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Northwest Airlines Complaint - Total Lack of Customer Care - Missed Connections
Missed Connections - Complaint
ST. PAUL, MICHIGAN -- I am writing concerning travel that occurred on Thursday, August 20th, 2009.
I booked flights for my two children, and their significant others, on Northwest Airlines on March 28th, 2009. I booked the flights far in advance to ensure that they could all attend their step-sister’s wedding and all of the activities associated with the wedding in Bar Harbor, Maine
Their Flight nrs are as follows:
Thursday August 20th, 2009 Flight: NW 1178
Departs St. Louis-Lambert Int’l, MO (STL) at 10:10AM
Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int’l, MI (DTW) at 12:50PM
Thursday August 20th, 2009 Flight: NW3863
Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int’l, MI (DTW) at 1:30PM
Arrives: Bangor-Int’l, ME (BGR) at 3:32 PM
The problem comes in with the airlines. Flight # NW1178 left (STL) and landed at DTW at 12:54 PM on August 20th. They were on the ground. We were tracking the flight status because we were picking them up at Bangor Intl Airport. They had to wait to get a gate. They all four of them plus 3 additional passengers arrived at their connecting flight before the plane left and at least several minutes before the scheduled departure time. They would not let any of them board the plane.
The airline was aware that their flight was on the ground and should have ensured that all of the passengers made their connection. It was not bad weather it was no act of god, it was simple inefficiency and lack of customer care.
Instead none of them were allowed to get on the plane. There are limited options to get to Bangor, Maine. The result was that they could not get on another flight until the next day, 24 hours and the same flight. However, Nortwest Airlines did put their luggage on that flight. Now they are captive in Detroit with no luggage.
Northwest said they were not responsible for paying for their hotel, and for for the four of them, gave them 100.00 in Airport vouchers for food and told them that they could stay for free at the airport.
Meanwhile back in Bar Harbor, Maine. They missed a family get together on Thursday evening, August 20th. Additionally they missed the family whale watching expedition the next morning. Their were two rooms reserved for them in Bar Harbor, Maine, which also were not occupied.
I cannot tell you how disappointing it was to not have them arrive on schedule.
These plans were made for a long time, and we had been looking forward to having all five of our children and their spouses and significant others together for a long weekend. Our children live all over the country and it is not often that they are all together, so this was especially difficult.
If bad weather had been the problem, that is something not under the control of Northwest Airlines. Ensuring passengers made their connections when the flight is on the ground is under the control of Northwest Airlines.
I made the reservations almost five months in advance yet Northwest must have given their seats to other passengers instead of allowing them to get on the plane which was still on the ground and did not depart the gate for at least 15 additional minutes. Otherwise there was no reason for them not to get on that plane as I mentioned their luggage was put on the plane so that tells you their was ample time for them to get on that plane.
I expect restitution from Northwest Airlines for this total lack of basic customer service.
They were not even treated kindly at the gate and were pretty much told there was nothing they could do about it.
There is something Northwest Airlines can do and that is refund the cost of the tickets. The Airline did not deliver the service that was expected and therefore I expect that at the very least. There is no price that can be put on the fact that they missed out on 24 hours of this special weekend.
Let me contrast this to an experience that My husband and I had with Northwest early on a Saturday morning, October 27th, 2007. We were flying from St. Louis to Chicago and then on to Ottawa, Canada. Our flight in St. Louis left over an hour late due to a flight attendant being ill, and they had to get a replacement for her. By the time we landed in Chicago, we only had 10 minutes to make it to another terminal across the tarmac to get to our next flight. They held the flight, when we arrived at the gate they said you must be the Heidbreders.
I don’t understand why the same courtesy was not extended to my children. It was a much more significant trip and had lasting results.
Northwest Airlines needs to understand that this type of customer treatment and lack of care has long reaching effects. The airline should always strive to ensure that passengers make their connections if their flights are on the ground in time. There is no reason for this type of treatment. I called Customer Service and was treated rudely again, the customer service representative would not let me finish explaining my complaint. I did get upset and he hung up the phone.
Distressed customer
I booked flights for my two children, and their significant others, on Northwest Airlines on March 28th, 2009. I booked the flights far in advance to ensure that they could all attend their step-sister’s wedding and all of the activities associated with the wedding in Bar Harbor, Maine
Their Flight nrs are as follows:
Thursday August 20th, 2009 Flight: NW 1178
Departs St. Louis-Lambert Int’l, MO (STL) at 10:10AM
Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int’l, MI (DTW) at 12:50PM
Thursday August 20th, 2009 Flight: NW3863
Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int’l, MI (DTW) at 1:30PM
Arrives: Bangor-Int’l, ME (BGR) at 3:32 PM
The problem comes in with the airlines. Flight # NW1178 left (STL) and landed at DTW at 12:54 PM on August 20th. They were on the ground. We were tracking the flight status because we were picking them up at Bangor Intl Airport. They had to wait to get a gate. They all four of them plus 3 additional passengers arrived at their connecting flight before the plane left and at least several minutes before the scheduled departure time. They would not let any of them board the plane.
The airline was aware that their flight was on the ground and should have ensured that all of the passengers made their connection. It was not bad weather it was no act of god, it was simple inefficiency and lack of customer care.
Instead none of them were allowed to get on the plane. There are limited options to get to Bangor, Maine. The result was that they could not get on another flight until the next day, 24 hours and the same flight. However, Nortwest Airlines did put their luggage on that flight. Now they are captive in Detroit with no luggage.
Northwest said they were not responsible for paying for their hotel, and for for the four of them, gave them 100.00 in Airport vouchers for food and told them that they could stay for free at the airport.
Meanwhile back in Bar Harbor, Maine. They missed a family get together on Thursday evening, August 20th. Additionally they missed the family whale watching expedition the next morning. Their were two rooms reserved for them in Bar Harbor, Maine, which also were not occupied.
I cannot tell you how disappointing it was to not have them arrive on schedule.
These plans were made for a long time, and we had been looking forward to having all five of our children and their spouses and significant others together for a long weekend. Our children live all over the country and it is not often that they are all together, so this was especially difficult.
If bad weather had been the problem, that is something not under the control of Northwest Airlines. Ensuring passengers made their connections when the flight is on the ground is under the control of Northwest Airlines.
I made the reservations almost five months in advance yet Northwest must have given their seats to other passengers instead of allowing them to get on the plane which was still on the ground and did not depart the gate for at least 15 additional minutes. Otherwise there was no reason for them not to get on that plane as I mentioned their luggage was put on the plane so that tells you their was ample time for them to get on that plane.
I expect restitution from Northwest Airlines for this total lack of basic customer service.
They were not even treated kindly at the gate and were pretty much told there was nothing they could do about it.
There is something Northwest Airlines can do and that is refund the cost of the tickets. The Airline did not deliver the service that was expected and therefore I expect that at the very least. There is no price that can be put on the fact that they missed out on 24 hours of this special weekend.
Let me contrast this to an experience that My husband and I had with Northwest early on a Saturday morning, October 27th, 2007. We were flying from St. Louis to Chicago and then on to Ottawa, Canada. Our flight in St. Louis left over an hour late due to a flight attendant being ill, and they had to get a replacement for her. By the time we landed in Chicago, we only had 10 minutes to make it to another terminal across the tarmac to get to our next flight. They held the flight, when we arrived at the gate they said you must be the Heidbreders.
I don’t understand why the same courtesy was not extended to my children. It was a much more significant trip and had lasting results.
Northwest Airlines needs to understand that this type of customer treatment and lack of care has long reaching effects. The airline should always strive to ensure that passengers make their connections if their flights are on the ground in time. There is no reason for this type of treatment. I called Customer Service and was treated rudely again, the customer service representative would not let me finish explaining my complaint. I did get upset and he hung up the phone.
Distressed customer
Comments:
Posted by justthefaxx on 2009-08-31:
That's exactly why "favors" like holding flights shouldn't be done. You'll always expect them. Waiting for a gate and holding flights is an air traffic control issue. Refund? They took the flights didn't they? Maybe they should comp you for something, but not a refund! If you travel by air you must understand these things happen.
Posted by Ponie on 2009-08-31:
I don't know about the reasoning given for not allowing your parties to board, but I do know this about weather at DTW on 8/20/09: My Sis and niece came in from DC to DTW at about 11AM. From a few minutes after they deplaned to about 2:30PM, we had severe thunderstorms rolling in and out of the Detroit area. We discussed that they 'just made it' that day.
Posted by JR in Orlando on 2009-08-31:
I looked up Northwest Flights for this Thursday from STL to DTW and found flights leaving St. Louis at a) 6:30 a.m. arriving Detroit 9:09 a.m.; b) 8:45 a.m. arriving 11:18 a.m.; and c) 10:20 a.m. arriving 12:59 p.m. You choose the absolute last flight they could take to make their 1:30 p.m. flight to Bangor, Maine leaving only 40 minutes to change planes. If you had choosen an earlier flight from STL, this would not have happened. The fault seems to be yours in chosing a flight that guaranteed "any" delay would result in them not making their Bangor flight. With the limited flights today, one must leave more time to change planes.
Posted by Ben There on 2009-08-31:
I would bet those thunderstorms Ponie mentioned had something to do with the delay. JR makes a great point about the very short connection. Just because an connection is valid does not mean it is the best idea. When I am flying on vacation or on international trips, I tend to take the flight before the last flight available to allow for delays... this has saved my trip a couple times. For work trips I sometimes will cut the connections as short as possible.
Posted by Ponie on 2009-09-01:
Ben, whatever happened to specific time between flight connections that was in force a few years ago? At the time that I was flying around the country several times a year to attend conventions, any service I used would not book me on a connecting flight if the time between was not at least 45 minutes. Didn't matter if the gates were next to each other at the airport. Looking over that schedule shown in the complaint, it works out to be only 40 minutes, doesn't it? I could very well be wrong...
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