I moved this over from Super-Rant. Let's see if 27 hours of my life is worth postage to Airtran.

I moved this over from Super-Rant. Let's see if 27 hours of my life is worth postage to Airtran.

Well, I thought I might add in the e-mail they have, as well as the latest Super Rant. I feel kind of sorry for "Some Jerk" (name withheld to protect the guilty. Who has to deal with me.

Subject: Try again.

Dear Airtran complaint department. The offer below has been rejected. I will NOT accept a free one-way (subject to blackout dates) for my silence about what you have done to us.

Offer material goods. T-shirts and hats, or some corporate trinkets. This offer of a one-way ticket is completely acceptable. Now, comeback with something substantial and I will consider dropping our two person campaign of writing and talking about how poorly we were treated by your company.

I really think Airtran is a terrible company for treating us the way they have and I plan on conveying this every person I now through the internet, personal communication, and all other means legally possible. I'm not accepting one free plane ticket, so what else do you have?

Dan Powers
[My Address to send stuff to]


>From: [Some Jerk]
>To:
>Subject: Re: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:39:51 -0400
>
>
>Dear Mr. Powers,
>
>On behalf of AirTran Airways, please accept my apology for the difficulties you experienced during your travel. Our objective is to operate our flights in a safe, reliable and timely manner, which will allow our customers to reach their destinations as scheduled. However, there are occasions when Air Traffic Control implements a holding program in an effort to better manage the volume of air traffic. While we understand the frustration this causes, we have no control over the situation and can only await their clearance.
>
>
>
>All of our Crew Members are instructed to professionally perform their responsibilities while providing the highest level of Caring Customer Service. There is simply no excuse for our agent's failure to properly address your concerns during a misconnection. I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the appropriate department head for review and action.
>
>
>
>
>
>As a gesture of good will, I have authorized complimentary one-way travel per passenger, valid for a period of one (1) year from today, to any destination on our system. In order to redeem this compensation, please call, 800.204.5695, and reference itinerary . Travel is subject to blackout dates and capacity controls. International Departure Taxes are not included.
>
>
>
>
>Your continued support is important to us.
>
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>[Some Jerk]
>Customer Relations Department
>AirTran Airways
>
>
>
>--- Original Message ---
>From:
>Received: 8/9/2007 11:12:32 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
>To:
>Subject: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> COMMENTS My wife and I recently flew from LaGuardia to LAX with a stop in Atlanta. It cost me 27 consecutive hours of our lives before we left Atlanta. When it was mistake after misdirection of your employees that cost us our vacation. Leaving New York, there was a storm front approaching so the pilot let us know it would be an additional twenty minutes before we would leave. Three hours on the Tarmac later, when we were three planes from take-off, he announced he would take a vote from the passengers about whether to return to the gate or keep our spot in line for the next half hour. Four passengers decided they would rather return to the gate, so all of us had to get off the plane. It was later explained to us that you are not responsible for the weather, but I assure you I hold you accountable for the actions of your employees. When we were forced off the plane, we had to spend an extra half hour near the gate to ensure we didn't lose our seats. When the plane reboarded, we spent an extra hour on the plane when, if we had taken a "vote" we would have been in the air at least an hour before we actually left the ground. Again, pilots decision is not the same as weather problems. When we finally arrived in Atlanta, we were told by the gate agent that we had to run across Atlanta's airport to reach the next connecting flight. As I started to run, my wife asks the gate agent if our connecting flight had actually already left the gate. He sheepishly admitted that it had left the gate, left unsaid was he was wasting our time trying to send us running across the worlds biggest airport. We were then directed to customer service who gave us a voucher for a hotel room and promised we would be on the first flight to LA in the morning. I asked her for a ticket confirming this and she replied that the computer couldn't print the ticket, but there was no feasible way we would not be on that plane because they always took ten to twelve standby passengers on the first flight to LA. Standby ticket in hand, we called the numbers on the hotel voucher. Guess how many rooms were available. Can't guess? I'll give you a hint, the number was less than one and more than negative one. Zero is the number you are looking for. Of course, at that point, the customer service desk closed and everyone had left. We were told people worked at the airport through the night, but the only people we could find were the metal workers who were repairing the sheet metal around the airport at an almost injurious noise level. No bed, no blankets, stranded in Atlanta in a construction zone, we didn't get much sleep, but we had been assured we would be on that first departing flight. You could imagine how our hearts sank as the ticket agent in the morning told us we had no such deal. Having not bathed in 27 hours and barely slept for 38 hours, you could imagine how used we felt. Not only were not getting on the first flight in the morning, we were told you had no responsibility to us because of a "weather policy." Weather had less to do with our delay than the pilot taking an informal poll and grounding us, but the ticket agent again disappeared when we started to ask questions. Finally, after a complete day of dealing with the misdirection and inaccurate statements by Airtran employees, one person went into a computer and booked us on the next flight. It was that easy all along. I wish I had carried a tape recorder to record all the statements so I make a comedy, but at that point, we felt rather tragic. Nothing is more important to me than my time, and for Airtran to claim it was the weather's fault was not only inaccurate, it was downright misleading. The said thing is my wife and I each have two free tickets to fly anywhere in the country at anytime in the next six months, and they will most likely go unused. There are many places I want to see in the world, and none of them would I let Airtran fly me to. It was one of the more degrading experiences in my life. I look forward to sharing this experience with all of my family and friends and telling them how I wouldn't let Airtran fly me anywhere for free, never mind pay for the experience. Because of our delays, we couldn't meet up with the person we were staying with costing us another 10 hours of our vacation. An entire day of my life was wasted and no one would admit anything outside of the pilot who apologized, but of course I didn't bring my tape recorder, so I had no proof. I don't know how you would hope to make up for this experience, but I will be publishing the experience next week, and using this as an example of poor customer service whenever I get a chance unless you think you could find a way to make things right. Please encourage your employees to be forthright, because at the end of the day, a companies reputation is all it has to stand on. The good news for us is we fly frequently and we get to interact frequently with other frequent flyers. This was the worst and most degrading experience we have had with an airline, and hopefully we can share our experience with others. I thank you for hearing my concerns and I look forward to your response, Dan Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> LAST NAME Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FIRST NAME Dan
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------

>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AREA Flight Experience
>
> SUBJECT You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>------ Please do not remove your unique tracking number! ------


>From: Some Jerk
>To:
>Subject: Re: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you. <<>>
>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:39:51 -0400
>
>
>Dear Mr. Powers,
>
>On behalf of AirTran Airways, please accept my apology for the difficulties you experienced during your travel. Our objective is to operate our flights in a safe, reliable and timely manner, which will allow our customers to reach their destinations as scheduled. However, there are occasions when Air Traffic Control implements a holding program in an effort to better manage the volume of air traffic. While we understand the frustration this causes, we have no control over the situation and can only await their clearance.
>
>
>
>All of our Crew Members are instructed to professionally perform their responsibilities while providing the highest level of Caring Customer Service. There is simply no excuse for our agent's failure to properly address your concerns during a misconnection. I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the appropriate department head for review and action.
>
>
>
>
>
>As a gesture of good will, I have authorized complimentary one-way travel per passenger, valid for a period of one (1) year from today, to any destination on our system. In order to redeem this compensation, please call, 800.204.5695, and reference itinerary . Travel is subject to blackout dates and capacity controls. International Departure Taxes are not included.
>
>
>
>
>Your continued support is important to us.
>
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Customer Relations Department
>AirTran Airways
>
>
>
>--- Original Message ---
>From:
>Received: 8/9/2007 11:12:32 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
>To:
>Subject: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> COMMENTS My wife and I recently flew from LaGuardia to LAX with a stop in Atlanta. It cost me 27 consecutive hours of our lives before we left Atlanta. When it was mistake after misdirection of your employees that cost us our vacation. Leaving New York, there was a storm front approaching so the pilot let us know it would be an additional twenty minutes before we would leave. Three hours on the Tarmac later, when we were three planes from take-off, he announced he would take a vote from the passengers about whether to return to the gate or keep our spot in line for the next half hour. Four passengers decided they would rather return to the gate, so all of us had to get off the plane. It was later explained to us that you are not responsible for the weather, but I assure you I hold you accountable for the actions of your employees. When we were forced off the plane, we had to spend an extra half hour near the gate to ensure we didn't lose our seats. When the plane reboarded, we spent an extra hour on the plane when, if we had taken a "vote" we would have been in the air at least an hour before we actually left the ground. Again, pilots decision is not the same as weather problems. When we finally arrived in Atlanta, we were told by the gate agent that we had to run across Atlanta's airport to reach the next connecting flight. As I started to run, my wife asks the gate agent if our connecting flight had actually already left the gate. He sheepishly admitted that it had left the gate, left unsaid was he was wasting our time trying to send us running across the worlds biggest airport. We were then directed to customer service who gave us a voucher for a hotel room and promised we would be on the first flight to LA in the morning. I asked her for a ticket confirming this and she replied that the computer couldn't print the ticket, but there was no feasible way we would not be on that plane because they always took ten to twelve standby passengers on the first flight to LA. Standby ticket in hand, we called the numbers on the hotel voucher. Guess how many rooms were available. Can't guess? I'll give you a hint, the number was less than one and more than negative one. Zero is the number you are looking for. Of course, at that point, the customer service desk closed and everyone had left. We were told people worked at the airport through the night, but the only people we could find were the metal workers who were repairing the sheet metal around the airport at an almost injurious noise level. No bed, no blankets, stranded in Atlanta in a construction zone, we didn't get much sleep, but we had been assured we would be on that first departing flight. You could imagine how our hearts sank as the ticket agent in the morning told us we had no such deal. Having not bathed in 27 hours and barely slept for 38 hours, you could imagine how used we felt. Not only were not getting on the first flight in the morning, we were told you had no responsibility to us because of a "weather policy." Weather had less to do with our delay than the pilot taking an informal poll and grounding us, but the ticket agent again disappeared when we started to ask questions. Finally, after a complete day of dealing with the misdirection and inaccurate statements by Airtran employees, one person went into a computer and booked us on the next flight. It was that easy all along. I wish I had carried a tape recorder to record all the statements so I make a comedy, but at that point, we felt rather tragic. Nothing is more important to me than my time, and for Airtran to claim it was the weather's fault was not only inaccurate, it was downright misleading. The said thing is my wife and I each have two free tickets to fly anywhere in the country at anytime in the next six months, and they will most likely go unused. There are many places I want to see in the world, and none of them would I let Airtran fly me to. It was one of the more degrading experiences in my life. I look forward to sharing this experience with all of my family and friends and telling them how I wouldn't let Airtran fly me anywhere for free, never mind pay for the experience. Because of our delays, we couldn't meet up with the person we were staying with costing us another 10 hours of our vacation. An entire day of my life was wasted and no one would admit anything outside of the pilot who apologized, but of course I didn't bring my tape recorder, so I had no proof. I don't know how you would hope to make up for this experience, but I will be publishing the experience next week, and using this as an example of poor customer service whenever I get a chance unless you think you could find a way to make things right. Please encourage your employees to be forthright, because at the end of the day, a companies reputation is all it has to stand on. The good news for us is we fly frequently and we get to interact frequently with other frequent flyers. This was the worst and most degrading experience we have had with an airline, and hopefully we can share our experience with others. I thank you for hearing my concerns and I look forward to your response, Dan Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> LAST NAME Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FIRST NAME Dan
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ADDRESS2
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> CITY STATE, ZIPCODE Arlington MA, 02474
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AREA Flight Experience
>
> SUBJECT You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ORIGINATING PAGE http://www.airtran.com/help.aspx
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>------ Please do not remove your unique tracking number! ------

Posted by Dantion at 7:37 PM 0 comments