gsusser

I had a reservation from Ft. Lauderdale to Newark that was due to depart somewhere around 9pm. I got to the JB counter around 7:30pm and was told that the flight was delayed until 12:30am. I was offered an alternative flight to LaGuardia leaving at 8:15, which I agreed to. I had no time to discuss compensation or anything else since I had to move my butt to get on the LGA flight.

It ended up costing me nearly $100 to get from LGA to EWR (to get my car), though I undoubtedly could have found a cheaper mode of transportation, but it was late & I was tired (I had come from Colombia on a different airline). Plus, I was out $25 that I paid for a seat (emergency row) on the original flight. Next day, I called JB to discuss how they were going to make things right. Silly thought. I was pretty much told to go F890 myself, Finally, after speaking with a supervisor and pullng his dang teeth, he agreed to refund $25 for the seat. [I've yet to receive the refund though it's been over a week since I spoke to them.] All I was asking for was an unspecified credit towards a future flight, not $100.

All in all, dealing with them was a major nightmare with hold times of 30+ minutes, getting cut off, transferred, etc. This was not the same JB I had come to know and love from not long ago. Customer service was also borderline rude and unsympathetic. I wrote to them via their website right after the phone conversation but never heard anything.

In the course of my phone conversations with them, I was told that under FAA regulations, I have no case. Even though the delay was caused by them (mechanical problems), I made the choice to take another flight. If I decided to wait (and suffer) for the delayed flight, I would have a claim. Seems ridiculous to me. They used to do so many things well and to an extent still do, but can I just say THEY SUCK!

sbm12

As soon as you accepted the alternate airport - without anything else negotiated - jetBlue was off the hook. That's the way the airline industry rolls pretty much across the board.

Yes, you should get the $25 back. Dispute it with the CC company if you don't think it will actually come through. Other than that, unless you negotiated the comp in advance you aren't really entitled to anything. Had you stayed on the delayed flight you would've been covered by the BoR and that would've likely got you a pretty decent credit based on the length of the delay, but otherwise not so much.

Sucks, but that's pretty much the state of the industry as a whole right now.

moefl

They seemed to be trained not to compensate you with anything, even when they admit that you are right!

craz

as good as UA is with giving out the candy when a person complains about something that has some merit to it (and boy do they ever). I dont think UA would have done anything either

Unfortuantely the time for negotiations was before agreeing to the LGA flight and leaving FFL, I understand OP time wasnt on your side but that was your decision. A friend last week asked the GA if they needed any Vols and was told yes so he promptly signed up and was in fact used. When they gave him a free tkt voucher he said he wanted $400 VDB, the GA said had you spoken up when you agreed to be a vol I would have told you to board as all we're giving are the free tkts, he was but I told him that he was to Blame for not having discussed everything before hand

Unfortunately OP you are in that same boat, the time for negotiations was when they offered the LGA flight, when I was caught in LAS during 1 of the main snow storms hitting NY US offered me a flight to EWR from CLT I said no problem as long as you provide a transportation voucher to get me to LGA where my car was. No dice,and I ended up flying LAS-CLT-BOS-LGA with a couple of cancelations thrown into the mix. Although I could have done the Bus-Path-Subway-Bus I wasnt in the mood.

OP would you have preferred to remain at FLL till that flight finally took off. I agree with you it Stinks but them the times we are in. I guess you could have done the opposite and Bus-Subway-Path-Bus and it would have been <$10 but alot of your time

magiciansampras

I agree that JetBlue sucks, but in general I think you're out of luck in these situations. UA might have made you whole, but they're about the only airline that would.

SkaterJasp

I think your out of luck to. They offer to put you on the LGA flight since they figure it'll save you time. They don't know where your going and how your getting there after you got to LGA/EWR. As you said, they offered an alternate flight that left earlier... you didn't have to go on that flight. You could of stayed and save the money. No one forced you to go to LGA, in the end it was your choice. If you wanted a ride, you should of ask if they were going to pay for it.

I think if you asked, most likely they would of said no since your original flight was still operating, it was simply just delayed for several hours. At that point, what is more important? Save 4 hours or save $100?

gsusser

Yes, it was my choice and the thought of the expense of getting from one airport to another wasn't a major factor when I made my decision. Perhaps I didn't make my point clearly. My gripe was more about JetBlue's attitude and their horrible customer service (compared to what it used to be) more so than anything else. I am not an experienced traveler; I fly at most 3 times a year. My only experiences dealing with JetBlue customer service are from years ago when they used to go the extra mile, no pun. I suppose I should have known better when I called them given the current state of affairs. When I first contacted them, I was not thinking in terms of legalities or FAA regulations. I was just hoping that they would do what I perceived to be the right thing. They would have done so years ago. Lesson learned. Thanks for the replies.

ijgordon

While I haven't run into any attitude, I completely agree that their customer service is horrible. Moreso than nearly any other business (that I can think of), you can really feel the cutbacks they must have made in staffing.

I avoid booking on B6 unless it's the only reasonable option.

bmg42000

I decided to switch one of my upcoming flights to CO because I am not happy (I still will take the return flight on B6 (I think)). With CO adding TV and my getting free luggage via the CC , its nice to have other options . (I still will not fly DL (there website is worse the B6 and the JFK terminal awful)).