Bad experience with Airtran!--long

[Disneyhappy]

There is no excuse for rudeness to customers in any industry. If managed the right way, a company rep should be able to calm down the irate customer. Unhappy customers mostly want to vent, have someone listen, and provide a reasonable response that shows them respect. Ex., "I understand your frustration. I would also be frustrated in your position. I just called and they said they are still working on the problem, but I will call back again in 5 minutes for a status." Does this work for everyone - no, but at least it is being respectful to the customer base. I would be less likely to walk away mumbling a curse under my breath in those circumstances where I was treated with respect.

Other than the rude behavior, I find the other issues no to be an uncommon occurrence. Everytime I fly US Air into Phila, the wait for the luggage is at least 30 minutes but usually 45- 60 minutes. I have no idea why but I hate flying US Air into Phila. Otherwise, I love US Air but reserve flying them for business when necessary. I also fly Airtran frequently and have never had any problems so far but I'll keep my fingers crossed!

To the OP- I would defintiely follow up to someone towards the top in Air Tran.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

There are often threads posted here from disgruntled airline passengers stating, "I'll never fly XXX airlines again!" and relating a "horrible" experience. These are usually from infrequent flyers who think that flying is a stress free experience. It isn't!

Flights are often delayed and cancelled, luggage is lost or damaged, your assigned seat is given to someone else, airline personnel are rude or misinformed or outright lie to passengers, other passengers are rude, the plane is dirty, your baggage takes an hour or more to offload, etc., etc. etc. It happens EVERY day on EVERY airline.

When these things happen, you just have to take a deep breath and not lose your temper, which isn't going to help anything. And you'll be teaching your kids how to behave in a mature manner, so they won't grow up to behave as the Air Tran baggage employee did (or the OP's husband).

 

[plutolovr]

Just jumping in here. Like someone said if you travel frequently, you know things happen that are out of your control. If getting your child home at a decent hour was a priority, you should have booked an earlier flight home. Delays and such do happen, and I find them more often than not on later flights.

 

[dudspizza]

There are often threads posted here from disgruntled airline passengers stating, "I'll never fly XXX airlines again!" and relating a "horrible" experience. These are usually from infrequent flyers who think that flying is a stress free experience. It isn't!

Flights are often delayed and cancelled, luggage is lost or damaged, your assigned seat is given to someone else, airline personnel are rude or misinformed or outright lie to passengers, other passengers are rude, the plane is dirty, your baggage takes an hour or more to offload, etc., etc. etc. It happens EVERY day on EVERY airline.

When these things happen, you just have to take a deep breath and not lose your temper, which isn't going to help anything. And you'll be teaching your kids how to behave in a mature manner, so they won't grow up to behave as the Air Tran baggage employee did (or the OP's husband).

Well said.

 

[traci]

I am sorry this happened. I bet if the Airtran staff had been friendly and helpful you wouldn't have been as sore. Isn't is amazing how far a little kindness will go?

 

[Esmerelda]

Supervisors behavior.....NOT ACCEPTABLE.....

I work in emergency medicine....I have had drunks...druggys...you name it in my face over the years and been called names even my children would shudder at and I have never once acted like this man. I would definitely report him...oh and by the way...most airports have security cameras...I'm sure he was caught on tape somewhere in that airport. You might want to bring that up to Airtran.

keep us posted,
Esmerelda

 

[seashoreCM]

In your letter, ask for compensation. I would think $150. would be appropriate for the belligerent supervisor situation.

The primary purpose of asking for compensation here is "to make heads upstairs roll".

At the very least some employee will have to write a personal letter denying the compensation as opposed to push a button and a computer generated letter with an apology goes out in the mail.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[bavaria]

I've been biting my tongue since you first posted this, but this thread has brought me out of retirement.

I fail to see where Airtran performed in a manner which should result in compensation.

The flight attendant advised you where to place the car seat - they are primarily responsible for passenger safety and were doing their job (regardless of the fact that the first FA didn't do his/her job by moving the car seat to a window seat)

The luggage took an hour to arrive - not always the fault of the airline, but often the airport and baggage handlers. I fly almost every week and 45-60 minutes is usual at my home airport.

Your husband called a staff member a bad name, and the staff member responded. Neither showed good judgement

Your luggage experienced 'normal wear and tear' and you want compensation.

I will admit that none of us were travelling with you, and are probably not in a position to judge, so I am trying to remain objective. I am sorry if I sound hard and unsympathetic, but as others have already posted, you simply experienced some of the realities of airline travel. If everyone in your situation requested compensation the airlines would be struggling even more than they already are struggling.

Sadly many here expect fares of $39-89 and are surprirsed when they receive service reflective of that fare.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI: many airlines don't bother to spell out the rules re: carseat positioning on their websites, and even gate agents often don't know that it is a rule until I invite them to look it up. FA's are often the ONLY airline employees who know the carseat rules chapter and verse.

The rule re: putting carseats in the window position is an interpretation of an FAA regulation that says that carseats may not be positioned where they might impede egress in the event of an emergency. Most airlines interpret this as "no place where anyone would have to crawl over it to get out", therefore, the window position. Delta is a bit of an exception; they apparently feel that it is OK for a child's parent or sibling to have to crawl over the seat, so they sometimes will allow it to be placed in the center seat as long as the passenger in the window seat is part of the same party.

 

[safetymom]

I agree with those that say you have to relax and realize that things happen when you are flying. I also don't see where you are due any compensation. There is usually signs on the baggage carousel that mentions damaged luggage. It is all part of flying and sometimes things happen.

We also don't know the other side of this story.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

There are often threads posted here from disgruntled airline passengers stating, "I'll never fly XXX airlines again!" and relating a "horrible" experience. These are usually from infrequent flyers who think that flying is a stress free experience. It isn't!

Flights are often delayed and cancelled, luggage is lost or damaged, your assigned seat is given to someone else, airline personnel are rude or misinformed or outright lie to passengers, other passengers are rude, the plane is dirty, your baggage takes an hour or more to offload, etc., etc. etc. It happens EVERY day on EVERY airline.

When these things happen, you just have to take a deep breath and not lose your temper, which isn't going to help anything. And you'll be teaching your kids how to behave in a mature manner, so they won't grow up to behave as the Air Tran baggage employee did (or the OP's husband).

I agree with this. I am always amazed when I travel at the complaints I hear from some other passengers. I always think, "I guess they don't get out much." Stuff happens. Also, what do you want for cheap airfare? You are essentially cattle.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Sadly many here expect fares of $39-89 and are surprirsed when they receive service reflective of that fare.

Amen. As an agent for an airline I will not mention says, "What do they expect for $100?"

 

[disneydaveb]

Originally Posted by bavaria
Sadly many here expect fares of $39-89 and are surprirsed when they receive service reflective of that fare.

Amen. As an agent for an airline I will not mention says, "What do they expect for $100?"

There are a lot of things being said here that I agree and disagree with, but this is absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe they shouldn't sell tickets for $39-89.

The airline sets the fare. How can you make people think they are doing something wrong by purchasing airfare at a good price?
There are no disclaimers saying that "reduced fare will result in poor customer service, rudeness and employee incompetence".

I don't see what prices have to do with it. If I paid $200 for the trip and the guy in front off me paid $79, there should be no difference in the way we are treated.

Every time someone has a complaint against an airline, the issue of cheap fares comes up. It's often implied that you opt for poor treatment by purchasing a sale fare. Do you expect people to call the airline and offer to pay more than the advertised fare?

 

[bavaria]

There are a lot of things being said here that I agree and disagree with, but this is absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe they shouldn't sell tickets for $39-89.

The airline sets the fare. How can you make people think they are doing something wrong by purchasing airfare at a good price?
There are no disclaimers saying that "reduced fare will result in poor customer service, rudeness and employee incompetence".

I don't see what prices have to do with it. If I paid $200 for the trip and the guy in front off me paid $79, there should be no difference in the way we are treated.

Every time someone has a complaint against an airline, the issue of cheap fares comes up. It's often implied that you opt for poor treatment by purchasing a sale fare. Do you expect people to call the airline and offer to pay more than the advertised fare?

No, but an airline which sells ticket at a budget price cannot provide luxury service. Same like if you pay $29 to stay at a budget property - you cannot expect the luxuries which a $299 hotel can provide, such as room service.

I am not equating good service to luxury amenities, but in this specific example the poster did not encounter anything remarkable. The airline did provide service, albeit not in the manner which she expected.

I choose to pay more to fly with a carrier that caters to business travellers and can provide an additional level of service - that's my choice, just as it is someone's choice to pay $39 etc for a flight and in return not have all the amenities of a higher priced airline.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

There are a lot of things being said here that I agree and disagree with, but this is absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe they shouldn't sell tickets for $39-89.

The airline sets the fare. How can you make people think they are doing something wrong by purchasing airfare at a good price?
There are no disclaimers saying that "reduced fare will result in poor customer service, rudeness and employee incompetence".

I don't see what prices have to do with it. If I paid $200 for the trip and the guy in front off me paid $79, there should be no difference in the way we are treated.

Every time someone has a complaint against an airline, the issue of cheap fares comes up. It's often implied that you opt for poor treatment by purchasing a sale fare. Do you expect people to call the airline and offer to pay more than the advertised fare?

Seriously...because of LCCs legacy airlines have tried to reduce their fares. It is not working. We have seen in the past six years MOST legacy carriers go through bankruptcy (the exception being Continental and maybe one other). When an airline is LOSING money, what do you think is going to happen to recapture costs? Jobs are going to be cut or not filled due to attrition. When that happens passengers then notice a decline in customer service. Airline workers are spread thin. Depending on the airline and the airport, there are not enough above and below wing workers (some airlines use their own workers at certain airports, others are contract workers, so like I said it depend on the airline and airport). Airline employees have faced wage and pension cuts. Do you think that makes them HAPPY workers? Low fares impact a lot of things. A lot of people don't realize the reach. They are happy to save themselves a few bucks, but then turn around and complain when things do not go their way, even when it is circumstances that are beyond the airlines' controls.

Thanfully, fares are on the rise. Even the LCCs are having to raise some of their prices. People are going to have to get used to paying pre September 11 fares once again. Travel is healthy,and that is good for ALL the airlines.

Hopefully customer service will also rise as well.

 

[bavaria]

Seriously...because of LCCs legacy airlines have tried to reduce their fares. It is not working. We have seen in the past six years MOST legacy carriers go through bankruptcy (the exception being Continental and maybe one other). When an airline is LOSING money, what do you think is going to happen to recapture costs? Jobs are going to be cut or not filled due to attrition. When that happens passengers then notice a decline in customer service. Airline workers are spread thin. Depending on the airline and the airport, there are not enough above and below wing workers (some airlines use their own workers at certain airports, others are contract workers, so like I said it depend on the airline and airport). Airline employees have faced wage and pension cuts. Do you think that makes them HAPPY workers? Low fares impact a lot of things. A lot of people don't realize the reach. They are happy to save themselves a few bucks, but then turn around and complain when things do not go their way, even when it is circumstances that are beyond the airlines' controls.

Thanfully, fares are on the rise. Even the LCCs are having to raise some of their prices. People are going to have to get used to paying pre September 11 fares once again. Travel is healthy,and that is good for ALL the airlines.

Hopefully customer service will also rise as well.

Very well said, Miss Jasmine. United has climbed back out of bankruptcy and is refocussing on being an airline targetting business and/or more frequent travellers, often at higher fares. I live in a hub, and it is rare to find one empty seat on a United flight these days.

In return for the higher fare, I receive somewhat better service than I expect from a LCC.

 

[CarolA]

I did not even attempt to read all of this, but if you want to complain about the TIME it takes to get your luggage in most cases the airline has LITTLE to no control. If the airline is NOT the "biggie" in the airport, they contract with either another airline or the airport. (I learned this in Nashville, the DL guy gave me ALL the contact info because he was JUST as upset with normal over one hour delays as his passengers)

Chances are in DFW it's AA... (and the OPs' experience sounds just like some I had with AA... they once had a gate agent call me a Witch... replace the first letter... I asked what time the plane was going to board, guess that was unreasonable. It sure was after I had half the airport over there to deal with the "best gate agent" we have... that says a lot!!!)


The truth is that we get what we pay for and in most cases when the next Disney trip comes around and AirTran is $50 or $100 cheaper then AA or DL guess who folks book with??? The "horrible" trip is forgotten because "we saved $300" I am not defending the airline, but when airfares are the same or lower then they were 10 years ago something has to give....what happens are the best employees in a lot of cases got tired of being the thing that gives (paycuts, benefit cuts, more hours, less assistance etc) and found better jobs.... When I graduated from College over 20 years ago I wanted SO much to work for an airline, NOW you couldn't pay me enough to put up with what they do.....

 

[NJDad18]

Keep this in mind. If you're going to complain to the airline or to any business in general, do it in writing. That way there is nothing lost in translation (remember the old telephone game when you were a kid). Think about it, you complain to a CSR, they tell their supervisor who tells somebody else and then they make a decision as to what they are going to do with your case.

We travel through PHL and it usually takes between 30-45 minutes to get our luggage.

 

[PghLybrt]

I fly Air Tran all the time(2-4 times a year to Orlando and once a year to Atlanta). It is by choice. Not because they are cheaper but because I have always encountered good friendly service. Then again I treat the members of Air Tran’s staff as I would like to be treated, with respect.
Its not a perfect world an humans are not perfect but when things happen its not intentional. Why do people always assume that companies strive to make the customers life hell?

And luggage…… I thought it was there to protect what was inside it?....and I try to remember that if its heavy for me to lift then its probably heavy for the person loading it too!

 

[annie1995]