So what's your opinion about Spirit Airlines? Just wondering.
Airfarewatchblog
Posted by George Hobica on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
So we've gotten quite a few negative emails about spunky little Spirit Airlines lately. They allow a lot of people to fly for next to nothing with their $3 and 3 cent fares. But some of you are not happy campers.
Here are two of them:
From Robert in Michigan:
"What has been your experience with Spirit Airline customer service ? I tried to cancel my $ 9 Fare trail membership as it reverts to a $40.00 membership after 90 day, Repeated attempts to contact by phone we unsucesssful after 20 minute plus calls being placed on hold with no one answering. I the tried canceling on line and they stated that they did not recognize me as a customer. The small print staets that it takes 4-6 weeks to cancel but they immediately processed my cc when I signed up. Spoke with a co worker who stated she had a similar experience. If you've had other complaints you would be doing your readers a huge favor by letting them know that Spirit is definetly not customer friendly."
and from Sam in California:
"In Re: Spirit Airlines $6.00 R/T fares on 08/26/2008. I booked 4 R/T tickets and the fee was charged by Spirit on my credit card. A hard copy of the flights, fees, credit card charge and passengers are in my possession via a download. After the charges were made to my card a code # 1018 stated that "we were unable to reserve the selected flight(s) at this time. Please select another flight(s). This disingenuous act is nothing short of a bait and switch tactic which is illegal. I took advantage of a deeply discounted airfare and it seems crystal clear that Spirit did not want to sell me these tickets at the advertised price. If the fare/seats were not available then my credit card should not have been charged. I would strongly suggest that your credibility would be at risk should you continue to mention any further 'Deals' from Spirit Airlines. I contacted the airline at 800-772-7117 and spoke with Ivan located in India who told me to take up this issue with my credit card issuer. I asked to speak to his supervisor and have been put on hold for the last 28 minutes without any additional contact. I recognize that this airline has poor customer service nevertheless one should expect and receive decent levels of communication. This whole scenario reeks of a potential bankruptcy filing after obtaining funds under false pretenses. The total length of time I was put on hold was 45 minutes and 55 seconds. I called again and explained the situation to "Vic," who transfer me to a supervisor and said my wait would be 2-3 minutes and would stay on the line until the supervisor came in contact with me. This call lasted 13 minutes and 24 seconds before they disconected from me."
So what's your opinion? Please click and leave a comment.
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Call me a fool but I had decided to sign up for their "$9 Fare Club", feeling it would pay for istelf quickly. However upon booking my first flight after signing up, I got 2 receipts for my flight. First came the amount I agreed to. Then one with an additional $9 charge which arrived one minute later. There was no $9 button when I was booking and I never agreed to (or was even shown) the extra $9 charge! It was in error!
Naturally I called Spirit. They said there was nothing they could do, only being a reservations desk. I asked to be transferred to the right department or at least get the number. They said there WAS NONE. I asked for a supervisor who told me that there was no number where I could call to get rid of the erroneous charge. Only an address where I could write in the hopes they would refund me. I was aghast there was NO NUMBER where I could reach an accountable party!
Anyway, I tried writing a few emails including responding to the one "welcoming" me to the $9 club. I got a response the next day saying "as a one time courtesy we've cancelled your membership and refunded your $9. Have a good day". I wrote back, asking about the $40 fee I paid to join the club! Naturally if my membership has been cancelled, I wanted the $40 back as well!
Sadly, the response the next day merely said "there are two ways you can sign up for the club - $40 for a year or the $9 trial. Have a nice day". I wrote again saying "please try to understand the situation - I was DOUBLE CHARGED. Since you took it upon yourself to end my membership, I'm due not only the $9 back but the $40 back". The response simply was "you were refunded the $9. Have a good day".
WHHHAAAAA???
I wrote twice in response. First trying to explain the situation again. Then another saying "this communication is clearly not working. I officially request to speak to someone. Have your supervisor call so we can work this out". And I left my number, of course, with each email.
At this point, no one has responded again or called.
Well, forget them. I will have to dispute the credit card charges. Spirit won't keep my money.
This goes beyond bumbling customer service. This behavior was either dumb beyond belief or it was crooked, trying to charge me something I never agreed to. Maybe it's a little of each.
Well... I'm going to be telling this story to people. I don't demand the brightest or best customer service people... but I want to be able to CALL someone to remove bogus charges they put on my bill!!!
Oh, for a final note... there's also a $2 charge on my credit statement which I never approved. I don't know WHERE that came from. Spirit will have to answer to the credit card company.
Get it together...if you can't run a web site...will your flyers trust your ability to keep a metal box aloft safely and on time?
You must play by there rules or you will be skrewed.
Last month when at FLL airport, I had a problem because I arrived late (so them claim). I was told I had to rebook and pay for a new ticket.
I found a agent ( Thomas Russo ) who was understanding amd explained where I made my mistake. He was able to waive some fees and help me get on the next avaliable flight.
At least they have some nice people working there!
Thank you Spirit Air...
1) Their site triple charged me for luggage and it was impossible to get it fixed. They said I should fix it at the checkin counter with a long line of glaring passengers behind me and after several months have passed. They promised to fix it via email but never did. I had to have my credit card company fix the charges.
2) While they have some cheap, last minute prices, they tend to stick it to early buyers and it's getting worse. I recently tried to book my annual spring Detroit to Ft Lauderdale trip and found it was over twice the price of the last few years. I booked a Northwest flight first class for less than Spirit's cattle class.
Thank you Spirit Air...
Did you know Spirit now charges for booking your seat in advance. I do not agree, but ok pay for an isle seat, but a middle seat. Spirit does not inform the customer of this until the flight is booked. I was choosing my seats after I booked the flight and there was a $60 charge for 3 seats. When I travel, I want to sit with the people I am traveling with. Now you are forced to pay to sit with your family or take a chance of being all over the plane. When do the extra charges end.
Apparently not enuf passengers booked. It was then too expensive to book on another airline and I missed the holiday because I couldn't afford it. Never again.
They wouldn't release my money very easily either. I actually had to request the refund, and got no compensation. They thot I wanted credit for another flight. They couldn't be more mistaken!
They are wrong. I won't be back, ever. Even free, I would pass - they are NOT dependable. I already have this years thanksgiving ticket thru Northwest.
I file "Spirit Airlines" under "never again" and I mean exactly that. Good luck to anyone who risks their $$$, time and trust.
Do youself a favor and pay afew dollard more and have peace of mind. It is worth it!!
In August I took a flight to Tampa. On my return flight home I arrived at the airport and after waiting 2 hours the passengers were told the pilots went out on strike and there would be no flights that day. The counter area exploded with every issue you could imagine. After a 2 hour longer delay in information we were told we could get a flight the next day- 36 hours after the original flight. To compensate the passengers they gave us a one year 100% voucher for, " any of our flights in the continental USA ". No arangements were made for hotels, food, etc. I was not happy with my delay but thought the flight might help a bit. From August 5, 2007 until August 5, 2008 I tried to use the voucher 4 times. I even had a death in the family and had to change 2 flights at $75.00 each. In all instances Spirit would not honor the voucher. I called them to check on the voucher and they informed me the voucher was not used in the year and it is no longer valid.
I have flown Spirit for many years and used them for my complete family. They have lost a family of loyal customers due to their total lack of customer service.
Letters and phone calls disregarded when told who to contact is an insult to the consumer. Hopefully, many more customers will join me and force Spirit to join the reality many airlines have experienced in the last couple of years- not enough passengers to stay in business due to becoming an airline that is no longer reliable, dependable and trustworthy.trusting airline.
Due to physical issues we must fly the Big Front Seat so we tend to book very early.
On our trip from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale for February 2008 (booked in early 2007) we found a much lower rate listed on Spirit's web site last fall. I called to see if they would refund me the difference and was told by customer service to cancel my flight and rebook at the new rate. Unfortunately I did.
After several weeks of not seeing the $900 refund on my credit card I phoned customer service and was told that they would NOT refund my cancelled flight. I attempted to explain what had happened but just as everyone has stated customer service refused to help. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I was told "he is too busy to talk to you" I offered to hold until he could talk to me and I was told "NO - call back later".
I was floored! The supervisor was too busy to talk to me and I could not hold??? You have got to be kidding!
I repeatedly called back later, making note of when and who I talked to, and was finally put through to accounting. The accounting department stated that they were refusing to refund my cancelled flight.
I tend to be a bit tenacious. :)
I found a phone number for the corporate offices in Hollywood, Florida. Too bad the phone system will not let you speak to anyone unless you know their extension.
Luckly for me there was an option for "employment varification" was an option on their automated phone system, getting me connected to the Office of Human Resources. I then requested the head/manager/administrator of their customer service division and was connected with the voice mail for the Manager's assistant. The voice mail box was full. I phoned repeatedly and finally did get in contact with this person. Even with the dates, times and names of everyone I had contacted it took several communications to get things moving. It finally took the manager over-riding accountings decision to get my refund.
It was far from the typical interaction but I would say to those having problems "do not give up". If you try politely, calmly and persistantly you might get through.
On the flip-side, when we have not had to make changes to our flight reservation we have had great luck with Spirit.
I would say that if you choose to deal with Spirit Airlines do it knowing that they have NO Customer Service - they have barebones cheap flights.
Mr. Baldanza should care for his customers as if they were his PAYCHECK and his investors capital. By the way, who are they. Perhaps we should write them also!
Well, I'm at my computer all day. When a Spirit sales
Keep up the good work Spirit!
I recently flew on Spirit from Detroit to Las Vegas. My trip was for my family vacation to visit with friends in Vegas and then on to a wedding in California. We drove to/from California, from Vegas. My return flight from Vegas was for 10:25pm - I am not sure since it does not state the time on my boarding ticket. When leaving CA to go back to Vegas I ran into traffic and an accident which eat up about 1.5 hours of dirve time. I returned my rental car at 9:06pm and then proceeded to the airport for boarding; I have a receipt showing this info. I pre-planned by printing my boarding passes for ease of boarding with the intention of using curbside luggage check in, as in Detroit. When I arrived at the terminal there was no curbside check in and only 2 people working the desk, and they were working slow. When I finally arrived at the ticket counter a young man took my tickets and he was getting ready to take my luggage. He looked at the screen again and then asked me where I was going, I replied Detroit. He then looked at the supervisor who was busy with a customer and asked if the Detroit flight was full? Full I thought to my self, how could it be full, I have not boarded? Well she then proceeded to take more time and make us wait additionally. He gave me the tickets back and said I would have to wait for the Supervisor. Mind you when I approached the ticket counter there was at least 45 minutes before the flight left and I knew I was cutting it close, but I had no choice. With my wife and 2 small children to check in my luggage, they told me that the flight gates had been closed; it was 45 minutes before the departure time. The supervisor said the terminal was closed and she would not board me. I was dumbfounded.
Ok, fine not a big deal, can I get on the next plane I asked, I just needed to get home- she said yes but there is a $958.00 charge? What this is unheard of I said, I already paid for my tickets and you are the one who will not let me board. I pleaded with her to help me get on the plane, I expressed that there was time to board, at least let me try. She would not change her mind and was adamant about not helping me. She then continued to tell me that she was not having this conversation and that I had to either buy the tickets from her or go someplace else, but she was going to finish up and close the counter. She was rude and inconsiderate, unaccommodating with a lack of any sort of customer service skills. This behavior and service was absolutely unacceptable and unfortunately, being held hostage by the supervisor at the Las Vegas Spirit Air ticket counter I had to purchase the flight for the next day, I was under a huge amount of stress as she was threatening me with closing the counter, and if I wanted to buy the tickets the next day I would have to pay more. I was under a lot of stress and was pressured to make the purchase as I had no recourse, nor a place to stay. I had to get back to Detroit and I could not extend my vacation.
As I was making the purchase I expressed my dissatisfaction with her and the service, she proceeded to threaten me. She threatened me with not allowing me the purchase, she kept on prodding me to continue to complain and speak more, like I was her child and I was going to be punished. Thinking of my wife and children and the fact that we were stranded by a Spirit employee, I kept my mouth shut and just purchased the tickets.
The supervisor's Name is Roshanda. She did not provide me a last name.
I finally got somebody on the phone and he said to write a letter, then I asked him if the flight was full, he said yes - sometimes we overbook, blah, blah, blah, then then phone went silent as he put me on mute and then came back and said it was noted that I was late and there was nothing he could do. I called back a few hours later and got another CSR, he informed me the same thing, but he actually said the flight was full, and that they overbooked, and that the flight didn't actually leave until 10:35.
So I am still fighting to get this resolved - and if anyone is still thinking about purchasing from Spirit - Don't, they have an F reating on the BBB, also just google them and see how many complaints show up.
Good Luck
JB
It is impossible to get anyone to answer the phone so you are left without resolution in many cases that are not addressed on there web site.
I have even tried emailing them on multiple occasions with no result, so caveat emptor, let the buyer beware. Low fares are not everything.
I also sense that they do some bait and switch when advertising exceptionally low prices. My expierence is that when you try to book a flight with these fares they are not available on the dates indicated so you have to trade up to a higher fair.
All in all I would rate them a 3 on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best.