So technically, I was about 10 days late in my attempt. It states that I have one year from BOOKING to REBOOK. The policy is not confusing, which questions why so many SW employees are unclear on it, and why the one rep stated that it was confusing. During this process, I did find the cancellation policy online. I stayed silent on the phone for a couple minutes while he read the file, then returned to say that the call was just to tell me the verdict stood, that my tickets were still expired, and there was nothing more they were willing to do. The representative then said he could read and catch up on the situation. When I finally got through calling back, I did not get the person who had left the message, and I was greeted with a 'how can I help you?' I simply stated that I had a complaint, someone had called me, and asked was there a way to speak with that person without my having to re-hash everything. The next day, I received a call, which I could not take, and was given a name and number to call back. I messaged them directly and simply asked, could someone read my complaint and get back to me, and I pointed out the discrepancy between the site's '48 hour' turn-around on getting back to customers and the email's '30 days.' The Facebook message got a same-day Facebook response, stating they had located my complaint and it had reached peak escalation of customer relations. It stated I would be contacted within THIRTY DAYS, which is a whole lot different than 48 hours stated on their site! I then decided to try Facebook. After not hearing back for several days (I gave extra time because of the Memorial Day weekend), I searched my email, and went back and re-read the auto-generated confirmation email. I was not irate or unreasonable, and I asked for nothing more than the value of the tickets to be honored, and I pointed out that should that happen, I will continue to be a happy SW customer. I explained the situation and asked to be contacted within 48 hours, which is the stated timeframe they give for following up on complaints. It is just for informational purposes only.' I got her employee number and name, and decided to contact SW via email on their contact page. I asked if I would get follow up from them if she did so, to which she said 'No, you will not. The representative then told me she could pass the info along to the booking department, where the initial mistake was made. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and was told there was not one for me to speak with. They make the mistake, then THEY make a minimum of $200 as a result of that mistake. I actually started to wonder if the policy was intentionally confusing so that they get out of honoring more tickets. Either way, no matter if SW held any fault, the vouchers for $200 less than ticket price is the best they could do. She said I should have gotten an email, then went on to explain that SW is behind the rest of the industry technologically speaking, and that they are trying to catch up when it comes to email confirmations, etc. I also mentioned that I never got a confirmation email on the cancellation or any notification about the policy or the timeline, and asked if that was typical.
She conceded the policy was confusing and that employees even got it wrong often, conceding it was very likely a mistake on the part of their employees that caused the issue, but the best she could do would be to issue me vouchers for $200 less than the cost of the original two tickets I purchased. I explained this was the third representative with whom I had spoken about this ticket, and the third account of the policy I had gotten, and pointed out that her expiration date and my expiration date were less than two weeks apart, asking that they please just make the exception, as I was not calling late, according to instructions I had received. I called the second number, and was told the last story was incorrect, I did NOT have to fly within a year to use it, I had to BOOK within a year, but not within a year of the cancellation date, but of the original BOOK date, so either way, the ticket is still expired. But they gave me a number to call to see if I could have an exception made. I was told I didn't have a year to re-book, but a year to actually fly, so my ticket was now expired. I put that in my calendar, and exactly one year later, I called to re-book.
I was told then I had one year from that date to re-book. Last year, I had to cancel a flight because the meeting I booked for was cancelled. Yes, the boarding procedure is unpleasant, but otherwise, I have had no major complaints, until now.
I have travelled with SW many times before with no particular incident.
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