Southwest Airlines
reviews and complaints

Stolen luggage contents by SOUTH WEST AIRLINES [ Archive Post ]

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Posted on 03/31/2008

I am beyond devastated at having contents of my luggage stolen by South West Airlines employees. I am Australian and here on vacation- so to have basically my only possessions taken from me is so upsetting. On a flight from Texas to Fort Lauderdale yesterday, the 30th March, My boyfriend and I checked through two bags- his made it mine didn't. It was supposedly 'delayed' and then some what lost due to the tag having 'fallen' off and then it turned out once they finally located it that the only half the contents of my luggage was in there. I had my lap-top and the contents of my life stolen with all my personal information/documents/photographs/music/banking details etc on the lap top STOLEN. They also took out both mine and my boyfriends i-pods and all our i-pod accessories. They left us with a couple of t-shirts and my toilitries! South West airlines of course takes no responsibility! I know I was stupid for checking through these items but as my luggage also contained toilitries I couldn't carry on. I actually made sure with the check in lady that my computer would be alright to send as it was fully protected and padded!
Once I finally received what was left of my luggage- which took about 10 phone calls and a lot of tears and stress. I asked the luggage department if anyone but their employees would have had access to my luggage- and she even admited that no only their employees would have had access to it. I am so angry! Basically this means the airline can get away with taking anything they like from checked in luggage if they supposedly have no responsibility! It is impossible to claim anything back or even get them to check their employees and find out why this is happening. I read another review on this site from a person who had the same thing happen to them. I would really like action to be taken. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I don't want to be left feeling powerless! When are airlines actually going to take responsibility for what is happening and making it impossible for the consumer to do anything to rectify this situation. Something needs to be done.

I traveled SW 11/07 ... I checked my digital camera in my suitcase. Dumb on my part because by the time we arrived back in Baltimore it was gone. I contacted the Director of Aviation at McCarran and they too reviewed the TSA tapes and determined that it was not taken by TSA ... leaving the ball in SW airlines' court. I received the same letter from SW that James received.

At this point in time, it's not a matter of my monetary loss ... the pictures on that camera are worth more than SW could ever pay me. However, it is a matter of justice. They apparently have hired thieves in the form of baggage handlers. My thoughts are that when TSA places the sticker on the outside of your suitcase, if they in fact have to search your bag, that is a signal to the thief that something valuable inside of the suitcase. They open it, find it and STEAL it.

Southwest Airlines simply does not take responsbility for it because their fine print on the ticket jacket says so. My question would be... so who is responsible for the hiring of theives that are stealing personal possessions from unsuspecting travelers?

Southwest Airlines is enabling these people because they simply do not care. They are protected by the fine print. In the meantime, these thieves continue to help themselves to your personal items on a daily basis.

It seems to me that Southwest Airlines and other airlines are allowed, by the government, to operate under different rules than the rest of us. They are allowed to continue to keep thieves on the payroll because no one cares enough to find out who is doing this. I cannot imagine that it would too hard to figure out. It was either someone in baggage handling at McCarran or in Baltimore. How hard could it be to take the bull by the horns and stop this from happening?

Bottom line... I dont' care how cheap SW is. In the future I'll pay more to avoid flying them. They condone stealing and that is something that I find unethical!

I flew Southwest fromTampa to Denver on the 23rd Dec and will go back to Tampa in the 3rd of Jan.I am dreading the flight, we were totaly unaware of the way you have to sit at the computer to get into sections. I do not play those kind of games trying to get into an A or B section. When our group was called of course the C section , Like a lot of people like us were unaware of this system. So naturally we were all bewilderd, the check in was disasterus. We boarded, and there were only sporatic seats , and people were saving seats for people in our group. I had to fly not having a seat next to my husband over 4hrs. One family was split up with 3 children. I will try to play your game going back, of trying to get an early board , onthe computer. But when I fly I like to know I have a seat next to my family especially when you book months in advance. That should be the boarding factor. First booked first served. Also the Young lady who checked us in was very condecending. She closed the door and said I am sure you all know how to count 1 an2 etc.Like we were in grade school.On the good side the snacks wre good. Yours Rita Carlson.

I won't check a bag at all. If I travel with a laptop, I will ALWAYS take it on the plane with me at ALL times. The total value of the contents of a checked bag should never excess $100 (the value of your clothes plus some extras).

Several issues with this post.
First, the airline cannot be held responsible for weather. The plane from LGA was delayed by two hours? That would have been your first clue to ensure that you were going to make your connecting flight and yes, it would have been YOUR responsibility to check that out, not the airline's.
Second, the airline cannot be held responsible for air traffic conditions. Atlanta is one of the busiest airports in the world. A delay causes a huge backlog in departing and arriving flights that they have to organize safely. Your plane diverted to Augusta for refueling - what was the alternative? Also, you're obviously not aware that flight attendants and pilots cannot legally fly more than a certain amount of hours. The flight attendant was showing empathy - don't fault her for expressing her own concerns about getting home that evening.
The rest of your rant is also indicative of an uninformed consumer - how can the airline be responsible for the conditions at the Atlanta airport or what TSA tells you? And for goodness sake, what's so special about you that you should get preferential treatment for a seat on either of the two already oversold flights the next morning?
I understand it was frustrating but wishing that 9000 people lose their livelihoods because of your bad experience? That speaks volumes about your overinflated sense of entitlement. If you have unrealistic expectations, you can guarantee disappointment in any area of your life.

The fact that you call it 'airtrans" clearly shows that you have no comprehension of the industry, nor even the airline with which you booked.

It's AIR TRAN AIRWAYS. Not Airtrans. And guess what? It thunderstorms in the south in the summer. Airlines do not divert their airplanes for ### and giggles. It costs them THOUSANDS of dollars to do so.

You then go on to state that there was 1 AIRTRAN and 1 DELTA rep manning the entire Atlanta airport. Considering that combined, Delta and AirTran dominate the WORLD'S BUSIEST AIRPORT (one that has over 35, 000 employees), I find it hard to believe that only 2 employees were on duty. Sounds like you're another cry-baby passenger who wants the cheapest fare for the most superior service, and could give two schillings over the concerns of atc, weather, or other factors.

In a word, grow up, or take the bus. And by the sounds of it, you've got the manners for the latter.

My advice for US air travel, is to NOT check a bag on any of the airlines at all. SWA has a lower lost baggage rate than most of the other airlines. If you aren't comfortable "checking" a bag with SWA, Don't check a bag if anybody at all, DOT says they are worse.

As for the folks who missed their flight in Vegas. Well DUH! 140 people showed up and made the flight on time. You didn't. Hmmmmmmmm 140 vs. 2. Who could possibly be in the wrong? Certainly couldn't be the dip ### who didn't even ask about the flight until an HOUR after their departure time.

And for the [censored]hs who claim that "they gave everybody diffent seats". They don't GIVE everybody different seats. They give seats left to give. Check in early if you have a group, or check in ON LINE. Like the rest of America, you wont' take responsibility for your own INACTION.

Are you people kidding? Nobody promises flight holds. What airline is gonna hold a flight (when it has to get it's destination and immediately turn to the next flight) for 4-5 people?

Grow up or fly Greyhound.

Garden variety complaint here. Made an online booking. AirTran's system sent me a confirmation email with an error in the itnerary. I checked my email in a separate window immediately following the booking, so I returned to the confirmation screen in the window that I used to book. The confirmation email indeed differed from what I was shown in the booking confirmation page.

So I called customer service. They straightened it out, but charged me a ten dollar booking fee. I expalained that since the error was caused by them, that I should not have to pay the direct booking fee. They agreed that it was their error, but "There is nothing we can do about it."

There is something that I can do about it. I will avoid AirTran. And I will encourage others to avoid AirTran.

In fact, the real name of the airline is AirTrash.

We also had problems with air tran we flew out of seattle and had a connecting flight to Orlando, when we arrived at the gate for our flight to Orlando they informed us that they gave our seats away, they didn't think we would make it. We informed them that we were on time and we wanted our seats we were travelling with thee children. They finally removed the people from our seats and we left. I wish that was it but its not. We flew back to Atlanta for our sons wedding and on the return flight for home they gave all our family different seats our three year old was going to have to sit with strangers for 5 and a half hours. When I approached the gate they said to talk to the stewardess so I did they told me to talk to the passengers and see if they would change seats they would not help. Finally one man did trade and I got to sit with our three year old but our other two children sat with strangers and my husband was up in the front. They also told us our luggage was oversized on our return home, funny thing is everyother airport said it was fine. They charged us 87.oo dollars more. Would I take airtran again, not in a minute. They were rude and not in the least bit helpful.

My boyfriend and I had a flight leaving from Las Vegas, NV on November 2, 2007 at 2pm. We arrived at the airport at 10am to return our rental car and to await our flight. At approximately 12:30pm we left our flight gate (D24) to get something to eat just up the corridor, we returned at exactly 1:30pm to gate D24. At this time we watched an AirTran plan back way from the terminal and taxi away. We continued to sit at the window next to the D24 terminal awaiting our flight. At approximately 3pm we approached the AirTran service desk to inquire about our flight. After showing our ticket to the guy behind the desk, Jason Carter, we were told, in a very indignant and perturbed manner, that the flight had already left and we’d missed it. We then asked what could be done to correct the situation since we’d been sitting by the terminal since 1:30pm and the flight was not scheduled to leave until 2pm. He replied sharply that someone would help us and then he walked away. The young female that was at the desk, Rashaunda Green, put us on stand-by for the next flight but stated that she could not confirm it. At this point, Mr. Carter returned and we began to question how was that we’d missed a flight that we had been waiting for in the same corridor and at the terminal for hours. Mr. Carter began to state in a rude and accusatory tone that if we were at the terminal then we would not have missed the flight. Ms. Green grabbed her belongs and began to walk off stating repeatedly “I don’t care” when we asked her for her name. Mr. Carter questioned in a very condescending tone “you didn’t see 140 people lined up at the terminal?” After expressing our frustration at how we were being treated to Mr. Carter and the inconvenience of the stand-by for the next flight, he retorted “I am trying to get you on the God-damn flight!” At this point my boyfriend demanded to see Mr. Carter’s supervisor and he responded “I am the supervisor” and stated that the other supervisor had gone for the day. After getting the name and number of the other supervisor Zeke we walked to the AirTran desk in the main airport terminal. We called Zeke who was in fact on duty and still at the airport. Zeke and a young lady by the name of Vivian was very helpful and sympathetic to our situation and were just as out-raged by the way we were treated by Mr. Carter. Zeke gave us the number to customer service to file a complaint that my boyfriend called and spoke to a guy named David (ID#: 6435) who was just as rude and disrespectful as Mr. Carter. He hung up the phone and called back and spoke with a guy name Zavario who was very helpful and took all the information for my complaint down.

We have never been so disrespected by any airline and we use AirTran frequently. I am seeking the termination of Mr. Carter, strict reprimand for David (ID#: 6435), and some sort reward for Zeke, Vivian, and Zavario for outstanding customer service. I would ask to be compensated in some fashion for the way we were treated but I don’t think I have to. I want to be notified immediately of the action taken against Mr. Carter for cursing at long-time AirTran customers and David (ID#: 6435).

While boarding a recent flight from Las Vegas to Burbank (3/27/08, Flight #2702) I recognized an old friend and sat down next to him in seat 3D near the front of the aircraft. During the pre-flight routine before takeoff we chatted quietly as the one of the female crew staff (Jan) was giving the required safety presentation. Halfway through her delivery she came up to me and asked me to not talk because it was disturbing her. I was totally surprised by this action for several reasons: (1) my conversation with my friend was in a low and moderate tone, and (2) three other men directly across the aisle from me were also talking to each other, as were a number of other passengers in the immediate area of the cabin. As far as I'm concerned this crew member's actions were totally out of line and uncalled for. Why she fixated on me is a total mystery, but I can assure you her actions did not go unnoticed by other passengers who looked at her and shock their heads in disbelief. Maybe "Jan" was having a bad day, may be she's just wired tight; either way if customer service is a priority with SWA I would highly recommend that they consider bringing this young lady in for some remedial training on how to handle passengers who are doing nothing more than having a conversation in their seats.

Do you like being poked by a stranger? How about if you are at work? You said you are a professional middle aged woman. Shouldn't you know better than to poke someone to get their attention? That is the behavior of a child. Did it ever occur to you to simply try to get her attention verbally? Poking someone is rude, plain and simple. She called you on it and now you're embarrassed. Instead of just taking responsibility for your own actions, you are placing the blame on an innocent person who was just doing her job when you decided to assault her with your finger. I have to say that I'm not surprised that you are from Orange County, CA. The kind of behaviour that you have displayed is unfortunately quite common in that area of the country.

Did you ever consider the fact that maybe you were being rude by talking through the safety demonstration? You may not care about it, but there are people who do. First time flyers, children, and even some elderly passengers might want to hear the safety briefing instead of your conversation.

I hope you were answered by Southwest. I see you didn't post the response.

my parents fly southwest from PHL to Oakland, CA in May, on the way there, they lost their luggage. My familes fly from PHL to Oakland two days later, they lost our luggage. they were able to find it and delivery to us the next day, which is fine. But then on the way home. They lost my dad's luggage, the next morning they found it and call me telling me that the bag was damage, and the stuff inside was soaking wet, so they offer me a new bag and $75 voucher, since they don't have the same size bag as the one that damage, they will offer me a bigger one, so i accept the offer and let me know that my husband will stop by the airport in the afternoon to pick up my dad's bag and the new bag and the voucher. By the time my husband got to the airport, the staff are telling me the different story, they told him they don't have any bag the same size, so they are just going to offer us $100 voucher. My husband call me while he is at airport and tell me, and I spoke to the SWA staff and told me that's not acceptable. The SWA staff was so rude to me, he said he can't give me the bag, i only have 2 options, either take my torn bag and the $75 voucher to go, and go fix my bag, and submit the receipt to them or take the $100 voucher. And I told him, by the way, his name is Noel, and I told him either option is not acceptable, that's not what they told me on the phone. I told me that they are wasting my time to go to the airport and pickup the stuff. And Noel told me that's why they are giving me the voucher. after i told Noel that both options that he offer are not acceptable, and I ask to speak to his supervise, and he put me on hold and then come back to me telling me that he can give me a bag with southwest print on it. I told him no, I do not like to advertising for SWA. And he was asking me what else i want. and I told him that I don't want anything but speak to his supervisor, after he put me on hold for 5 min., he finally transfer me to his supervisor. and his supervisor Lennox is an idiot too, i am pretty sure that while Noel put me on hold for 5 min, he has already describe the situation to his supervisor. But Lennox act like he didn't know what happen, so I explain it to him again, and his response is that he can't really hear me, coz i am on the cellphone and i am driving. So i repeat it again, after Lennox listen to it again, he put me on hold for 5 min, and then hang up on me.

** Southwest has no service at all, even the flight attendent are very rude.

** They lost your luggage and damage your luggage, and have the gut to be mean to you.

**** Never ride Southwest again******

I AGREE DO NOT FLY THIS AIRLINE IF ENOUGH PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY THEY WILL EITHER HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR PRACTICES OR SHUT DOWN MY NAME IS REGINALD BOLTON AN I HAD AN ISSUE WITH THIS AIRLINE AN VOW TO NEVER FLY WITH THEM AGAIN PASS THE WORD AN MAKE A CHANGE

I have flown with Southwest 3 times in the past 4 years. EVERY TIME my bags have been lost. I have tried to make phone calls to complain about the lack of competence but every phone number they list is either always busy or goes directly to voice mail (with no return phone call).
If you have a simular experience please go to this web-site to complain Aviation Consumer Protection Division airconsumer.ost.dot.gov
The info you give them will be shared with Southwest as well as the MEDIA.
I am Sick of Southwest getting so may accolades with they cant even complete the simplest of tasks, answering the phone!

We picked up my brotherinlaw from a flight from Chicago to Orlando March 22/08 to have the same sort of problem, no bags on arrival. We waited for 30 min. with no announcements from southwest. My wife saw a pile of bags near the baggage office and called us over. My brotherinlaws bags where there as well as a female employee of S/W. Bro-in-law said out loud to us, "Why didn't anyone say anything to us", the baggage person looked right at us and said "I'm so sick of you idiots complaining about your bags", we all tried to reason with her to no avail, we then went to file a complaint against her in the baggage office where this female told us to "F***off" as well as many other nasty things. Another S/W employee escorted her to the back office and the nasty person exited from another door to return to us to continue her abusive behavior. We complained to a superviser about this and got a phone call from customer service later with no results being issued. Bottom prices = rock bottom baggage service!

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES LOST MY LUGGAGE AND TOLD ME THAT BECAUSE NORTH WEST HAD LOST MY LUGGAGE THE YEAR BEFORE. THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IF YOU HAVE A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH SOUTH WEST AND ARE INTERESTED IN A LAW SUIT AGAINST THEM CALL [protected] OR [protected].
WE NEED TO GET THE BALL ROLLING ON THIS LAW SUIT AND THERE IS A BIT OF RACISM INVOLVED IN BAGGAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

PAT

Your luggage was not lost. It was stolen by drunks and addicts that pass for Southwest Airlines baggage handlers.

I recently made a reservation on SWA for a round trip ticket and since it was booked online required the payment from my credit card right away before they would issue a ticket.

*****What a concept...paying for something before you actually "get it"...LOL

Here is where the problems occur. I had to cancel my flight and the entire ticket was fully refundable. I cancel the flight and start looking for my credit to appear on my charge card listing. I wait a week and no refund. I call SWA and I am told, SWA takes your refund and puts it into a holding account in which you can use for future travel. This was all completed without my approval!

*****Yes, unless you ask for the refund, it is held for future travel...so?

Then I now after ten days request the money be credited to my charge card. I was informed before I hung up that the credit to my card can take up to 14 days. It already took almost two weeks to find out they were holding the refund WITH NO INTEREST being paid.

*****Interest? They aren't a bank. You don't fly very often, or you would realize they didn't charge YOU $50 for cancelling your reservation. *I LOVE ROOKIES>>

We have to put a stop to these large companies continuing to find ways to hurt the average American who is trying to make a living. DO NOT FLY SWA IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE YOU MAY NEED TO CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR TRIP.

*****By all means, fly another airline and pay a cancellation fee. Which by the way, they will get whether you cancel or not, because they will charge you to check your bags...It's $50 to fly or cancel...LOL