[mlee6558]

I just had a very unpleasant experience with SW customer service phone support agent Pola (Agent Sign #53) and her direct report Julie on May 30, 2011 around 5:00pm Pacific time. These two agents got poor communicating skill and terrible attitude, and they were not able to understand my travel needs and keep pushing me making changes on my and my compainion's reservation which they have no right and none of their business at all.

Gladly I did't follow their suggtions, and eventually I am able to take the flight I prefer. This just shows that SW agents Julie and Pola were trying to mislead me to the wrong decision. The fact that I am able to eventaully take my perfer flight just show that I am correct in insisting on not allowing SW agent to change my compainion's flight - this should only be changed by customer - me . The decision should be the customer's - not SW agent's.

My two major compains:
(1) Julie or Pola should not pushing me to cancel my compinion's reservation despite I don't have a ticket at the moment. After I repeatly mention to them I understood that the compinion must fly with me, they still pushing and that is terrible attitude! Just to be clear, I am waiting for late minutes cancelled seat to make it to the prefer flight, why should I be treated as if I try to viloate the companion rules while I have no intention at all !? Terrible customer servce!

(2) Julia or Pola should not even push me checked in the a particular flight as a condition to provide their service. When to check in a flight is totally customer's decision, nothing to do with SW agent.

SW needs to train their customer service representative to serve and to understand their customer better. Their customer service should first listen, and understand customer's need, and then provide supports and option. These two agents, Pola and Julia, are only worry about my companion may flight without me and violating the rules. They are not understanding and not listening! A total wasting time!

Julia and Pola should receive deciplinary action and SW should provide more quality training to better serve their customers. These two agents are far away from the LUV spirit and standard I know for Southwest - an airline company I once liked and fly twice a week for 3+ years.

Thank you for your attention!
- Michael

[Ombudsman]

Not much of a "back story" so correct me if I've "filled in the blanks" incorrectly. I fly Southwest very infrequently so I do not have much first-hand knowledge of their Rapid Rewards program however it sounds like you are an elite with "CP" status which rewards you with a companion ticket allowing you to fly and bring a companion for free.

By it's very definition a companion fare or companion ticket means that you and your companion travel together. Not just from and to the same airports on the same days but on the same itinerary/flights as well. From your account it sounds as if for reasons you did not disclose you were requesting that the Southwest employees you dealt with bend/break the rules to allow you and your "companion" to take different flights. Perhaps you and your "companion" could not depart at the same time so you wanted to fly earlier and your "companion" later in the day? Once you are no longer traveling together you are no longer companions under the rules. Although airlines sometimes bend/break rules in exceptional circumstances it should not be expected that they do so all the time nor should the refusal to grant your request be misconstrued as receiving poor service. You asked and they said no. End of story.

Let's use a non-airline scenario. Payless shoes will often have buy one get one or BOGO sales. If you buy two pair you pay for one at full price and get the second of equal or lesser price half off. By your definition of "customer service" if you walk up to the register with a $30 and a $40 pair of shoes and ask that they discount your purchase by $20 instead of $15 and are told it cannot be done that would be poor customer service?

[jimworcs]

After I repeatly mention to them I understood that the compinion must fly with me, they still pushing and that is terrible attitude! Just to be clear, I am waiting for late minutes cancelled seat to make it to the prefer flight

I am not sure that scenario is what happened Ombudsman. I think there was no seat availability at the time the OP made the booking for a companion. The OP went ahead with the booking anyway, hoping that a seat would become available due to a cancellation. Sounds like Julie and Pola didn't like that idea, but in fact, it worked out in the end. Not too serious a complaint...

[SusanR]

SWA employees need to be retrained. Courtesy is free. A decent attitude is free. It won't cost them anything. I am disabled and flew with my husband from Sacramento to Hartford with a connection in Chicago. Flight left late and we missed the connection. We got nothing but attitude and indifferenc from the (too few) SW employees. ONE woman (whose name I wish I got) managed to get us on a flight to Baltimore and then Hartford, but it was a very long grueling odyssey which culminated in a lost bag - not just us but 43 other people. Then when the bag had been located (which I only found out by repeatedly calling), the rigamarole we had to go through to get it was unbelievable. Very poor communication, too few badly trained employees who are incompetent, indifferent, hostile and downright dishonest ("they'll hold your plane for you"). We ended up rebooking our return flight with US Air (who were great) which cost us but was totally worth it. We'll NEVER fly SW again. And less you think I'm one of those unreasonably demanding handicapped people, they were rotten to everyone on our flight, not just me. And by the way, YOU try travel in a wheelchair sometime. See if you don't get a little frustrated.