Complaining Effectively
Feb 6, 2017, 3:03 pm
#31
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Bregenz, Austria
Programs: AA, BAEC, Alaska, Flying Blue, United, IHG, Hilton
Posts: 2,950
Lots of good advice in this thread, and some not so good.
Another approach would be to use the "case study" approach, as in many med schools/biz schools/law schools. There you study actual cases and learn by example what works and what doesn't.
Pick any FT forum that seems relevant, and start looking at the complaints posted (there will be hundreds too choose from). Which ones seem effective to you? Why? Which ones seem to be a waste of time? Why? By looking at several, some patterns, both good and bad, should emerge.
Another approach would be to use the "case study" approach, as in many med schools/biz schools/law schools. There you study actual cases and learn by example what works and what doesn't.
Pick any FT forum that seems relevant, and start looking at the complaints posted (there will be hundreds too choose from). Which ones seem effective to you? Why? Which ones seem to be a waste of time? Why? By looking at several, some patterns, both good and bad, should emerge.
Feb 17, 2017, 9:06 pm
#32
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago, IL., U.S.A.
Programs: Global Entry · WN, UA, AS, DL, NH; IHG, Wyndham, Hilton, Best Value Inn, Marriott, Starwood, Ramada
Posts: 513
The genuine article.
I apologize for now.
I'm at Forbidden Root Brewpub on the occasion of its 1st anniversary, and I do not have access to my home media. Thereupon, I shall refer in here the letter I sent to Southwest Airlines on the happenstance of my flight MDW-DEN (for the Great American Beer Festival) in 2014 being delayed for a pair of reasons, and how it exemplarily handled the situation.
As it happened, this triggered a massive reward process later on; of which a good | bad chunk of it went unredeemed.
> ==== Beginning of letter.
Dear Southwest Airlines:
I am Steve De Rose. I had an out-of-the-ordinary episode when flying from Chicago Midway to Denver [MDW-DEN] on Wed., 1 October. Nothing too alarming or harrowing, but something for which I would like additional compensation.
I was booked on WN4470. It was scheduled to depart MDW @ 12:00 noon on the day. Our crew were slightly tardy at arriving at MDW. Boarding was completed. But then, a basic check of the aircraft revealed a serious flaw: It would not take on fuel. OK, that is why you check these things before departure.
Your decision was to wait for another Southwest flight arriving in approximately 100 minutes, and use that aircraft to take us to DEN. That aircraft arrived. We had a new departure time of 2:20 pm.
This aircraft took on fuel, queued up, and departed at that time. But as we approached DEN, the time delay put the flight in a weather hold. DEN air traffic control communicated that it would be at least 60 minutes before we would be able to land there. The aircraft did not have enough fuel to wait around that long. We diverted to Colorado Springs [COS]. There were other aircraft, from both Southwest and other carriers, awaiting fuel deliveries. We were on the tarmac at COS for about an hour. Fortunately, the storm which was causing the weather hold in DEN cleared the area during that span.
Flight 4470 arrived in DEN at 6:50 pm.
Since a chunk of this delay was due to you, I request additional Rapid Rewards® points. I would like 3,533 points, the difference between the Gotta Get Away amount and the Business Select amount [4,197 - 664].
A long, long time ago [31 December 1995], my other experience with a Southwest flight going off the scheduled flight path [MCI-MDW turned into MCI-DTW-MDW {because IND was also having a weather hold}] prompted a letter. I asked for two additional Rapid Rewards credits for the ‘unscheduled’ trip to Detroit. That I got. Since you have altered Rapid Rewards to use points rather than trips as the determinateness, I have calculated the 3,533 as a probable equivalent.
I do not intend to cease flying Southwest. I know a chunk of this delay was not due to your actions (or lack thereof). I just have the perception this much of a delay is worth something. Whether I ever do accumulate enough Rapid Rewards points to earn another free flight is unknown. But I thank you for your consideration.
Very sincerely yours,
> ==== End of letter.
WN responded with a Luv Voucher for $100. I put that on my flights to | from SAN in June for the 2015 American Homebrewers' Association's National Homebrew Conference. On the returning flight to MDW, there was an oversell situation. Since I did not have any checked baggage, I volunteered off the flight, and was issued another Luv Voucher for $516.00.
I probably could have used the entire value of this voucher in the upcoming year; but then my dad's health declined, and he died in October, and I had to spend considerable time here in Chicago settling the estate. But it was partially used {BWI, SFO, PHL}.
I'm at Forbidden Root Brewpub on the occasion of its 1st anniversary, and I do not have access to my home media. Thereupon, I shall refer in here the letter I sent to Southwest Airlines on the happenstance of my flight MDW-DEN (for the Great American Beer Festival) in 2014 being delayed for a pair of reasons, and how it exemplarily handled the situation.
As it happened, this triggered a massive reward process later on; of which a good | bad chunk of it went unredeemed.
> ==== Beginning of letter.
Dear Southwest Airlines:
I am Steve De Rose. I had an out-of-the-ordinary episode when flying from Chicago Midway to Denver [MDW-DEN] on Wed., 1 October. Nothing too alarming or harrowing, but something for which I would like additional compensation.
I was booked on WN4470. It was scheduled to depart MDW @ 12:00 noon on the day. Our crew were slightly tardy at arriving at MDW. Boarding was completed. But then, a basic check of the aircraft revealed a serious flaw: It would not take on fuel. OK, that is why you check these things before departure.
Your decision was to wait for another Southwest flight arriving in approximately 100 minutes, and use that aircraft to take us to DEN. That aircraft arrived. We had a new departure time of 2:20 pm.
This aircraft took on fuel, queued up, and departed at that time. But as we approached DEN, the time delay put the flight in a weather hold. DEN air traffic control communicated that it would be at least 60 minutes before we would be able to land there. The aircraft did not have enough fuel to wait around that long. We diverted to Colorado Springs [COS]. There were other aircraft, from both Southwest and other carriers, awaiting fuel deliveries. We were on the tarmac at COS for about an hour. Fortunately, the storm which was causing the weather hold in DEN cleared the area during that span.
Flight 4470 arrived in DEN at 6:50 pm.
Since a chunk of this delay was due to you, I request additional Rapid Rewards® points. I would like 3,533 points, the difference between the Gotta Get Away amount and the Business Select amount [4,197 - 664].
A long, long time ago [31 December 1995], my other experience with a Southwest flight going off the scheduled flight path [MCI-MDW turned into MCI-DTW-MDW {because IND was also having a weather hold}] prompted a letter. I asked for two additional Rapid Rewards credits for the ‘unscheduled’ trip to Detroit. That I got. Since you have altered Rapid Rewards to use points rather than trips as the determinateness, I have calculated the 3,533 as a probable equivalent.
I do not intend to cease flying Southwest. I know a chunk of this delay was not due to your actions (or lack thereof). I just have the perception this much of a delay is worth something. Whether I ever do accumulate enough Rapid Rewards points to earn another free flight is unknown. But I thank you for your consideration.
Very sincerely yours,
> ==== End of letter.
WN responded with a Luv Voucher for $100. I put that on my flights to | from SAN in June for the 2015 American Homebrewers' Association's National Homebrew Conference. On the returning flight to MDW, there was an oversell situation. Since I did not have any checked baggage, I volunteered off the flight, and was issued another Luv Voucher for $516.00.
I probably could have used the entire value of this voucher in the upcoming year; but then my dad's health declined, and he died in October, and I had to spend considerable time here in Chicago settling the estate. But it was partially used {BWI, SFO, PHL}.
Last edited by pudgym29; Feb 19, 2017 at 10:38 am Reason: Insert the letter.