[nwamisery]

June 15th - On a flight from TUL to PVD NWA lost a gate checked bag. I filed a claim in Providence because the agents in Minneapolis refused to help. NWA never did find the bag however, on my return to Tulsa on June 22nd my bag was delivered to me by United Airlines.

My very next experience with NWA defies belief...

August 6th 2008 - My 2 children and I were bumped off a NWA flight in Detroit. We were given a $300 travel voucher each.
August 6th 2008 - We were booked onto a flight the following day. When we arrived at our hotel I received a voicemail from the NWA airport gate agent that my vouchers were voided with no further explanation.
August 7th - When I arrived at the airport the following day. The check-in desk attendent informaed me that yes, the vouchers were voided but no, they couldn't tell me why. I went through security and called NWA to find out why my vouchers were voided and my bags were not checked to final destination. I was told that there was no reason for my compensation to be voided and I was advised to talk to a supervisor at the airport.
August 7th - I immediately spoke to a supervisor in person at the airport. She agreed that the vouchers should never have been voided and issued new ones.
October 16th - I attempted to use the hard copy vouchers (online) given to me by the NWA supervisor in Detroit to go home for Thanksgiving. The vouchers were not accepted online. I called reservations and was transferred to the internet help desk. I was informed that these vouchers in my possession didn't exist and I needed to contact customer care via e-mail since it is impossible to reach someone in person.

Is this another NWA cost cutting policy? To issue compensation and then silently revoke it without notification?

[The_Judge]

You've posted this same experience in 2 different places within 15 minutes of each other. Good exposure that way, I guess.

Anyway, sorry to hear you lost your gate-checked bag but glad you got it back. Very odd that United would deliver it when nothing you've indicated shows United was on your itinerary. Very nice of them to do that since you weren't even their customer. I'd fly them from now on.

Now we don't really need to go into why you were bumped but I am curious. In the other post you say involuntarily bumped. This post you don't mention either way. It's really a non-issue as you don't seem too upset about it. You were given vouchers.

You say you received a phone call saying your vouchers are no longer valid. This tells me, along with your other post about involuntarily bumped that you were late to your flight and so late in fact that you are not entitled to compensation. I think the agent initially made an error giving you vouchers then compounded the error by calling you and saying they are now void. If the agent gave them initially, they should have not voided them but to be honest if the situation is as I described you should have never gotten them to begin with.

You talked to a different supvr later who had no knowledge of the happenings before and I'd bet you gave him/her only limited info so she issued new vouchers.

Not being able to use them again tells me the same thing might have happened. She found out about you being late and voided them again.

Just some speculation on my part but it's all I can do with the very limited info you are giving.

[nwamisery]

Dear Judge:

I was involuntarily bumped. The supervisor who reissued the vouchers knew the WHOLE story, that's why the vouchers were given to me again. After reading my rights at the DOT's website the vouchers are what the airline is supposed to give passengers who are involunraily bumped. I wasn't late, the plane was oversold. Please don't assume I didn't give NWA all the information I had regarding my circumstances. Their continued behavior is unacceptable and trying to placate passengers with false vouchers is just wrong.

I am not surprised United returned my bags since they had my name on them and they found them when NWA apparently didn't care to look.

[abutterfinger25]

Originally Posted by nwamisery

I was involuntarily bumped. The supervisor who reissued the vouchers knew the WHOLE story, that's why the vouchers were given to me again. After reading my rights at the DOT's website the vouchers are what the airline is supposed to give passengers who are involunraily bumped. I wasn't late, the plane was oversold.

If you are involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight, AND you meet all the carriers terms for ticketing, check-in, at the gate, ect. you are entitled to CASH compensation, not vouchers. The carrier may offer voucher in lieu of cash but the cash offer must be made available.

If NW did not offer cash, then 1) you either failed to meet some requirement, 2) the flight was not actually oversold or 3) the carrier violated our regulation and could be subjected to a civil penalty/enforcement action.

In regards to your baggage... It is a shock that your bag was returned by United since that carrier should never have even had possession of the bag. However, I am glad to see that they took the initative to return the bag to someone who was not their passenger.

[The_Judge]

You say you weren't late but in the other thread about this same incident you say the reason you didn't get on was that they were closing the door and the flight was oversold. First thing you said there was they were closing the door. That means you were late. I know you aren't gonna like this part but policy for NW says you must be in your seat on the aircraft at 15 minutes to departure. Sounds like you weren't. Second, if you were there within a reasonable time, anywhere from 30 minutes down to the 15, all carriers have procedures in place for working overbooked flights. They could have easily used 2 of their "volunteers" and placed you and your son on the aircraft. And don't tell me they didn't have any because I worked for over 20 years and had exactly 1 time when I couldn't get enough vols in the hundreds of overbooked flights I worked.

I guess bottom line is I don't feel you are giving all the info which is pretty normal for a pax to do so that they will be seen as doing no wrong. Sir, you were late, you were not there within 15 minute of departure, you are entitled to nothing. These are just my own guesses from what you've said and what I've read between the lines.

You can have the last word as there is nothing further I can say.

[nwamisery]

Thanks for the last word... since your biased opinions have been NO help. I was put on the late flight by NWA, they sent me to the gate. When I got there I was told I was not getting on the flight because it was oversold, not because I was late. By the way there were three of us and I do not appreciate the implication that I have left anything out. You're just going to have to face the fact that this time the airline was wrong. I just got my vouchers reinstated due to that fact that I was honest in my dealings and proved NWA was in the wrong. I kept a paper trail but felt like I was on trial to prove that there was a gross error made on their part. Passenger persistence is worth it!