Alaska Airlines Sucks! (WARNING: DO NOT FLY!)
Last Friday afternoon I was supposed to fly from San Diego to San Francisco on Alaska Airlines. We all know that the airline industry as a whole has gone down the tubes lately, but the 7 hour ordeal I went through was just a little over the top - talk about a business that could not care less about their customers.
It first started with weather and air traffic control delays - a problem which seemed unique to them as 3 United Airlines flights for San Francisco left with no problems. They then boarded us and announced that we had one additional delay. When our time to leave came up they told us that one of the air-conditioning packs was on the fritz - even though I could swear that we were still getting fresh air through the vents. When that was fixed, a circuit breaker tripped, and we all had to deplane. We each got a $6 meal voucher which got you a small pizza with no toppings and no drink - pepperoni or anything else had to be paid for by the customer.
We were then told/lied to that we would leave on an airplane that was parked at the gate next door with the same crew except for a new pilot. In the meantime I noticed that they had changed the flight number at the gate with the supposedly broken plane to a later San Fran flight.
When we finally boarded our flight one guy from the later flight tried to get on ours and was told that his flight would board momentarily at the gate next door. Knowing that the plane was broken, and having been lied to all night, I felt bad for him - thinking he would not see San Fran that night.
Our new plane had no power, since power could only be turned on by the pilot who had not yet arrived - a new twist in the story as I was led to believe that we had a new pilot who was already in the San Diego airport. No power means that it really gets hot, and it also means that the toilets do not flush, so it really gets stinky too. After being in there for awhile we saw the other airplane - the one we were on originally - take off for San Francisco! Once that flight was gone we were told that our pilot had arrived but that he was so ill that he had to be taken away by paramedics…so they cancelled the flight.
Couldn’t they come up with a better story?
Obviously they decided that since we were so delayed already they were better off canceling our flight and having the next flight be an on-time departure. Instead of telling us that, they kept us at the airport for another few unnecessary hours and then made us board an empty plane so that we would not rebel when the later flight took off…
…of course, there was no budget for overnight accommodations…you were on your own - they would not even make suggestions on where to stay. There was an Alaska Airlines manager at the airport but he was not available to speak with customers - I bet he was fearing for his safety at that point.
When I tried to leave for San Francisco the next day, the only thing they could do for me was to get me there by 10:30pm through Portland. When I asked if they could put me on another airline they rudely told me that they could not do that and that I had to buy another ticket from another airline directly if I wanted to see San Francisco before 10:30 that night…
Note to self - never even think of flying Alaska Air again. They are rude and they don’t even try to pretend that they are not lying to their customers.
[Tags: Alaska Air Alaska Airlines customer service worse practices airlines]
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February 12th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Man, that sucks. I’m really sad to hear you had such a crappy time of it all. However, I’ve flown Alaska for years and never had the problems you experienced at that airport.
My point is this: I would rather see you take action to correct the problem than flame them on a blog where you attempt to influence people not to fly with them. I understand it sucks, and they certainly didn’t attempt to help you while you were there. But, there are other people to talk to - some of whom I’m sure would love to hear your experience and kick the asses of the people who handed those to ya.
Coming from a customer service perspective, they should be clamoring to fix the problems you’ve mentioned with those people, in that airport.
My experience with Alaska has been stellar. Regularly on-time, and always cheerful.
February 12th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Oh, and I have no association to them whatsoever. I don’t own stock in them. I’ve never been paid by them, etc. Just figured I’d throw out that disclaimer so people don’t try to discredit my comment. I’ve been a regular reader of this blog for a while now and I typically love what’s posted. This one just caught me off guard.
February 12th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Nate - I guess I see your point. But considering that this whole fiasco cost me an extra $900 in hotel room and new ticket costs and that when I tried to rectify the problem I was being treated rudely I could not hold myself back.
Another woman who was on that flight asked at some point if they would provide transportation for her from San Fran to Oakland as it looked like she was going to miss the last public transportation. The guy said “we do not provide transportation between airports.” Then she asked (this was before the flight was canceled) if she could go in the morning as she had no transportation but knew someone in San Diego and the guy said “no, you’d have to buy a new ticket.”
There was also an elderly woman who required a wheelchair. When we deplaned they just “dumped” her by the counter without telling her anything until we boarded the next flight. She got so worked up that she did require paramedics.
All those things made me angry enough to blast them on my site. They cost me real money, real aggravation and real discomfort. Why would I not vent in the face of such customer “abuse”?
I am usually really careful when I blog about problems I run into, as I know the effects all to well. But I believe that companies have to be held accountable for mistreating their customers.
Thanks for the kind words about my blog! I am a frequent and loyal reader of yours as well and I hope I will be able to continue to provide value in the future.
February 12th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
BTW - the cost I mentioned does not include the cost of the Sheraton Hotel I had reserved in San Francisco and which was guaranteed for late arrival. Those people were nice enough to not charge, even though I only canceled around midnight.
February 13th, 2007 at 5:19 am
Francois
Reminds me of a very similar situation when British Airways messed-up big-time in a snowy Paris, leaving the Station Manager refusing to talk to tired customers and customers with no opportunity but to seek an extremely expensive hotel down-town, whilst they waited for a flight the following day.
As has been widely acknowledged by service failure researchers, a catastrophic service failure of the kind you experienced is enough to turn you off from flying Alasks for ever.
Alaska failed to deliver the outcome it promised, showed how broken many of its processes were and treated you apallingly in the process. Oh and it didn’t make the slightest attempt to recover the situation. You have every right to be angry and to advise others to avoid flying their particularly unfriendly skys.
Flying is fraught enough in these difficult times without incompetent, unfriendly, rude airlines. Sometimes public shaming is the only way to get airline management to sit up and take note.
Maybe this will become their ‘Alaska Hell’.
Graham Hill
Involuntary Frequent Traveller
February 13th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Francois,
Wow, that certainly takes the cake for customer abuse. I’ve yet to hear (personally) of a real situation that’s worse than what you’ve described, and I certainly don’t blame you for writing what you did.
I took the liberty of contacting Alaska Air via their contact form, mentioning your blog, and asking them to rectify the situation by at least joining in the conversation here, if nothing else.
We’ll see if they actually take that seriously and show up. I’d be happy to know if they contact you in some other manner as well.
February 13th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Nate - I hope that they would engage in this conversation and better yet reimburse me for my hotel night and my same-day-purchase flight to San Francisco on United.
But if the attitude of the people I dealt with was any indication of their corporate culture, somehow I doubt this will happen…
March 21st, 2007 at 11:30 pm
I have flown alaskan airlines I don’t know how many times. Each time I feel like I’ve been held hostage. I have indeed been held hostage because no one else flies to the locations I travel to in Alaska. They have tried to cheat me out of sky miles. They have disallowed me to board an airplane because I was, get this, 2 minutes past the check in time in Yakutat, Alaska. That is we were at the gate 43 minutes early rather than 45 minutes early. We were in line and the guys in front of us made it in the magic time but we were denied. The plane wasn’t even on the ground yet. We watched the plane land, people and gear deplane, new passengers load, their luggage was loaded and they took off. The “woman” at the counter got sick of us pointing out to her that we could’ve made it so she just left us standing there. Try finding lodging in Yakutat, a village of 600 people. My luggage has been lost, delays are very common and this airline could indeed not care if you fly them or not.
March 24th, 2007 at 3:32 am
I have had a very similar experience with Alaska Airlines. We were supposed to leave San Diego at 3:00 pm for Seattle. First delay was 2 hours, second delay was another 45 minutes. They said the plane needed a part that had to be flown down from Seattle. Meanwhile, they switch our flight to another plane that now needs a pilot because the other one has timed out. They choose to DRIVE the pilot down from Los Angeles at 5:30 in the afternoon. Hello??? Can anyone say rush hour?! 30 minutes later we watched our 1st malfunctioning plane take off. We are still waiting. We finally get standby seats on a following flight and get to Seattle 5 hours after schedule.
The story is not over.
3 days later we were flying back to San Diego from Seattle. After half of the passengers boarded we were told that there was a mechanical problem and we needed to switch gates to a new plane. OK, no problem. We all board the plane, and sit. For 1 hour. There is another mechanical problem. This is finally fixed and we push back, and sit. For another 35 minutes. As they did the last walk around of the plane, they realized they must de-ice before going up to 40 thousand feet.
I will NEVER fly Alaska Airlines again. They made very poor choices and were never honest with their customers.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
5 hours late sounds good to me if I get there safe, rather than the airline just taking off without taking all necessary precautions.
August 7th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I just had the WORST experience every flying on, you guessed it, Alsaka Airlines. Long story short: Travelling with two 12 year olds and a dog, I booked and paid for 4 first class tickets from Spokane to Seattle then on to Orange County without changing planes. Easy enough, right? We get to the airline an hour and a half early, and are promptly told that there is a 3 hour delay (on a Mon. with perfect weather?), but that there would be no problem with the flights. After waiting for three hours, we ask if it is on time, and are told that they decided to cancel the Seattle to OC portion of our flight (with no announcement) and attempt to put us up for the night in a crappy hotel in Seattle. The lady “helping” us just said “sorry, we just dropped the ball on this one”; after speaking to a supervisor he figured out that if we went from Spokane to Seattle to Portland to Orange County, we would “only” get home 6 hours later than expected. However, what is still not addressed is that the flights we paid for were supposed to be first class, and the ones we got were coach. Oh, I almost forgot; I still don’t have my 5 bags I checked on. I am now going to tell my credit card company that I dispute the entire charge on my credit card, since I clearly did not get anything close to what I paid for. Let them fight it out, because you can’t even talk, let alone reason, with any human being in the airline industry. My family and I decided no more travelling - it’s just not worth it. I hope the entire industry goes down the tubes, because it has clearly been taken over by most likely harvard mba types that have been educated beyond their intelligence and only care about stock price and options. Good riddance.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
My dad works for tha Alaska Airlines so shut up!!!!!!!!!!
September 18th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Tell daddy to complain to management
October 20th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
My experience from LA to Anchorage.
Check-in counter closed 2 minutes before we were at counter.
This was due to an earlier cancelled flight (reason being the pilots exceeded rest time), causing a long queue at the counter.
Our confirmed seats were given away.
Waited at the airport for 8 hours + 2 hours delay for a connecting flight via Seattle to Anchorage.
No meal voucher or anything.
At Seattle we ran for out connecting flight.
Arrived Anchorage without our luggage.
Total airport time: 16.5 hours
Luggage recovered 5 days later in LA.
Wrote in for compensation.
After a few e-mails, ALASKA AIRLINES refuse to reply anymore, said something about Singapore Airlines will compensate us.
What a load of shit.
Anyone has contacts to higher management?
October 20th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Dear Bryan,
I would like you to ask your Daddy for the management’s contacts.
Anyone who can help would be good.
Thank you.
Cheng KL