Southwest Airlines
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Despicable customer service, baggage/ground crew at DCA
Despite checking my bags at Fort Lauderdale airport 2 hrs before flight, mine and about 15 other passengers' bags did not arrive at DCA with our flight. Southwest baggage area at Reagan International (DCA) is cramped and disorganised to begin with: 2 carousels and NO indication as to which flights' bags are being sent to which carousel. The Southwest ground crew personnel were apathetic; I got more information from fellow travellers. Next, when word did get around, that for those of us left milling about our bags had been sent with the next plane, we crowded into the lost baggage office, spilling out into the cramped area next to the carousels. No Southwest employee particularly took charge to give us the information; again, it was mostly being passed as word of mouth amongst us waiting passengers. 4 Southwest employees were on duty, taking our details. Since I opted to pick up my bags myself later in the evening, I was offered a voucher and told they would call me when the flight/bags arrived. No call from Southwest. I called Southwest baggage a bit after that "next flight" was due to arrive and was met with mediocre service on the phone. I hauled myself back to the airport, and the same 4 Southwest employees were there, with no other customer in the office. 2 had eyes locked on a screen, the other 2 doing something else. No one greeted me. I announced myself, and was dismissively told to wait a minute. I replied that I had already been waiting for more than "a minute" for my bags and had come to collect them. I got eye rolls from the employee who did look up, but no apology for keeping me waiting then, and certainly no apology on behalf of their employer - Southwest - for keeping me waiting for my checked bags. This is when things deteriorated. The youngest one of them started looking among the scores of bags sitting there by name tag, not thinking to ask me what size or color my bags were. I went over to point out my bags -- and in point of fact, did point them out -- when a 2nd employee of the 4 came over and BERATED me for being in the area with the bags. I half-jokingly asked if this really was Southwest Airlines, as it didn't sound like it! That 2nd employee's attitude to me got worse, then dismissing me in the 3rd-person as though I were an inanimate object, told her "colleague" that she didn't have to answer me/help me as I have to show them respect! I wonder who does the employee training for Southwest ground crew at DCA, as they certainly skipped the lesson on showing the customer - paying customer - respect, and courtesy. This 2nd Southwest employee then in a childishly theatrical manner went over to the scores of bags and started "looking" for my bags, slowly one by one, exactly in the area where they were not (remember, I had pointed them out already). These words come to mind: sheer ignorance and malice. I was handed my bags as though I, and my bags, were pieces of garbage to be gotten rid of. Absolutely, Southwest! I am glad to be thrown away from your airline after 10+ years of nearly bi-monthly flights. And as I before would enthusiastically encourage people to fly Southwest -- because of the customer-friendly service -- I now equally enthusiastically tell them NOT to fly Southwest. As I pointed out to the professional and courteous customer service agent who took my lengthy complaint -- and she did apologize profusely for those DCA Southwest baggage employees' behavior, as well as for Southwest's delay with my bags -- there is no way those 4 employees could have acted with such arrogance and impunity were they not feeling protected by an equally egregious Southwest management at DCA.