Originally Posted by
mritty
I'm not claiming they should know the intracate details of the website. I am, however, asserting that they should be able to tell me "Yes, there's a known issue" or "No, we haven't heard that before" and assure me (even if they're lying) that they'll open some sort of trouble ticket.
This is the phone number I was told to call, on southwest.com, when southwest.com produced an error message. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to expect the person on the other end of that phone to be able to tell me if they know of any existing bug on southwest.com.
First let me apologize for the frustration that this caused.
Our CS&S Representatives often do have information about known issues on the website, and when they do - they are encouraged to share that information in an open and honest way. Of course, there are thousands of CS&S Reps, and depending on who you get on the phone YMMV - some are more technically inclined than others.
With the new website, we are still addressing issues one at a time as they come in, and not everything is a known issue at this point. This is still no excuse for placing the blame on the Customer for "pushing the wrong button", and I apologize if that is the impression you were given.
Late last week we learned of an issue with changing
some existing tickets. The error that you received is the error that is used for that specific issue, and believe it or not it has nothing to do with the new forms of payment that you are adding - it has to do with the ticket you are attempting to change. That ticket is viewed as one of the forms of payment for your new ticket. Technology is aware of this issue, and is working on coding the fix.
Its also important to know that the same error may be used for other "payment processing" issues, so the problem you encountered may or may not be the one we are working on a fix for. When the same error can be used for multiple issues - it is difficult for our CS&S Employees to know what caused the issue. The reason their number is given to you is for assistance with the transaction you are trying to make, and hopefully to report the issue you encountered - but they are not technology Employees, and as such can't always troubleshoot an online issue and get resolution for you. In then end, they can hopefully ensure that you have the flights you need at the correct price.
We are working issues with the new website as quickly as possible, and having time do so is one of the reasons that we have "gated" the release of the new site and didn't simply flip a switch and change the whole thing overnight for 100% of Customers.
Hang in there - we'll get it right!