I booked a flight on Spirit Airlines about a week ago out of Orlando to Las Vegas for tomorrow, August 5th. This morning, the 4th, I get a call from Spirit Airlines telling me that my flight was canceled and I needed to call an 800 number to make a new reservation. That's sucks, but hey, that's the reality of the god awful air industry here in the States (Dear Uncle Sam, please stop giving them money and let the free market work. K, thx, bye.)I call the number, go through all the motions hitting the menu items, and then get a message telling me that due to high volume, I should use SpiritAir.com instead. The 800# then hangs up on me. I call back, hitting 0 to talk to an operator, same message, hangs up on me. I try all the appropriate sounding options on their voice mail, and get hung up on every single time. Thanks, Spirit Air! What went from a somewhat understandable situation (relativity is a bitch), now has me pissy. Finally, I try "book new flight" to speak to a spirit airlines sales agent. Sure enough, that one (the option where they take the money) works fine. I get entered into the normal "too many calls" queue and patiently wait my turn.
After a long and annoying wait, a young lady answers the phone and starts trying to help me figure out what's up. There's no reason for canceling the flight, there's only one other option -- putting me in Vegas 5 hours past my intended arrival.. The reason I chose Spirit Airlines to begin with. To add to my frustration, it's a flight that I purposely paid more money to avoid (bigger layover, late time, etc). There's no upgrades or anything like that, no option for a partner airline or a transfer, no real attempt at anything. Here's the kicker. They make you pay extra to bring a bag. They refused to even refund this $5 each way fee, not even for one the of ways.
So, instead of losing $5 on a customer who has every right to be angry, I'll write this blog post and tell all my traveling buddies to add Spirit Airlines to their growing list of airlines to avoid. If Google works their magic like they usually do, at least one of the 4,931 daily searches for "Spirit Airlines" will turn up this result and save someone the headache (and hopefully end up costing Spirit Airlines $6 or more). Yay, cluetrain! Seriously, if you are considering saving money by flying Spirit Air, pay the extra $20 and use someone else. It's not worth it.
Spirit Airlines can't be counted on, they'll nickel and dime you on things like baggage (seriously.. WTF), and they will make zero effort what so ever to rectify any situation that they create. I'm totally expecting tomorrow to be a complete debacle, and will arrive at the airport extra early. Possibly with boxing gloves (and sadly, $5 for my baggage)
Will someone, anyone, please fix air travel?
August 5th, 2007 Update
I arrived at MCO a couple hours early to find a really approachable ticket counter (no line, etc). The young lady at the desk was very helpful. I explained to her that every two years, some college buddies and I get together for a reunion of sorts, and Spirit Airlines was causing me to miss the big first-night get together. She offered to get me a free round trip travel voucher. After going into the back for a few minutes, she returned to inform me that she could not in fact give me a voucher, because the problem originated in Detroit, not Orlando (cue Celly's told-you-so laughter here). She suggested that I try calling the corporate number (where this all started), and trying to complain again (as my buddy Mike suggested to me on Facebook).
Breezing through security (Orlando's got it down to a Science), I found myself with a couple hours to kill. Evidently, Spirit Airlines phone system is just as slammed packed at noon on Sunday as it is on a late Saturday afternoon -- I was hung up on with the "We're to busy to give a shit" message once again. I knew that'd be the case, I just felt obligated to try ;). Speaking with a sales agent, I was unable to get a round trip voucher, but I was able to get a $100 credit towards my next Spirit Airlines flight from one of the supervisors. Total time of call was about 35 minutes, once you skip all the fake options and go straight for the sales desk.
$100 means that if I have am ever forced to fly Spirit, I can check 5 bags on the day of my flight! ($20/bag day of, $10 in advance). I say that in jest, but I am pleased that if you do complain repeatedly and persistently, they will at least give in somewhere.
A number of people sent me some links involving Spirit's consistently bad customer service though, and I figure I'll share them here:
- Woman Sues Spirit Airlines in Small Claims Court and Wins
- Read Before You Click
- Why Spirit Airlines Sucks (Still Sucking) (Update on Spirit's Suckability)
Anyway, I'm about to board my flight for Vegas by way of Atlantic City. Talk about an itinerary of sin... I wonder if we refuel at a New Orleans whore house? hah! If Spirit loses my baggage, and I have to buy clothes, will I have to pay for the required new baggage on the way home? So many questions.. At least I have $100 in baggage credits now.
August 9th, 2007 Update
Thanks to all the folks who left comments sharing their experiences with Spirit. I arrived back this morning after a brutal red eye (all vegas redeyes are). I wanted to chime in and mention my experience with the cramped seating some people have mentioned.
If you are over, I donno, 5'10 (I'm about 6 or 6'1), you will feel like a giant on this airline. The seat in front of me came up to about my armpit area. The seats have a pretty cool neck-holder-rest thing that adjusts and confirms like a neck pillow. The problem I ran into was that I couldn't get it to move up, so it just dug into my upper back the whole time. It was a red eye though, so I pretty much slept the whole time anyway. If you are expecting a pillow and or blanket though, bring one yourself, as Spirit doesn't have any (..about right).
Summary / Conclusion
Yes, I did buy the cheapest ticket. No, I did not save any money (add in the baggage fees, and it was actually more expensive). Yes, I got burnt and lost a day of my trip. Yes, I will avoid Spirit Airlines as much as I humanly can. Yes, I will continue to share my experience with friends through conversations, both online and off. If you've had a bad encounter with this airline, I encourage you to join our conversation down in the comments or on your own blog. The only way to improve a business's customer service is to complain about it. Viva la internet.
Response to a Comment (August 8th, 2007)
"Welcome to the real world. Things don't always go how you want them to go. You bought the cheapest possible airline tickets to Vegas and then you threw a tantrum when your flight got cancelled. You're lucky they called you the day before and gave you a chance to make other plans. Instead you chose to pout and whine. You are a vindictive spoiled child. Grow up and get over yourself." - Mike(response posted here, as well as email)
I hope that I'm not coming off as throwing a tantrum, but rather venting on my own personal blog about some awful customer service that I've encountered with a particular airline. I post my thoughts and experiences to my personal blog to enhance communication with my friends and family. I have no idea who you are, so I'm assuming you fall outside of those two categories. Welcome to the conversation, anyhow. Ain't the internet grand?
In 2006, I lived out of a suit case for 9 out of 12 months. So far, 2007 has been significantly better, as I'm looking at about 2, maybe 3 months tops. In all of this travel, I've encountered all sorts of situations. In every single case, it's the same -- if the event is caused by 'God' (aka weather), the airline is off the hook. With Spirit Airlines, this does not seem to be the case (an argument that countless customer reviews and complaints support). Every airline I've experienced a problem with as offered some sort of token to the customer, without them asking for it, when the fault is squarely on them. It took me close to 2 hours total to receive any admission of guilt.
The domestic airline industry here in the states has encountered some interesting business model changes lately. I recommend reading Daniel Gross's latest column in Newsweek, which I ironically read in the airport last night while my plane was delayed. These changes have made air travel a complete debacle for many people, while largely increasing company profits. As consumers, we've begun to expect these headaches and accept them as part of the deal -- this is incorrect. Folks need to complain and engage in word of mouth if we expect the experience to improve. In the particular case of Spirit Airlines, I'd suggest that you read the comments on this blog post as well other customer reviews on the internet.
Thanks for the understanding and for sharing your thoughts. Oh, and thanks for the name calling. Dick.
Best,
Alex
(conversation continues a tad in the comments below)
UPDATE: Spirit Airlines Employee Responds
A reader identifying themselves as "Tonya" working out of Detroit has offered her perspective in the situation. It's enlightening to hear about Spirit's inability to handle call volume from the other side. On the same token, she explains some of the things that are out of their control.
Keep up the stories and the comments -- we're now third on Google when searching for Spirit Airlines. It's only a matter of time before someone on the corporate level checks in to see what their policies are doing to their airline.
UPDATE: Spirit CEO Sends Rude E-mail to a Commenter (August 20th, 2007)
Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit, needs to learn how to use the "Reply to All" button. The level of arrogance in his response to a customer's complaint is mind blowing.
UPDATE: I've had a lot of people ask me how much I paid for my Spirit Airline ticket. I paid $320 and change for a round trip fare. Factor in the baggage fees, and it was about even with another airline. I picked Spirit because of the preferable flight schedule. Yes, they do offer $9 fares, but it would seem as if you have to live in Guam to have access to them.
UPDATE: CEO's email gaffe has caused this to go national. "Let him tell the world how bad we are." -- I think we can handle that one, Ben. Here's a rant I wrote with all my random thoughts of various comments for anyone interested.
Comments...
(Page 1)1. Wow, thats insane. Probably the worst airline service I have ever heard of. Did a little research, looks like others have had similar problems with Spirit Airlines
6:27PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Chris
2. I'm not one to say I told you so.... Luckily the Hives are... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsm2hSKkH7E
10:07PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Celly
3. That's terrible. I went to DC a couple months ago. Our flight was delayed 6 hours, and when we got there they couldn't open the plane door for 45 minutes!
When we got back home, my luggage didnt' make it!!!!!!!
I feel your pain!
7:40AM on Aug 5th 2007 by Cory
4. Dude,
Two people did fix airlines... JetBlue and Virgin America. Try 'em.
1:48PM on Aug 5th 2007 by Randall Bennett
5. Let me know if you make it to Vegas - Coin flip :)
7:37PM on Aug 5th 2007 by Chris
6. 8-5-2007
I booked my parents on a flight from Atlantic City to Tampa.
Immediately after clicking to book it I saw that there is
a charge for each and every piece of luggage.
That’s fine. The first 2 pieces are $5 each.
That’s ok to since the ticket was only $59.
The absurd part is that for a 3rd piece of luggage
they wanted; get this, $100 each way.
I called thinking this was a mistake on the web site
but was told that was the fee. When I asked them
to cancel the reservation that I had just made 5 mins
ago I was told it was non refundable.
My parents and I travel back ad forth at least
3 times a year. When I asked if they would rather
lose a few good regular customers or cut the cost
of the luggage they were unwilling to make any
considerations. Since the ticket for me cost
only $59 and the luggage cost $100 to check,
maybe if you book on this airline with their absurd policy,
you should purchase an extra ticket for your
luggage and put it in the seat next to you.
You will save $41 by doing so.
Because of their unwillingness to work with me
they will never see my backside on a
Spirit Airlines flight again.
And anyone I know will hear the negative experience
I had to endure. This airline was great for a long time
and I used it frequently. What a shame.
With customer service like this I would not expect to see
Spirit Airlines in the skies too much longer so
consider this when making your choice to fly with them
12:44PM on Aug 7th 2007 by Mike C
7. My boyfriend also had a horrendous time with Spirit a couple of weeks ago. He had a 9AM flight from Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale, and because of "technical problems" it was delayed until later. They boarded another flight a few hours later but ended up getting off that one too for the same reason. Apparently no one was telling people what was going on or how long the wait would be for the plane to be fixed. Eventually he got on a plane at 11pm (after waiting 15 hours!!) and when he got to FLL his bags had been lost. So, after calling the lost bag line a million times and never hearing a human voice and leaving a million messages, he went to FLL himself a few days later (we don't live in Fort Lauderdale!) to get the bag himself. The guy at the counter was an idiot and of course the supervisor was not available either at the time. Thank goodness they had the bag though, and we learned a good lesson: don't fly Spirit Air!! I'd rather have the extra $100 than deal with this hassle!
4:36PM on Aug 7th 2007 by Kelley C
8. Yeah... I had the exact same issue with Spirit this past weekend. And all I could think to myself was - I wish I had a good Blog to post too. =)
Get a call Saturday telling me my 3pm Sunday Flight from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale was canceled... Called back, "sorry too busy for you" message - hang up. Took a few hours of calling back to get through. Finally got connected and earliest new flight was Monday 5:45pm... shit. But what am I gonna do?
So I take tell the lady to switch it - no problem.
Get to the airport and I am looking for my flight... Flight 195, "to Orlando?". I was going to Ft. Lauderdale... Nice lady failed to mention on the phone there was ALSO a stop - when I specifically selected - and paid MORE for a non-stop flight.
Oh...and you only got hit $5 per bag? We got charged $10 per bag each way... and a $1 for a soda on the flight...
What a joke.
1:14PM on Aug 8th 2007 by Matt
9. You scared the hell out of me. We have 17 flying from det. to orl. soon. Booked last may, then we were called by our agent about the baggage costs.I paid these in advance. We sure as hell won't pay any extra now at this late date with every thing paid for. Will report my exprience when we get back, hope we get lucky.
7:12PM on Aug 8th 2007 by Brian E
10. I AGREE WITH THE POINT THAT SPIRIT IS BY FAR THE WORST AIRLINE COMPANY--DO NOT FLY WITH THEM BC IT IS NOT WORTH THE SMALL SAVINGS...
My sister, daughter and I had the most horrific experience ever imagined with your company on 07-31-07 when I showed up 1 hour before my international flight to Ft Laud FL from Kin Jamaica. I was originally informed by your customer svc agent Abigail Laing that the flight was overbooked and to move to the side of the wall behind another customer in order for the many others ahead of us to be served and then she would come to give us an update on the flight status.
Though we thought this was strange we stayed calm and cooperative, after about 30 minutes of waiting we were finally informed by what appeared to be a supervisor that, we were "late" for our flight and we would not be checked in for our 12:05 pm flight. The reason we found it hard to impossible to believe that this woman, Ms Russell, could be given such a title was because of her unsocial behavior and unfriendly attitude.
To give a brief summary of the events of that morning; the rude and discourteous supervisor Racquel Russell, Dispatch Svcs Ltd. Andrea Richards and Csr Svc agent Abigail Laing decided to "gang up" on us for lack of a better term and the other patrons. In order to show their power they attempted to scheme and hustle those who were not allowed to check in out of additional funds by claiming we were at fault because we supposedly showed up less than an hour before our flight and so we would have to book another flight for a later date. In addition, with no sympathy and a smirk on her face Racquel Russell advised we pay the re-booking fee plus the difference of the new flight costs and the earliest flight date would be Friday 08-03-07. After an hour of trying to make these agents understand that they were at fault from removing us from the line, overbooking the flight and their unwillingness to work out a fair and civil resolution, all of us realized it would of no use.
We concluded that Spirit Airlines would much rather get the re-booking fees and the difference of the flight charges than our continued patronage. I became sick from this upsetting and experience and made it clear I would not allow them to get away with this crime.
Although none of them could give me the time in which they claimed I showed up, they were very nonchalant and had absolutely no customer service skills nor were they trying to offer a solution that would pacify the chaotic situation. Instead, the trio, especially the ringleader Racquel Russell was extremely impolite, unwilling to satisfactorily rectify the problem and at times even ignored me and the other customers as her means of handling the issue. I have the names of 10 other patrons who were mistreated, lied to, and scammed out of hundreds of dollars because their company's representatatives refused to admit their wrong doing and provided the worst form of customer service I have ever had the dissatisfaction of encountering.
I was forced to purchase one way tickets with one of their competitors because they had an earlier flight, it would cost the same and they provided a high level of customer satisfaction that your employees need and should be trained on before dealing with the public again. I will take this to a higher authority if it is not handled appropriately and satisfactorily by Spirit Airlines. I emailed Spirit 8 days ago with a similar letter requesting a full refund of all three tickets and an apology letter signed by the three most incompetent employees that were mentioned above and haven't heard from anyone within their corporation. Subsequently, I am contacting the BBB about this incident.
8:53PM on Aug 8th 2007 by Trudy Hall
11. I had a very similar experience with Spirit on August 4th & 5th with a Detroit based flight. I received a call on the 4th approx. 5pm stating my flight the following day had been cancelled. After waiting on hold for 20 minutes, after finally hitting zero enough times not to be hung up b/c they were too busy to take me call, I was told that my flight to San Francisco was cancelled and that I would have to wait until Monday, August 10th (not even an accurate date) for the next flight to SF. Regardless that they couldn't get the date correct, a five day wait is completely unacceptable. I had a direct flight so I asked if there was any way to get to SF later that day or the following by getting a different flight with a layover. The customer service agent didn't know what a layover was. And this person answers call for an airline? What they did offer me was a flight on the 5th to Orlando. I live in CA, why would I fly to Orlando, FL? What good would that do me? At that point I asked to speak to a supervisor and the customer service person refused to let me speak to anyone else. I finally hung up and called back. A different person told me I had to wait to get to SF till August 10th and there was no other option available, but they would refund for the unused portion of my flight. Well, what good is $172 going to do me when I have to buy a last minute, one way ticket on another airline because Spirit gave me no other options and I can't wait 5 days to get back to CA? I have had flights on other airlines cancelled and they will make arrangements for you to get on another carrier. The airlines problems should not cause customers to have to pay hundreds of dollars for a last minute flight. This person also offered to fly me to Los Angeles on August 8th, but said it was up to me to find and pay for transportation to San Francisco. Again, a completely unnacceptable resolution. I didn't even bother to ask about the fee I had already paid for my two pieces of luggage. I am sure I'll never see reimbursement for that.
One the 6th I was able to call the corporate office. The person there was much more polite, but not much more helpful. When I began telling her what had happened her response was that "oh yeah, lots of flights were cancelled" like it's an everyday, acceptable occurrence. She did ask if I had been notified of options for free flights, etc. as a result of my cancellation, which I hadn't been, but there is no way I will ever fly on Spirit again so it doesn't really matter. At this point, 10:45am PST on the 7th, I am still waiting to hear back from the agent at the corporate office. She said she had to email her supervisor to find out if they could do anything. Why do they have people answering the phone that don't have the power to do everything? I told her I wanted to be reimbursed for the difference of the refund I was getting from Spirit and the last minute flight I had to buy on Southwest. I'll be shocked if she calls back (if they call back)and says they will, but if that's the case I don't plan to just let it drop.
I guess I have learned my lesson. The money I saved on my original Spirit ticket was definitely not worth the hassle. It's worth the couple hundred dollars to fly on an airline that has more flights and is willing to fix their mistakes.
Also, don't be fooled by them having the "youngest fleet in the Americas"
with "deluxe" leather seats. I am 5'5" and my knees were hitting the seat in front of me. The rows were extremely close together and the seats only recline about 1". It was the most uncomfortable plane I have ever been in...and that was just the beginning of my troubles.
8:57PM on Aug 8th 2007 by Alison
12. Welcome to the real world. Things don't always go how you want them to go. You bought the cheapest possible airline tickets to Vegas and then you threw a tantrum when your flight got cancelled. You're lucky they called you the day before and gave you a chance to make other plans. Instead you chose to pout and whine. You are a vindictive spoiled child. Grow up and get over yourself.
3:12PM on Aug 9th 2007 by Mike
13. Mike,
Congrats, I'm using your comment in my blog post itself. Find my response above.
4:14PM on Aug 9th 2007 by Alex Rudloff
14. 1) "If Google works their magic like they usually do, at least one of the 4,931 daily searches for "Spirit Airlines" will turn up this result and save someone the headache (and hopefully end up costing Spirit Airlines $6 or more). "
2) "I post my thoughts and experiences to my personal blog to enhance communication with my friends and family. I have no idea who you are, so I'm assuming you fall outside of those two categories."
It does not appear that you intended to communicate with friends and family, but that you posted this to inflict financial harm to Spirit Airlines as part of your little tantrum. See quote # 1.
Don't worry, Alex, I won't return to this site. I won't call you any more "names" like "Baby", for example. But you do need to get over yourself - for your own good. It's unbecoming. And if you don't want people to add comments to your blog, don't invite them to.
5:34PM on Aug 9th 2007 by Mike
15. Mike,
Absolutely, markets are conversations, and Google's primary job is to index conversations. If I can influence friends and family to avoid a bad product, while increasing the "noise" on Google reflecting their poor product to save others the hassle -- how is that not a good thing? I'm failing to see how you can possible support bad customer service. Are you a Spirit employee?
You are welcome to post comments on my blog, as is everyone -- and I am welcome to respond. I'm not attempting to come across as arrogant or unbecoming as you suggest, but merely lambasting a shitty product that has created a headache for a good many of us.
Again, posted on my blog (this time in the comment section), as well as e-mail. Transparency doesn't just apply to companies.
Best of luck to you,
Alex
6:25PM on Aug 9th 2007 by Alex Rudloff