Southwest Airlines
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Practice of charging to transfer rewards points
Their practice of charging to transfer Southwest (SW) rewards points from one member to another is unethical, deceitful, and easily misinterpreted! I got charged $600 to transfer 60,000 points to my daughter because she was making our reservations for 4 tickets because she had a SW credit she was using also. When she couldn't use her SW credit and the reward points she transferred them back to me and also got charged $600. We thought the charge was a "holding fee" and never dreamed that we were actually being charged $600. Is that even legal to be charged again for points I earned through prior purchases with my Chase SW credit card? I immediately called SW and spoke with a rep, who eventually transferred me to a specialist and both said they could do nothing. Mind you, it was an almost 2 hour call, mostly on hold! Now I have been charged $1,200 for NOTHING! This is the first, and last, time we will fly SW. In the spirit of transparency and good faith business practice, SW should not allow passengers to transfer points on-line but require them to call and speak with a SW agent. Then the agent can make sure the customer understands that they will be charged an astronomical amount to proceed with the transaction! If that was clear I would never have transferred the points and then have my daughter transfer them back to me. Obviously, we grossly misunderstood their policy on transferring points. In checking out SW reviews others have also complained of this very same thing. Not that their rating could get any worse as Better Business Bureau gave them a D rating and 1.15 out of 5 stars. Trust Pilot website rated them 1.8 stars out of 5. I'd leave a negative 1 star if I could. Obviously, they continue to practice in an unrighteous manner and the public needs to be alerted so they don’t fall victim of SW’s unethical, deceitful practice! This practice needs to be exposed and it needs to be changed!