levels of incompetence from @AlaskaAir.
PART 1 - Nov.11
- Arriving 45 minutes before the flight, we decide to be safe and ask the counter attendant whether or not we should be considered for checking in ahead of other people in the long line... the counter attendant said that "everybody in this line is for that flight" and sends us to the back of the line. We wait.
- 30 minutes before our flight, Allegiant air had an employee asking for customers on a later 10:30 / 11:00 flight to jump the line and check in first. No sign of Alaska Air employee doing that for us.
- 25 minutes before our flight, Alaska Air employee finally calls out and asks us to check in in the vip line. 1 minute later, we arrive at the counter and are told that we've missed our flight. No help whatsoever, just a piece of paper in my face asking me to call reservations
- Upon calling reservations, they say that there's nothing they can do except book me on a flight to Seattle at 3pm with a 6 hour layover, which would land me in Las Vegas at 11pm that day. 1/4 of my trip gone.
-I ask how much it would be, she says "it would be a very expensive ticket sir". I ask what "expensive" exactly meant and she quotes me approximately $550. I suggest that it is too expensive, and that i will find my own way down and call them back if need be. She says ok and hangs up.
- We find a flight at 11:30am direct to LV with Allegiant Air for $200 per ticket
- Haven't even landed in Vegas yet, and already down $400 because Alaska Air employees couldn't manage time properly. This after WE IMMEDIATELY VOLUNTEERED to check in at the VIP line after we arrived at the Bellingham airport 45 minutes before flight time.
PART 2 - Nov.14
- Date of our scheduled return flight, we go check in 1.5 hours before flight time, only to be informed that we don't have a reservation for the flight.
- No help whatsoever, just a piece of paper in my face telling me to sort it out with reservations.
- 1st call to reservations: I informed the reservations rep. (I believe her name was Tiffany) and i inform her of how we had missed the flight down to Las Vegas. The reservations rep then informs me that our tickets had been cancelled because we missed that flight down from Bellingham
- I asked her how they could cancel two tickets, when we've already paid for them, WITHOUT EVEN INFORMING THE CUSTOMERS?! No email, no call, no text, no nothing. She goes on to tell me that everything else is booked for the day, that i can get onto the flight for Nov.15.. No offer to look into it, no help whatsoever.. Just asked me to STAY IN LAS VEGAS for another day and fly the next day, and, to add insult to injury, these tickets would cost me an extra $400 in total.. She suggested we could use the credit and pay an additional $100 penalty / change fee.. At this point, I'm upset and decline to fly with Alaska Air and hang up. Absolutely baffled at the lack of assistance and effort to help resolve my situation.
- Still feeling that it was absolutely unfair that our reservations were cancelled without being informed. I call back hoping to talk to a supervisor.
This time, a rep by the name of Sandra picks up. We go over the situation again, and she again informs me that there's nothing they can do, I politely ask to speak to a supervisor, and after a few minutes am transferred to Supervisor by the name of Lori.
- Lori informs me that she is aware of my situation, but there's nothing she can do for me. She suggests that a flight on Nov.15 would cost me $108 + 100 "penalty / change fee" implying that it wasn't that expensive to do switch flights. I try to reason with her that this cancellation of our tickets is unreasonable and that i have missed other flights before, for even longer and more expensive flights, but never encountered anything like this. I suggest that our flights were involuntarily denied to us and, as that piece of paper, which was put in my face twice, suggests, i am entitled to compensation. She reiterates that the cancellation of the return flight is company policy and that it is the customers responsibility to find out. So i am not entitled to compensation.
- She then tells me that "everything is on our website"...
...Can you see how ignorant and assumptive that phrase seems?? Especially coming from a SUPERVISOR??!
- I go on to ask her that if i were to get a lawyer to look at my whole booking process and find that nowhere in my itinerary and confirmation emails was there a note that informed me my return flight would be cancelled if i missed the flight down, would they be ok with that?
- Lori goes on to emphatically say "YES! WE TOTALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIND A LAWYER AND GO THROUGH ALL OF OUR POLICIES! EVERYTHING WE DO IS LEGAL!
- I can understand that Lori is confident there are no loopholes in their policies, but who in the world ASKS TO BE SUED?! I was trying to get a point across and all she did was say "yes! please find legal counsel!"
- I realize that this was not going anywhere. So i hang up with Lori
PART 3 - Nov. 14 / Nov. 15
- After realizing that all other flights to Bellingham that day were full or very expensive, we reluctantly called back to book the Alaska Air flight for Nov.15 back to Bellingham. By now, it is 2 hours after we were supposed to leave, we haven't eaten all day, I'm exhausted, so my girlfriend Michelle calls reservations this time to book the flight for the next day.
- Initially we tried to transfer the credit for our cancelled return flight to a new reservation. For some reason, the reservations rep on the other end couldn't seem to figure it out, so in exasperation, my girlfriend asks the rep to forget about our current situation and make a new reservation for us, NOv.15 flight to Bellingham. She gives her credit card number, we're told that we are charged $220 per ticket. My girlfriend asks THREE TIMES "so, our reservation for tomorrow is confirmed correct?" SHE ASKED THREE TIMES and we finally got a "yes" from the rep. We ask for a confirmation number and he tells us that it is the same one as when we made our initial booking from Nov 11 - Nov 14.. we found that odd, but if he said so, it should be ok right? right?
So we cab back to Las Vegas, find an available hotel, spend an extra $100 TO STAY ONE EXTRA NIGHT in Las Vegas. We both have committments made Nov. 15. We cancel work appointments, we cancel dinner plans. All long distance charges.
Nov.15
We again arrive at Las Vegas' brand new airport 1.5 hrs before the flight that we had booked the previous day. We check in at the counter with a fellow named KEAHI, and Keahi CANNOT FIND OUR RESERVATIONS... He asks us what our confirmation number is and we give it to him, he tells us that he can see our original reservation, but no reservations for us on Nov.15th
Now we're asking ourselves:
- So who did we talk to the day before?!
- Who was it that told us we had confirmed reservations even though we had asked 3 times?!
- What did he take our credit card number for? and what did he charge us for?!
- How does Alaska Air hire its ppl?!
We tell Keahi of our situation, and this time, somebody FINALLY has the common sense and service attitude to help us look into what is going on instead of simply shoving a piece of paper in our face and telling us to call reservations.
KEAHI tells us that he is going to the back room and call reservations to look into it...
- 20 minutes later, Keahi comes back and tells us that there really isn't anything he can do, but he can still get us on the flight that we had been expecting to board. But now, instead of the $108 + 100 change fee / penalty that we were quoted by Lori and the unknown man that made our reservations, the price for this ticket is now $220 plus the $100 change fee / penalty... that is $320 per ticket, x 2 tickets = $640 dollars extra.
Our $800 trip to vegas for 4 days and 3 nights has now become:
$800 (initial amount including air and hotel) + $400 (Allegiant air flight down) + $100 (extra night at hotel) + $640 (return flight) = TOTAL OF approximately $1,940
By this time, Keahi's supervisor, Ellen had come to look at this mess. Ellen goes on to inform us that she can only see the initial reservation of our flight which was scheduled for Nov.11 to Las Vegas and Dec.5 from Las Vegas back to Bellingham...
DECEMBER 5TH?! How did that date manage to come up?!?!
Our first assumption was that the mysterious reservations rep who we had hoped to book tickets with, for some reason changed our flight from Nov.15 to Dec. 5th. But Ellen tells us that it doesn't seem like the reservation was ever changed, meaning our initial booking had always been December 5th.
We didn't understand it, but then again, we didn't understand any of this fiasco.
We finally decided to just get home and deal with this later...
And here we are.
I'd like to point out that my girlfriend and I are civil people. At no point did we curse or scream or shout or cause a commotion. That is not how we solve problems. But believe me when I say that we are extremely frustrated, disappointed and bothered by this whole thing.
We spent an extra $1100 dollars, we were stressed out for 2 straight days, we lost income... It's not fun, and we definitely did not plan this as part of our getaway to Las Vegas for a few days.
And if possible, i would highly encourage whoever is managing the customer relations department to look up the recordings of our phone conversations with your representatives and listen for yourself to see how unhelpful your staff were, with the exception of KEAHI and ELLEN to whom we'd like to thank and express our appreciation for being patient with us and focusing on solving the problem instead of denying responsibility and just pushing us off to a 1-800 phone number.
Below is the response letter I received from Alaska Air's Customer Care Representative after my initial letter to them (which can be viewed in my last note on my wall)... Considering the issues that i brought up, this letter was absolutely unacceptable, and I let them know in my reply to them which I've also attached at the bottom.
Again, please feel free to 'share' my experience.
November 29, 2012
Dear Mr. Cheung,
I appreciated receiving your phone call regarding your recent travel experiences. By taking the time to contact us, you have given me the opportunity to assist you with your concerns.
We recommend that you check in 2 hours prior to departure to allow yourself enough time to proceed through the ticket counter line and reach your gate for boarding at least 30 minutes prior to departure. While we understand the importance of a quick, convenient check in process, there are factors that will occasionally cause long lines at the ticket counter. I apologize for any inconvenience you both experienced. I have forwarded your comments on to the Bellingham Customer Services Manager.
To suit the travel needs of a diverse customer base, Alaska Airlines offers a wide variety of fares, from value-oriented, advance-purchase fares that come with certain restrictions, to our “full flex” fares, which carry little or no restrictions. The number of tickets sold at each fare level is carefully managed by Alaska Airlines to ensure the fine balance between competitive fares that offer a good customer value and providing for a margin of profit. When it becomes necessary to change your ticket after it has initially been purchased, it is often necessary to re-price your itinerary and collect any difference in fares, should the new itinerary be of a higher cost. Additionally, many of our value fares also require a change service fee of $100.00 (USD) if your reservation is changed through our Reservations Sales Agents or Customer Service Agents, or $75.00 (USD) if changed online through alaskaair.com.
Mr. Cheung, as a customer service gesture, I am including two Discount Codes. The discount is available for your use for one year from the date of issue. Please reference the appropriate code below at the time of booking on alaskaair.com. Discount Codes do not require a pin and need to be entered in the Discount Code box at the beginning of your reservation. Complete rules and restrictions can be found online at alaskaair.com.
Allan Cheung, Discount Code xxxxxxxxxxxxx, in the amount of $75 Michelle Lee, Discount Code xxxxxxxxxxx, in the amount of $75
I hope that you will accept my invitation to join us on another flight. I'm confident that we will once again live up to your expectations.
Sincerely,
XX
~~~~
Dear XX,
Thank you for replying to my complaint. Unfortunately, your response shows no signs of investigating into the matter. The fact that you "...appreciated (my) phone call regarding (my) recent travel experiences." Shows that no care nor thought has been given to this inquiry as I had never called customer care. My complaint was in written form via Alaska Air's customer care message portal.
Once again, I'm led to question whether Alaska Air cares about customer satisfaction, and how much they are investing in the training of their customer service representatives.
Your letter nicely tries to justify the fare system of Alaska Air, but nowhere does it address how and why our return flight was cancelled without notice, which cost us approximately an extra $400 to make a separate booking for November 15th. Nowhere does it explain why our reservations for November 15th were then not booked, which led to our spending extra approximate $200 for tickets that were supposed to be booked in the first place.
Nowhere does it explain why I was greeted with an invitation to file a law suit, by a supervisor, no less. Is that how Alaska Air trains their employees? If it is, please let me know and I will stop badgering you about it and simply inform friends, family and anybody who is looking to fly Alaska Air.
Thank you again for replying, but the $75 vouchers don't nearly make up for what booking with Alaska Air has cost us in extra money spent, time lost, and stress caused. To me, your reply and the voucher is a gesture that says "Here you go, now go away". Considering it took you over a week to reply, this is disappointing.
Again, we consider ourselves fair people. We are simply expecting to be reimbursed for costs that we should not have had to incur had our original booking been honored. These costs include:
- 2 x tickets from Las Vegas - Bellingham: $640
- 1 x extra night stay at the Planet Holleywood Hotel: $100
- 2 x cab fare to and from the Las Vegas Airport - $50
Total $790 USD
Note that we have not asked for the original flight from Bellingham to Las Vegas. While we were displeased that we were not properly informed to move ahead of the line, we take responsibility for not arriving at the airport far enough in advance.
I hope that your next response will show a little more effort in looking into the matter. If it is just another attempt to avoid truly solving the problem, I'm afraid we will have to resort to telling our experience to somebody who will care, such as the US department of Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement.
People generally get upset with just one bad experience and then forever associate the brand/company as evil.
I know people who swear they'll never fly AirCanada, Westjet, Alaska, Allegiant, United, Delta, AA, etc etc etc.
I've flown them all since I fly frequently for work, and have had bad experiences with some here and there, but generally good.
Like yourself, I fly frequently for work and typically, my brand loyalty lies with any Star Alliance member.
I never had a "bad" experience with Alaska Airlines. It's just that you literally get what you pay for. Their track record for leaving and arriving on time is all over the place, and their fleet is aging. Their seats are some of the worst and they really are just a bare bones airline. There's nothing that stands out about them other than their low prices when you start comparing to the legacy airlines. If/when I'm flying to Los Angeles 30 times a year, I would like some kind of preferential treatment. Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines doesn't provide enough of an incentive for me to give them my business.
For some people, Alaska is great. But when it comes down to time and money, Alaska doesn't get my business. Sometimes, when you pay top dollar for that last minute flight, in turn, you can expect some over-the-top service but with Alaska - zilch.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Badhobz
Yeah. Typical Mainlander Barbie doll.
Her car even smelled nice. Like a mixture of luxury perfume and a hint of….. vag ? Fish sauce ? Something a bit dank
I just re-read.. the guy wants to be reimbursed for a plane ticket because he missed the flight?? Alaska was already going to put him on a later flight..but he chose to book with allegiant. Naturally the system would cancel because it doesn't know that the person was able to make it to Vegas.
Moral of story. Don't arrive at an airport late and then expect VIP service. Hard to feel sympathy for this guy. I see myself and many other travellers get very annoyed when they see other travellers wanting to cut the line just because they are late. I'm sorry, but you really can't cut to the front when you show up and your plane is about to leave when everyone else is being patient.
Another moral of the story, check in 24 hours before hand online always, and not when you arrive at the airport. That is another way to avoid 'suprises' and it sure beats waiting in line.
I don't know about in China, but in the states it's pretty much common sense to arrive at least 2 hours early for your flight... especially at bellingham when things can get a bit hectic...
all that hassle cuz OP friend wanted to save a couple bucks flying from bellingham. in the end is out of pocket. arrive 2 hours prior to flight and Fly direct from yvr to avoid all that hassle. its only 100-200 more to fly from yvr to vegas.
before everyone says 100-200 is a lot of money
you already have to pay parking and gas to bellingham and time spent on the road instead of time spent in vegas...
and your going on vacation spend that money! if you dont want to spend it dont go on vacation lol
all that hassle cuz OP friend wanted to save a couple bucks flying from bellingham. in the end is out of pocket. arrive 2 hours prior to flight and Fly direct from yvr to avoid all that hassle. its only 100-200 more to fly from yvr to vegas.
before everyone says 100-200 is a lot of money
you already have to pay parking and gas to bellingham and time spent on the road instead of time spent in vegas...
and your going on vacation spend that money! if you dont want to spend it dont go on vacation lol
my $0.02
Bellingham is like a 15 minute drive away...
In general, flying out of Bellingham will be much, much cheaper than flying out of YVR, even if you include wait times at the border. Gas is also much cheaper, so it ultimately ends up costing less to fly from there.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
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