Journal

JetBlue Nightmare

29 March 2007 › 10 comments

Recently, my brother and his wife were put through quite an ordeal at the hands of the airline company JetBlue. I am posting this on behalf of my sister-in-law, who wants people to know that the JetBlue “Customer Bill of Rights” is not all it’s cracked up to be. Here it is, in her own words:

Dear would-be JetBlue customers:

Please allow me to share our JetBlue experience. My husband and I live in Seattle, and on March 15, 2007 we were scheduled to take a week-long trip to New York City. We had heard about the bad weather, but the night of our flight there had been no contact from JetBlue, so we figured that the flight would make it in before the storm. Around 8:00 PM, before our 11:30 PM flight, we got a message from JetBlue saying that our flight had been cancelled, not go to the airport and to call as soon as we could. So we called. We proceeded to stay on hold and in contact with multiple customer service agents, supervisors and other telephone operators for over three hours.

At one point in our conversation we spoke with a woman who was booking us on the next flight – the following night, 24 hours later. Although this was not the most accommodating flight, it was all they could offer us. Before that night, we were used to airlines apologizing for inconveniences and booking the next available flight, even if it was not their own. So there we were, about to get booked on a flight the next night and they put us on hold again. Given our past experiences with waiting on hold, we gave the operator our home telephone number, in case of a disconnection.

Of course, we ended up getting disconnected while on hold. We waited for a bit for a call back, but began to get worried and called again. Our call was then transferred to another supervisor who proceeded to tell us, in no friendly manner whatsoever, that all the flights are booked until Monday, at which time we would be able to fly through Boston in order to get to New York City. We explained our situation to her, that we were about to get booked on another flight with another supervisor, but she said that there was no way it was true. She basically called us liars, which was just the beginning of one of the rudest conversations we have ever had.

She then told us a personal story about the woes she had flying into Seattle last December. Instead of apologizing for anything, she made excuses and told us her own horror stories. She also said that had we been at the airport that night, they may have been able to put us on another flight. This was interesting, since the phone message specifically said not to come to the airport. As we were trying to whittle information out of this woman, we inquired if the weather was keeping the plane grounded in New York or in Seattle. As customers, we had the right to know the plane’s location.

She claimed not to know where the plane was. This was clearly a breach in our rights as customers of JetBlue. This was not the kind of service we expected from a company that has just made news healines with their “Costumer Bill of Rights.” We gave up on the conversation after being interrupted and demeaned by this rude employee, feeling as though JetBlue gave us no consideration as customers. Still hoping to find a flight, we called to speak to customer service. The conversation was almost identical.

Not once did an employee apologize or offer any compensation for our troubles. Eventually, we got a full refund for our ticket and called United where we purchased a ticket for three times what we paid at JetBlue. We will not fly with JetBlue Airways again. We have never in our lives experienced such rude, inconsiderate and incompetent service as we did with JetBlue. Even at the end of our conversation, as we told the representatives this same statement, we got no compesatory offer or even as much as a simple apology. It is my sincere hope that somehow sharing this experience might help others avoid JetBlue’s horrible customer service.

Sincerely,
Hana + Andrew Smith

Discussion + Dissension

#1 Chris Harrison

I hate flying… The last time I flew was pre-9/11… I can only imagine how much worse it’s gotten.
#2 Chris Case

It’s bad enough having a chunky hairy woman feel you up at the security screening airport. Now we have to deal with little old ladies sitting in their curlers telling us we are liars and SOL! Lame’O dude…Pure Lame’O. This saddens me because JetBlue has the most comfortable seats and usually the most reasonably priced tickets. Did you send this email to corporate? If you do, tell them they are going to lose more than just Andrew’s and Hana’s business. Sorry for your ordeal. That sucks.
#3 estarla

That is absolutely horrible. I had no idea about the facade behind their “Bill of Rights.”
#4 Jimr

Ha! I just added an opposing response that was at the same time fair and balanced and the owner of this site deleted it within a few minutes.

Point made! This site and the opinion are total BS! Liars!
These people work for another airline and are dogging JB!
#5 Nathan Smith

Jimr:

Actually, I deleted your comment because you sounded as idiotic then as you do now. I don’t work for an airline, and neither do my brother or his wife. I posted her letter as a personal favor to them. If you have a problem with that, then I truly feel sorry for you. Please know you have my pity.

Note: I wouldn’t say that calling someone’s family members liars is a “fair and balanced argument.” Take your conspiracy theories elsewhere, if you please.
#6 jimr

I didn’t call them liars in my original post. I said it was “possible” they were working for a competing airline. I also added comments regarding them getting a refund as opposed to my experiences with another airline not even giving a “credit” for future travel when I had a similar experience.
I did not discount their story, but you did discount mine.
My second response was emotional due to the completely slanted view you allow to be shown here. My first comment was indeed fair, in that it gave credence to both sides of the discussion point regarding whether future travelers would be guaranteed a poor experience.
The title of this section is “Discussion & Dissension” and yet your deletion of my first comment shows you don’t allow any dissentors.
If you are such a fair minded person, then put my original post back on here. I’m betting this comment will be deleted shortly.
As for conspiracy theories, I have worked in the industry for 20 years. I know for a fact what the legacy carriers do. Just because you are unfamiliar, doesn’t make me a nut.
#7 Nathan Smith

Jimr:

I don’t have your original comment handy, due to deletion. I am not trying to portray a “slanted” view – just posting the personal experience that members of my family had with JetBlue. You insinuated in your original comment that the entire thing had been “written by marketers,” which isn’t the case. You did more than say it was “possible,” you said it was likely. So yes, in essence you did call them liars. To use a Seth Godin's phrase, “All marketers are liars.”

I am not going to delete your comments, as you seem to have calmed down a bit. Let me just suggest, since you’ve worked in the industry for 20 years, that you act like it. I mean, how many exclamation points do you really need per sentence? I guess the point I am trying to make is: If you want to have a discussion, that’s fine. If you want to disagree, feel free. But you wouldn’t walk into a new physical environment swingin’ your fists, so what makes you think you can shoot your mouth off, at someone’s personal site?

If you want to be taken seriously as an industry professional in the airline business (or any business for that matter), then make rational statements without sensationalizing them with your own assumptions. You’re a generation older than I, so conduct yourself in a way that allows me to respect you.
#8 Andrew Smith

Jimr:

I’m not sure who you work for or why you insist on so vehemently defending the JetBlue corporation, but I assure you that my wife and I are not marketers or airline employees, but graduate professional students who simply had an overwhelmingly awful experience with JetBlue. We felt violated of whatever “Customer Bill of Rights” we might have originally had. I promised the employees of JetBlue, as I was talking with them on the phone, that I would let our story be heard, and they did not care to assist us in any fashion. We are normal American customers who had an abnormally horrible experience with JetBlue.
#9 Jimr

Hi again,

I apologize for being mistaken as to the legitimacy of your statement and acknowledge your complete right to voice your displeasure with JB or whatever company/entity you choose.
I had just been seeing all this completely slanted negative press on JB for that 4 day fiasco, out of 7 years of industry best practices and a distinct lack of media coverage of other airlines abhorant behavior. USAir abused more people Pittsburgh a couple weeks later than JetBlue and there was hardly a blip in the news.
The whole industry is suffering with more and more delays due to ATC and record loads. It’s miserable to travel. I completely agree that the conduct of the reservation agents you dealt with was unacceptable.

Here’s another blog to check out that might help you feel better though: (not mine)
http://threeminds.organic.com/2007/03/look_what_the_j.html
#10 Chris Stout

I think we should hold companies accountable for their poor customer service. Perhaps if enough people complain they will begin to see quality customer service as a business opportunity rather than a cost drag.

Over the last few months I have been using a great service that really has made a difference when dealing with CS centers. The name of the service is 321-CALL-LOG and it’s free to use. The website address is www.321calllog.com

Comments closed after 2 weeks.

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