Spirit Airlines CEO Says “Let Them Tell The World How Bad We Are” In Email Faux Pas.

Looks like more media outlets are picking up on this story! The Orlando Sentinel ran an article about it this morning and actually had a quote from their spokesperson who stated “We really don’t believe we have anything to apologize for regarding Ben’s email.” Seems to me, that’s a pretty poor response. Even if the customer complaint doesn’t have merit, the CEO shouldn’t have been so crass and their company should handle the PR better!

I know I won’t fly them anymore!

I flew Spirit to Santo Domingo last month. We were never notified of a gate change even when we asked about the flight 20 minutes before departure. We wandered around looking for answers and stumbled upon the new gate as they were announcing a final boarding call. When we asked about the gate change, they became argumentative rather than apologizing. Seems like the attitude trickles down from the top.

Once on the plane, the flight was good and the crew was nice.

“CEO’s arrogance and downright rudeness” OH! You mean the arrogant and rude demeanor you’ll get in an email/call/conversation from EVERY boss you’ll ever have? Let’s not forget this was supposed to be an internal memo. Have James and Christine sent emails to the hotel and the concert venue asking them for refunds? Of course not, they don’t have a leg to stand on. What is this going to accomplish exactly?

looks like Benny B is gonna be out of a job shortly.

Yeah, uh, the customers are hardly sympathetic.

Who books a flight like it’s a taxi? A 3-hour delay in their flight made them miss a concert? And they want the flight, concert tickets and hotel reimbursed? That’s sheer stupidity. I’m with the Big Bad CEO on this one.

They shouldn’t be compensated, but I suppose it was worth a try.

On the other hand, to respond to them in this way is pretty stupid.

Two wrongs, no right, and a lot of us talking about all the stupid people.

If it was only an hour delay that made them miss the concert I would agree that the airline is in the right away, but 3 hours is a ridiculous wait, and as far as I am concerned if I bought a hamburger from a fast food place and it took them 3 hours to make it I would feel I should not have to pay for it either.

The airline owes them, AT MOST, a travel voucher. It is not the airlines fault that the couple wanted to cut it so close. I did the same thing earlier this year. I was going down to DC and was set to arrive in DC around 5:30 with doors opening for the show at 8. My flight got delayed about a half hour so I still made the show but I totally could have left earlier in the day but I wanted the cheaper flight so I risked it. Atlanta is one of the busiest airports in the world, the couple certainly had options but they chose the cheap route. The CEO sounds like a jerk but take responsibilities for your actions!

Jose said : “Have James and Christine sent emails to the hotel and the concert venue asking them for refunds? Of course not, they don’t have a leg to stand on. What is this going to accomplish exactly?”

Jose, it wasn’t the concert’s or the hotel’s fault for them missing the concert. It was the airline’s fault. That’s the difference in why they DO have a leg to stand on.

Peter said: “Who books a flight like it’s a taxi? A 3-hour delay in their flight made them miss a concert? And they want the flight, concert tickets and hotel reimbursed? That’s sheer stupidity. I’m with the Big Bad CEO on this one.”

Who books a flight like a taxi? The airlines advertise for that kind of use. It’s not uncommon at all. Short commuter flights like this should have been are common. Maybe YOU don’t fly, but other people do, and they should be able to expect not to have unreasonable delays on a short flight.

Dave said: “I did the same thing earlier this year. I was going down to DC and was set to arrive in DC around 5:30 with doors opening for the show at 8. My flight got delayed about a half hour so I still made the show but I totally could have left earlier in the day but I wanted the cheaper flight so I risked it.”

A half hour wouldn’t have impacted them. An hour would have been fine. But 3 hours?

Look, as mentioned above, it was an internal memo. It’s a business, and he’s exactly correct. I might agree that a travel voucher is in order, but that’s as far as I’d go.

As to the “jerk” factor, ignore it. Again, it’s an internal email, and that’s simply the way Executives communicate. That brashness is WHY they’re able to run a business. They’re short and to the point, as they should be.

Don’t judge the email as a customer service response. It wasn’t intended to be. As an internal notice from Executive to Executive, it was valid and generally correct (again, a voucher wouldn’t have hurt).

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Valid and generally correct? Not intended as a customer service response? That’s correct — with a very big but. The CEO sets the tone that others will (must?) follow.

Look at what each of his individual sentences mean:

“We owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned”: When a customer has been negatively affected (directly/indirectly) as a result of our actions, then we owe that person nothing… not money, not vouchers, not an apology, not…

“Let him tell the world how bad we are”: Word-of-mouth advertising means nothing to us. Public perception through informal networks will not affect our bottom-line.

“He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny”: Growing the business by converting new customers into repeat customers is not of prime importance. Growth can always be achieved by making our prices lower.

*That* is what I call leading by example.

Dear everyone on the Internet, STFU. Love, Ben…

Please make sure every blog in America publishes this email, because I’m told “any publicity is good publicity,” and currently no one really knows or cares about us here at Spirit Airlines, even though we only charge $75 to chaperone retards to conc…

[…] DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(”"); } )() Spirit Airlines CEO Says “Let Them Tell The World How Bad We Are” In Email Faux Pas. | Ceosmack A couple by the name of James and Christine of Orlando wrote a letter to Spirit Airlines asking for […]

Customer service is not about who’s right or wrong but treating people how they want to be treated.

No one wants to be treated that way.

If somebody doesn’t provide what they promised you are owed no more than a refund for that service/product. What if I bought a pair of shoes to go climb mt everest and the shoe strings broke? would the shoe company owe me a free trip to everest to make up for it? just silly.

That airline guy is a douche though.

The CEOs only problem was Replying to All. These customers do deserve nothing. Things don’t go as planned. Flights get delayed. Boo hoo. They should have flown in in the morning or the night before. In my opinion Baldanza is right. Maybe he should have been a bit more tactful, but that doesn’t mean the airline should lose any money over this one incident. If they are consistently crappy then fine, we can criticize them, but because 2 people who could’ve planned better now want everything for free? No.

[…] Team Tendo recently had a lunchtime conversation in which we recounted our biggest email and IM blunders. Some were personal, some were business-related, but none of them were as catastrophic as Spirit Airlines’ CEO Ben Baldanza’s recent email SNAFU. […]

[…] Email Faux Pas […]

LOL, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read all week. Ha ha ha… if it was me, I’d give him a cash voucher for a few thousand and an appology.

In regards to:
“He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny”: Growing the business by converting new customers into repeat customers is not of prime importance. Growth can always be achieved by making our prices lower.
*That* is what I call leading by example.”

It’s done wonder’s for Walmart.

I’m going to side with the CEO - business is business and it was an INTERNAL email. Besides, 3 hour delay for a flight? Pssshhh.. that’s nothing compared to some delays.

Hey Peter, you’re just another customer that is so used to getting punked by companies that he/she thinks nothing of a 3 hour delay. Yes, I do book just like it’s a taxi…an air taxi. That’s what it is supposed to be.

The problem with today’s customers is that they should not continue to accept a 3 hour delay in their flight but they do. I’m not saying you should make the company fly the plane anyway, but I do accept (and always get) compensation if I don’t get the product I purchased.

I imagine you’re probably just fine with restarting your Windows computer when it has a problem with a program or needs to install patches. That’s not a feature, it’s a design flaw. It shouldn’t require anything in those situations.

You’re just too used to getting screwed that you don’t know you’re supposed to care anymore.

Peter Says:

Yeah, uh, the customers are hardly sympathetic.

Who books a flight like it’s a taxi? A 3-hour delay in their flight made them miss a concert?

“It’s done wonder’s for Walmart.”

Wal-Mart. You mean that company that’s starting to crumble, that Wal-Mart?

There’s no question that replying to all was a mistake.

The reality of air travel today, though, is that due to a variety of highly chaotic elements, sometimes long delays happen and are completely out of the control of the airline.

A travel voucher would have been nice, but wasn’t mandatory. And a refund for the concert and hotel? Get a grip!

You have something important you want to go to then you leave yourself more than a few hour window to get there. Sorry, but it isn’t anyone’s fault but the customer’s in this case… the airline still got the plane off the ground and to where it is going. They still could have gone to the destination, still could have stayed in the hotel, only having missed the concert which they planned poorly for (A bad traffic accident between the airport and venue could have done the same, would they then demand money from the people involved in the accident?).

And like others said, it was meant to be internal and you don’t sugar coat internal corporate email… he looked at the business impact and made the right call… these are unintelligent people who flew with them once, have proven they make poor plans when traveling by air, and have also proven they will complain all over the place at the drop of a hat - why would a company be interested in trying to retain that type of customer?

Those 2 idiots should not get a cent.

it was a weather delay and they want free stuff. good luck.

I hope the guy loses alot more then just a couple of customers. Frikken jerk deserves to lose his money. Obviously he doesn’t care about his customers so then he can lose them.

Just another case of big corporate America not caring about the individual customer, only about the bottom line.

This is another case of some CEO making too much money. Do the people deserve a refund? No they dont. It was there decision to not board the flight in the end anyway. Mister big bad CEO though should have kept his comments to himself. I hope it cripples the airline and he ends up sleeping on the street!

Im so sick of passengers always blaming the airline for any delay caused, like its there fault. I work for an airline and believe it or not it is actually more of an inconvenience for the airline then it is for the passengers when there is a delay, no CEO wants there aircraft sitting on the ground for longer then it is supposed to it costs them 20x more then what those passengers had to pay for their ticket and when you get people demanding there money back and being abusive to you like its your fault the aircraft is delayed (and in most cases the aircraft is delayed because it has something wrong with it and you don’t want to be announcing that over the PA or even traveling in it if its not fixed) then you want to do more then just write a silly little email……..

For those people who do fly you should be smart and mindful of these thing DELAYS are no an uncommon thing it happens on every airline so be wise and plan ahead for these things and if your flying on a cheap airline don’t expect the world. ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT ( no refunds for delays)

I’m surprised at the number of comments that are favorable to the CEO. The airline made a mistake; they promised something to the customer and didn’t deliver. Based on the CEO’s slack attitude towards the situation, I wouldn’t want to fly with Spirit.

the airline did not make a mistake, it’s not like the airline intentionally delayed the aircraft because it knew these passengers had a concert to go to and wanted them to miss it, the aircraft was delayed for whatever reason weather or mechanical and you could not hold an airline responsible for these things. if the aircraft took of knowing there was something wrong with it so it does not delay passengers to go to a concert and something happened then you could blame the airline.
also since when do CEO have nice attitudes. if this happened with another airline the CEO would have the same response ……

[…] This is more a story of the dangers of the “reply to all” button on your e-mail client&#…. Just read it, and be marginally entertained. […]

Judging from the price of the airfare - the flight was not all that far - surely driving distance? If you want to get there on time - every time - leave early and drive yourself.

Always have a backup plan!

There is no excuse for the comments made by Mr. Baldanza - and surely he does not stand alone when it comes to these “CEO” types who forget what customer service is all about. Had he paid this couple for the missed flight/concert etc… they would surely spread the word about the airline and its service to others they know.

Keep in mind the old saying - if you tell one person - they tell another 10 and so on… - that airline would have made that money back in a heartbeat just from word or mouth.

I know when others tell me of good feed back about a place - be it an airline, restaurant, department store, etc….if the comments are good - I will go there to.

first of all im not some big jerk but im sidin wit the ceos on this one its their own fault that they booked so late delayes happen an as for some poasters 3 hours isnt that bad no one here nows the circumstances maybe their way a huge thunderstorm so they couldnt take off an had to wait it out safty my friends and another thing fast food waiting 3 hours who would and when would it take that long these r plains my freinds not dubble dipped donughts at tim hortons shit happens an they shouldnt have to pay for their concert and hotel its again not their fault they were bein lazy and cheep y not ask the hotel for money or the concert oh wait cuz its not their fault either its yours for ur stupidity go get a job an quit winin i make over 300 in a week im sure u can do the same ppl like that make me sick silver hairs no dout always got somethin to complain about

I love righteous indignation boycotts. They’re so cute.

Stay with the major airlines and stop trying to save pennies when in the end it’ll cost you dollars. I understand why this guy is CEO of an airline like Spirit. This is how its suppose to work, (read all the paperwork they give you and have posted). If the airline has a delay going on due to weather or other reasons beyond their control there isn’t a whole lot they are required to do. In the event of an eqiupment delay which is in their power to prevent, ie aircraft broken, aircraft maintance, ground eqiupment or even FOD (forgiegn object damage) to the aircraft they are resposible for seeing to it that you have alternate transportation made to you. They also must provide you with food vouchers and arange for hotels if necassicary. Now I don’t know why the flight was delayed, however I do know that if the delay was something within Spirits control, aperantly they did nothing to rebook them onto another airline to get them to where they were going. If that is the case then yes Spirit owes them full compensation for the trip. Other airlines do it all the time when the ball has been dropped when a delay is their fault. I hope Spirits board of directors drop this guy, complete idiot.

Even had the reply not been sent to everyone, the CEO’s attitude is horrible modeling to associates in a *service* industry. Way to develop the brand from the inside, Ben.

Whether the customers deserved the refund is not the big issue here.

I am laughing at all of the people dumb enough to respond, “it was an internal memo.” Well, that’s the point isn’t it? It wasn’t internal because the moron CEO sent it to everyone. If you want to treat your customers like dirt and advertise the fact that you feel that way about them, don’t be surprised when it comes back to bite you on the…

I wonder if he’s a member of the World Trade Organization. If so, his attitude doesn’t surprise me one bit. Even though I’m 20 years old, I can remember the days customer service meant everything to businesses. Where even the bigger companies wanted to please their customers. But now, it’s a sham, a huge crock. Maybe the public can claim compensation on the absolute rubbish that these companies advertisements are saying.

Who cares?!?

Gawd!

Is it a surprise to anyone that there are folks in business who are not as tactful as we might expect (especially when sending what they think is an internal memo)? Is it a surprise that the feeling of over-entitlement most folks have will cause them to try to claim everything under the sun when they see a possible angle?

The real tragedy is we are all talking about this as if it is something new. Bottom line: this sort of thing happens everyday. Minor attention from the media (and blogosphere) gives us the mirage that we might change human nature. I can guarantee you the same thing has been happening for thousands of years.

Bottom line: six months from now, there’s not a person here (including the “victims”) that will care one iota about these events.

I am not one who flies allot but even I know to expect delays it is all over the news and websites.Since 911 delays are a part of flying.These same people that say airlines should be held accountable for delays are the same ones that will be screaming for someones head if terrorist fly another plane into a building or blow one up in flight.Of course then their argument will be if they suspected someone why didn’t they delay the flight to be sure etc.As is obvious from the comments here, There is no way for the ceo to win anything he says will offend someone.The couple gambled on a cheap flight and lost,But I will bet they still had fun with the hotel and the rest of their time there.They deserve nothing……….

The people who booked the flight must have been pretty crappy at scheduling their time. They booked a hotel, concert tickets, taxis, etc… But this all relied within a 3 hour time frame between their flight and the concert. If I was in that position, I would blame myself for not thinking ahead. Will 3 hours be enough to get settled into my hotel, then go to the concert?

Idiot. The CEO handled the e-mail like a total idiot, but that doesn’t change the fact that the victims were complete idiots.

Planes crash, busses crash, cars crash…. trains derail.

Before I make any judgments, really, what was their reason for the flight being delayed? I took a flight recently and many of my flights were delayed due to bad weather conditions. Sometimes an airline won’t tell its passengers why there is a delay, but it seems to me that if it were something like the weather, or maybe the plane had malfunctioned, then there isn’t reason to complain from the customers’ side. You wouldn’t make it to your concert if you were dead, either, would you?

This is absurd. Spirit is a great airline, and I happen to think that Ben is right — Spirit doesn’t owe these folks anything. I was recently delayed 24 hours by Northwest Air and didn’t get anything other than a voucher for a local hotel — nor did I expect it. It’s absurd to think that a three-hour delay should result in any sort of compensation. That’s not unusual at all with air travel, particularly in 2007.

jose, why don’t you bend over a little more and when you are done, pay your own credit card bills. because you seem to have quite a disposable income, and time on your hands too

I work for a travel company in the “claims” department. I tell people I will not be refunding them for flight delays all day long. They are not alone in thinking that someone should pay out for their lack of preparation. I dealt with one today of a similar thing, Their flight was delayed due to a hurricane grounding thier flight in Miami (this actually happened awhile ago but they are just now claiming it) and they wanted us (the tour company) to reimburse them for missed sightseeing in Paris, because their flight didn’t arrive in time. They make Travel Insurance for things like this. Look into it.

And this is exactly what CEO’s send. This is exactly what I send internally. He did nothing wrong, he’s just an idiot for sending it to the wrong people.

[…] very well cost Spirit Airlines very […]

[…] very well cost Spirit Airlines very […]

“Stay with the major airlines and stop trying to save pennies when in the end it’ll cost you dollars. I understand why this guy is CEO of an airline like Spirit. This is how its suppose to work, (read all the paperwork they give you and have posted). If the airline has a delay going on due to weather or other reasons beyond their control there isn’t a whole lot they are required to do. In the event of an eqiupment delay which is in their power to prevent, ie aircraft broken, aircraft maintance, ground eqiupment or even FOD (forgiegn object damage) to the aircraft they are resposible for seeing to it that you have alternate transportation made to you. They also must provide you with food vouchers and arange for hotels if necassicary. Now I don’t know why the flight was delayed, however I do know that if the delay was something within Spirits control, aperantly they did nothing to rebook them onto another airline to get them to where they were going. If that is the case then yes Spirit owes them full compensation for the trip. Other airlines do it all the time when the ball has been dropped when a delay is their fault. I hope Spirits board of directors drop this guy, complete idiot.”

Alright, first off, in no circumstance is it required for an airline to compensate you for delays. You say that if it’s a mechanical problem than it’s their fault? If your car breaks, is it your fault? You can change your oil every 3000 miles, and rotate your tires and get tune ups, but things still go wrong. It happens. It’s not your fault because you didn’t take good enough care of your car. Therefore, even mechanical problems with plane is not the airline’s fault. Things go wrong in life. Anyone who flies knows that there will most likely be delays. It’s the customer’s responsibility to prepare for that. Despite what anyone says, the customer is not always right. It’s the same as when someone wants a really expensive item from a department store for an unreasonably cheap price because it happened to be put in the wrong place. You know darn well that the $3000 plasma tv isn’t $300 because someone made a mistake. It’s the same concept. You know that there’s a chance your flight will get delayed. Book earlier. I once waited in an airport for 11 and a half hours because i decided to fly stand-by because it was cheaper. I can’t complain to the airline about that. I should have paid full price. And as far as the customer service aspect of it, that’s also not the CEO’s fault. He made a mistake and sent the email to everyone. It wasn’t intended as a customer service response. IT was his own business. Anyone who has worked in customer service knows that when you have a customer that’s just being unreasonable, you’ll be nice to their face but as soon as they’re gone, you’ll go off on a tangent about how obnoxious and annoying and unreasonable they were. It happens. Stop blaming everyone else for the fact that life gets in the way, and stop expecting everyone else to pick up your slack. Take responsibility for your own mistakes and book earlier if you want to make it on time.

pwnt

whether or not the company owes the customer anything or not, i don’t know. i’m not sure about what the rules for airlines are. but the CEO was a prick about the situation. he was not polite in any way. he does not care about the customers. that’s uncool, i don’t give a shit who it was “intended” for.

[…] CEO Smack on why you should know the difference between “Reply and Reply All”. […]

People don’t throw in a few extra hours just in case. Hell they say to be at the airport a few hours early. I would plan vice versa. Anyway people are always up for a scam. I have seen the same thing happen in hotels with that 100% garantee. People will complain about anything to get a free night. Free loaders. Delays are to be expected nuff said. When I travel even in a car at long distance I always plan to expect delays. The news even covers delays of flights. Is this big news. CEO is right let him tell the world! I bet the stocks go up quite frankly cause people who invest know abouit profit and loss and these types make companies have great loss.
Blah….tell the universe

He should have just sent them the “Bug Letter”

Reply to all was a mistake.
I work in the travel industry and if the delay was due to weather, act of God, no refund. The plane did fly from point A to B so they did as they planned. First travel rule of travel agents, you plan PLENTY of cushion time. Same for driving a car!!! If the delay was mechanical, they should have received a voucher for some compensation but that is it. Also, you can purchase AIR TICKET PROTECTOR INSURANCE that will cover these things. Call your travel agent and ask to purchase. Even if you don’t purchase the ticket with the agency, you can still purchase insurance.
Also, Spirit, Southwest, Allegiant, SKYBUS, and other low cost carriers do not have INTERLINE AGREEMENTS. This means that they will not place you on another carrier because that other carrier will not accept you!
There many many other idiotic rules in the industry that I can tell you that the airlines bury in the fine print. Ask any travel agent and they will help you maneuver through the crazy rules.
IMHO, voucher yes. Refund no. Purchase insurance.

Air delays happen. Had they used a travel agent, and purchased trip insurance, they could have filed a claim to have the cost of the concert refunded.

Why didn’t the concert wait up for 3 hours for these idoits? Why didn’t they ride bikes? Why do they want refunds from the hotel? They made it eventually…
The culture of self-importance is prevalent here - this is MY time; who says your time is even valuable? who do you think you are? you’re just another gerbil on the wheel…deal widdit…everyone is NOT that important…

ick

The way he stated his reply is bad, but people have to get used to long delays, not just with Spirit, but all airlines are experiencing the same. You can not expect reimbursement just because you want it. You need to adjust your plans and give yourself extra time when you fly. This is just the way it is now. Flying is no longer any fun, it is a pain in the ASS..

As a very frequent flyer, I feel confident in asserting that when it comes to airline service, you definitely get what you pay for. The low-cost carriers (LCCs) like AirTran, Southwest and Spirit are, in my opinion, generally less inclined to show sympathy towards their inconvenienced passengers. And let’s face it; if you’re only flying an LCC once or twice a year, for a couple hundred bucks each time, your business really doesn’t mean that much to the airline’s bottom line. IMO, their management figures that you’re totally motivated by price (not service), and so that’s what they deliver — bare-bones service at a bare minimum of price.

The older, more established airlines work harder to win and retain repeat customers, but like the LCCs, if you’re not a regular or frequent repeat customer (and yes, they do track this), there’s not as much of an incentive to bend in order to keep your business.

It’s quite worth it to be an elite-level frequent flyer on at least one airline, although that’s not an option for most folks. And while the service is nowhere near as good as it was before 9/11 (and not anywhere close to the swanky levels in the pre-deregulation days), planning ahead and making allowances for delays and travel hitches is still a good idea.

Of course, if you’re a Zen traveler and aren’t married to a timetable and calendar, more power to you.

Fundamentally, airlines are in the business of getting people where they want to go, on time. If I choose a flight for 5:00 o’clock, it’s because I want to fly at 5:00 o’clock. People actually pay different rates for flights at different times of the day, so it’s no unreasonable for the customer to expect that they get what they paid for.

I realize that airlines put all sorts of small print disclaimers on their tickets. That doesn’t make it right. They do it, not because it’s right, but because the consumer has no alternative. Go to a different airline? You can’t because they all have the same policies.

I have never seen an airline advertisement that said, “Hey, we’ll try to get you to your destination on time, but we make no promises.”

-Craig

Yeah I mean if you pay 35 dollars for a ticket. Then I don’t think you shouldn’t even get a voucher. Thats basically a hand out. The less you pay for a ticket the less your rights are. If you want the full rights pay for a full fare ticket. The reason that flight was delayed was weather. So they should have planned better.

A lot of people say it was supposed to be an internal e-mail so he shouldn’t have worried about what he was saying. I agree as far as that goes but, and here is the whole problem, he should learn how to send e-mails before he sticks his foot in his mouth. Everyone is so insulted by what he says about the customers but anyone that has worked in a service industry has much worse to say about their customers. Sure he shouldn’t have said that but everyone at soome point is rude to their customers the only diffrence is he used his e-mail and ended up stating his views to the whole world.

the aircraft was delayed for whatever reason weather or mechanical and you could not hold an airline responsible for these things.

yes i can. if you take care of your equipment, it won’t break. and if it does then you deal with it and compensate people for YOUR lack of maintence. when i book i flight i am paying you to take me from A to B ON TIME!! anything within your control (as in other then weather, airport employees hitting the plane with a baggage truck, so on) that prevents that means you owe me.

———————————-

Alright, first off, in no circumstance is it required for an airline to compensate you for delays. You say that if it’s a mechanical problem than it’s their fault? If your car breaks, is it your fault?

yes it is, if you don’t know more then basic maintence then take your car in when you notice something START to go wrong. story of every breakdown is 1)this thing started happening ‘but i didn’t think anything of it’/'didn’t think it was a big deal’ and then 2)car breaks down

———————————-

when will we ever put a single functioning agency in charge of air travel instead of this mess? air travel is too important for this. find someone ruthless enough to make planes run like mussolini’s trains

You buy a flight from one destination to another, you don’t buy a guaranteed arival time. For those of you who believe otherwise, ask the company that you are booking your next flight with for a guarnatee on the arrival time. They will laugh at you. You are not a Fedex package, you are general air freight.

These two individuals and all the people who have posted that they would have demanded compensation from the airline as well are the types of customers that no company wants. They cost you to much money for no real benefit. I would have told them to get lost as well, although maybe a bit more tactfully.

You buy a flight from one destination to another, you don’t buy a guaranteed arival time. For those of you who believe otherwise, ask the company that you are booking your next flight with for a guarnatee on the arrival time. They will laugh at you. You are not a Fedex package, you are general air freight.

These two individuals and all the people who have posted that they would have demanded compensation from the airline as well are the types of customers that no company wants. They cost you to much money for no real benefit. I would have told them to get lost as well, although maybe a bit more tactfully.

I work for a hotel, and I sell concert tickets. Considering that most concert tickets are non-refundable nor exchangeable, and that most hotels will charge a penalty if you don’t check in on time, I would be asking for compensation for these things too. Now, if they were able to get refunds on the concert tickets, and if the hotel didn’t charge penalty, then no, the customers are not entitled to any compensation.

[…] plus the cost of the concert tickets, and a few other things to be refunded by the airline. The CEO, by mistake, hit “Reply to All” on his email and basically said “So what? They’ll be back when they can save a buck.” While […]

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I just flew spirit and will never fly spirit ever again and advise the world never to fly spirit airlines. I purchased my ticket thru travelocity,the price was decent,but then they screwed me with vaseline at the airport charging me $10.00 bucks for each bag. The counter agents were very rude and the flight attendents were very rude to other passengers, then my laptop went missing and my golf bag was open and exposing my golf clubs. they didn’t steal them cause they are lefthanded, and nobody picks up the phone at spirit.if you don’t understand this article go back to grade school. They should call this airline “the airline from hell”, and the stockholders or board of directors should fire this nincumput ceo yesterday, because it won’t be long when this airline is out of business.send this website to your local newspapers and the word about this atrocious airline will spread bigtime

Now imagine how many of you would be bothered by this if there was no reply.

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I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

I puchased 4 rt tickets from Orlando to Puerto Rico on August 11, 2007. Two days later i realized i was double charged. On August 14th I recieved an email confirming the cancellation of the double charge. I was told I would receive the funds back in my account in 7-14 business days. Being that my wedding wasn’t until September 30th, I figured i had plenty of time to recover this and cover my wedding expenses and the remainder would be used for our honeymoon cruise. After 4 weeks and an unbelievable amount of dead-end calls to Spirit, my bank manager decided to get involved. He spent hours on the phone, promised a return call with-in a 2 hr time period, which he never received. It is now October 15th, well over 2 months and I still get a run-around and no refund. If it was only $100. I would have given up, but we are talking $848.50. My best friend and her husband went with us, the tickets were like $212 something a piece. If anyone can point me in the right direction as for HELP, I would be so grateful! Or should I head to small claims court? Spirit is obviously getting interest off my money, and I had to borrow money from a friend to compensate and get me thru the weddng finale an spending money for the cruise.

Last time I went flying, we ended up 2 hour late due to trouble with the flaps on the plane.
The airline, not only arranged for a room at a quality hotel in the city I landed in, but also paid for taxi to the hotel. Oh and they also paid the fare for the bus I missed because of their delay.

Oh and another time, I got paid 300$ by the airline I flew with and another airline, because the other airline had a delayed flight, and some of their passengers would be too late for heh, a concert. So they got my seat(and another blokes seat), and I got 300$ and upgraded ticket on first class(the other bloke also got this).

I can’t think of a single time when I’ve been flying and the airline was delayed, where they didnt pay the costs their delay cost me, or otherwise made sure I was well compensated.

But then again, what do I know? I’m norwegian, and we got something called “Consumer Power”… Something that’s unheard of in the land run by the mighty $.

Spirit is destined for failure. Is it just me or does the Big Bad CEO look like he has dick breath?
I will never fly Spirit again. Worst service - lost our luggage on our anniversary trip to Punta Cana…Worst airline out there…

B. Ben Baldanza = Teletubbie (the other cronies at the top also resemble them as well)

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I am glad you posted this message about Spirit Airlines. I was about to book a ticket.
Thank you.
I will travel with another airlines

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Good comment. It brought light to an old idea I had….

I had to cancel the flight that I booked on Spirit for my fiancee and I. Well being new to reserving tickets in Spiritair.com, I mistakenly hit the “non-refundable” button by mistake. My fiancee was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus after I booked and needs a hysterectomy. Therefore she would not be able to travel. HUGE BLOW to us before we get married, knowing that she will never be able to bear children (she is 34 years old and her lifelong dream was to have children). Tried explaining this to Carol in customer service (agent id: 7198076) but she told me there’s nothing she, nor any supervisor could do, less they be “terminated”. “This is our policy, and you knew what you were doing when you booked your online tickets” she explained over and over, with no emotion whatsoever. I desperately need this money to help pay for medical bills now, but do you think Spirit would make an exception to their policy for this one case? Heck no, and they couldn’t care less… after all, they have a “policy” whcih to me means that they simply do not give a !#$$! about their customers and what goes on in their lives. Do not give these aweful people your money, they do not deserve it!!!

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[…] with friends and family. Well, several hundred other people decided to share theirs, including an email sent out from the CEO of the company telling his subordinates to ignore the complaints, that their business wasn’t important to […]

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I HAD A TERRIBLE FLIGHT WITH SPIRIT AIRLINES. IM A PROFESIONAL ENTERTAINER AND ME AND MY BAND FLEW FROM ATLANTA TO LASVEGAS FOR A CONCERT LAST MONTH. WHEN WE BOARDED THE PLANE SOMEONE THREW A CUP ON THE FLOOR AND THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT CAME DIRECTLY TO ME OUT OF ALL PEOPLE AND DEMANDED THAT I PICK THE CUP UP, AND REPLIED IM NOT GONNA PICKUP BEHIND YOU KIND OF PEOPLE. I CANT TELL YOU HOW SHOCKED I WAS. THROUGH THE WHOLE FLIGHT THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS WERE VERY BAD SPIRITED TYPE OF PEOPLE. I CANT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I WAS TO ARRIVE IN LASVEGAS, AND ILL NEVER FLY SPIRIT AIRLINES EVER, AND I WOULDNT CARE HOW LOW THE AIR FAIR IS.

I flew spirit from Lima, Peru to Ft Lauderdale and while they only offered a glass of water at no cost, they did run a full beverage and snack bar for a small charge of $2.00. No pillows or blanket but I found both the Lima, Peru check-in agents, gate agents and flight attendants to be extremely polite and friendly.

Spirit is indeed a Low Cost Carrier but I was positively impressed by their personnel. FYI, I’ve been an airline employee for over 25 years so hopefully I know what I’m talking about.

Get ready for the experience, purchase something to eat and drink onboard and your service expectations should be to have a safe flight which I strongly believe Spirit offers on the Lima, Peru to Ft. Lauderdale lanes.

I thought this experience could have been a lucky stride but I took their flight again and the experience prevails.

My only recommendation is for you to better manage your expectations.

I am a member of the Spirit Airline email group and I receive emails daily about special airfares. When I try to retrieve the special deal there are none to be found.
Today 11/08/07 I was to fly Spirit Airlines from Atlanta to Cancun. I arrived at the ticket area for luggage check in at 7:15 AM. There were no other passengers at the check in area when I arrived. I only had 45 minutes before my flight was to depart. My late arrival was due to delays with our MARTA train system. My companion who was to fly with me could not make the same flight with me so I had booked her on another airline for the next day to accommodate her ability to be in court on 11/09 and to arrive in Cancun for a relaxing 5 4 days. It took the lady at the counter 15 minutes to figure out how I could not have my companion on the same flight I was taking. I had let her know two times why my companion was not with me but that my companion would be returning with me on the Spirit flight when we departed Cancun 11/13. After the ticket agent searched and received much help from her associate she finally addressed me. She look at me with no regret and said I would miss my flight due to the aircraft was starting to board. I ask if she could check me in and I would make it to the gate prior to take off. She refused to check my luggage only to say the flight was boarding. She said there was another flight departing at 2:15 PM. I ask her what I needed to do to get on that flight. She said I would have to pay $548 additionally for her to book me. I told her that was out of the question and what other alternative did I have. The ticket agent said I could take the same Spirit flight on 11/09. I ask what did I need to do and I was told that there would be a $236 charge for me taking the same flight the next day. I told her that was also unacceptable. She never once apologized for her delay in not knowing how to work her own terminal. I am now out $1575 for my great 5 day relaxing trip to Cancun. My trip was not taken due to Spirit Airlines none curing and unprofessional people who work at their check in area in Atlanta. I will be printing my story in our local newspaper so others in my county and community will never use Spirit Airlines. It is obvious that the trickle down effect from Spirit Airlines CEO is working.