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Another broken Spirit: airline denies family boarding

September 14, 2007

Spirit Airlines is in trouble again. This time, instead of a CEO who can’t seem to find the right key on his PC, it’s a computer glitch that’s apparently causing the problem. And, as is increasingly becoming the case, Spirit’s response is completely inadequate.

Here’s what happened: Laura Brego and her family flew from St. Thomas to Atlanta on Spirit via Fort Lauderdale earlier this summer. Then they flew to Europe for a month. When they returned to Atlanta to catch a flight home, a Spirit representative told them their return tickets had been canceled because they were “no shows” on the outbound flight.

“They said it was our problem, and that we must have flown another carrier,” says Brego. “They had a record of us one first flight from St. Thomas to Fort Lauderdale — just not on the connecting flight to Atlanta.”

The Brego family was forced to pay more than $2,500 for one-way tickets home on another airline. “The cash outlay was enormous, not to mention the fact that I was treated as if I were lying about being on the flight,” she says.

After returning to St. Thomas, Brego phoned Spirit, and a representative admitted that there had been a “glitch” in the system. “I was told there was nothing they could do except refund the return portion of our Spirit tickets,” she says.

Actually, there’s a lot more Spirit could have done. Like apologize. Like refund the $2,500 Brego had to spend.

Brego did her best to appeal. She called, e-mailed and even FedExed a letter to Ben Baldanza, the airline’s beleaguered chief executive.

The response: silence.

I tried to contact Spirit, too, but it didn’t reply, either. Seems to me the airline has gone into lockdown mode — battening down the hatches and ignoring even legitimate customer-service inquiries.

I guess this is what they mean by an ultra low cost carrier.

But wait. There’s more.

Brego followed up with me recently:

As an ironic twist, I was actually contacted and visited this week by Sprit Airlines Marketing, trying to sell me a spots on the SpiritAir Web site. (I own a popular villa rental company, Destination St. John on St. John in the USVI, and many of our guests fly Spirit, some at our suggestion … ugh!)

I met with him and explained that while the program he is offering sounds interesting, I am unable to do business with a company that I am having such an unbelievable issue with. I told him I would be in touch once this probem is resolved.

He smiled and said, “good luck!”

He told me he had no pull, his company (based in the UK) was under contract with them as “Spirit Marketing Ltd.”

Just thought it was amusing, that Spirit is trying to sell me something at the same time they are ignoring me as a customer.

Is there anything else I should be doing to get a contact from them?

At this point, my advice is to write to the Transportation Department, letting them know that this has happened. The DOT is in the process of beefing up its enforcement division, and should find this case very interesting.

(Hat tip to Angel for the headline suggestion.)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

17 comments

  • Joe F

    I have three words to respond.

    SMALL CLAIMS COURT.

    http://www.visuperiorcourt.org/clerk/SmallClaims.aspx

    Sue them. Subpoena their records. Do you still have boarding passes? They can reprint what they printed when you checked in on St. Thomas. They also have the manifest from FLL-ATL – your names are on it. You can PROVE they breached their initial contract. Sue for Breach of Contract and Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing. Ask for the $2500. court costs. Figure out what interest you lost on the $2500 or what it cost you to get the $2500, and then $5000 in general damages basically for being buttheads. The breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing is an implied covenant in EVERY contract which implies that that you will be treated evenly and fairly. You may not get $5k, but you WILL get a check for $2500 plus your original ticket value in vouchers from Spirit – you will – trust me.

    Now, you need to find out who their agent for service of process in in the Virgin Islands is – that is who you serve with the complaint – they are REQUIRED to have one – I could not easily find the link on the web, but a call to the secretary of state for the USVI will yield that information for free. They are a foreign corporation who have to register in order to conduct business. If they ‘forgot’ to that, they cannot defend themselves in court.

    Don’t let them take your money. When dealing with any travel company the best defense is a good offense. Do NOT wait to sue them. The records will be destroyed after a certain period = and suing them means they cannot destroy ANY record relevant to your travel. Its no real hassle. Takes 10-15 min to fill out the forms. You’ll prob. have to take the ferry to St. John to St. Thomas for court. This is a reimbursable court cost most likely. There is a limitation of liability for consequential damages but the beauty of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing is that it is NOT a consequential damage but a separate tort.

    Further, I could not see a venue provision in Spirit’s contract of carriage – where the airline tells you that if you sue them you need to sue them in their choice of location.

    Do me one favor – after you win – come back and tell us – and one last thing – do NOT accept vouchers for the $2500. . .

  • Chicky

    Great advice. If more people sued airlines in small claims court, I’ll bet they would change their way of doing things. One flea may not bother a horse, but 1 million fleas would make him pretty miserable.

  • http://joshuajayg.blogspot.com Joshua

    Very nice Chicky. I love the analogy. It is true. Don’t let them get away with it. It is your money, not theirs. I am sure that if I had a computer glitch with my business causing me to charge extra, my customer would definitely want compensated and wouldn’t wait until a year later.

  • Lyngengr

    The best and most immediate thing that Laura should have done is go ahead and put this outrageous charge on a credit card, make the flight, and then when she got home she should have called the credit card company and disputed the charge. Most credit card companies will suspend any payment pending the resolution of the dispute. If Spirit does not respond to the credit card company, they will not honor the charge. In my experience, disputing the charge on a credit card gets immediate attention and prompt resolution.

  • Laura Brego

    Thank you all for the support and advice, and thanks to Mr. Elliott for considering my experience bad enough to write about.

    Maybe small claims court is the answer, I’ll start investigating that immediately.
    As for the credit card company, we put a claim in with Amex. It came back that the claim was denied because Spirt says we were a “no show” . ( I thought they had discovered they had a glitch in their system- thats an understatement, their system seems to be the glitch!)

    Anyway, another call to Amex and they have reopened the case, we’ll see what happens….

    To think that I actually recommended that my guests call Spirit for their travel to the VI!!

    I’ll keep you posted……

  • JUdy Brzoska

    This is a bit lengthy but I will try to condense. On JUne 28, 2007 I booked a trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau for Dec. 20, 2007 that was was record locator KTWVQV on flight NK 409, the return was to be from Providencales back to Ft. Lauderdale on Jan. 2 2008. That is record locator KTWVTK flight # NK160. This was done by phone with Spriit Air and was for two people.

    On Aug. n7 ,2007 I receive an email from Spirit Air that says ” you have been reallocated to flight # NK 160 on Jan. 5,2008.

    When I call to complain Spirit Air is quite nasty and says that there is nothing to be done, they will not refund the money as they have put us on the next available flight. The reason being that they decided to cancel all flights to and from Provenciales except for Saturday.
    I explain that this is completely unacceptable, I need to be back and if I could stay who would pay for the extra days? Spirit Air says they have no policy for that. I then demand to be put on the AA flight that leaves on the 2nd. Spirit Air says they have no policy for that.

    After much discussion and getting no where, I find the costumer service number for Spirit Air in a complaint blog ( no where on their web site is this number)
    After a 1 hour phone wait I chat with consumer affairs who agree that I can cancel the Jan 5th flight and get my money back only for that leg of the flight. But I cannot cancel the entire ticket.
    That was August 7th. To this date Sept. 18th the refund of 680.23 has not appeared on my credit card.

    Now on 9/18/07 I find when I call the customer service Spirit Air number they refer you to the web site and then hang up on you.
    I want my refund, as would you. But my bigger question is ” Is this company on their last legs”? Will I get to fly at all?
    I am glad to vent on this site even if nothing is accomplished.

    Judy Brzoska

  • Joe Ehrlich

    After closely following the Spirit Airlines reports, I finally took my FLL – LIM flight and just got back today. I fully expected for it to be the “flight from hell”, but I am here to report the exact opposite: Spirit did everything right by me.

    Check-in at FLL and LIM was speedy and efficient. The ground crews in both locations were fine. The boarding was orderly (though some of the passengers are unclear on the concept of “orderly”). Best of all, the FA’s were extremely good natured, courteous and patient even with the novice travelers (at times it resembled “amateur hour”) and they were civil yet firm with the bratty passengers. Check-in staff and FA’s were bilingual.

    I was certain that I was going to come back here and let everyone know how awful they were, but in fact, it is the exact opposite. The flight to Lima and back rocked!

    (Just remember to bring along your own lunch!)

  • dont fly spirit been there done that

    I agree to the “no show” problem – SUE them, oh and you were also involuntarily denied boarding and are entitled to DENIED BOARDING compensation.

    To the lady who has had her flight changed to another time Saturdays only and its not accommodating you they state they wont refund your money. They have to. DOT states if they cannot accommodate you on a flight they have to provide a refund. see below for their own Contract of Carriage and what the website says…..Note it says in the event we are unable to reroute you to your satisfaction they will refund.

    Refunds are provided when Spirit is unable or unwilling to accommodate the passenger.

    In the event that Spirit is unable to provide a previously confirmed seat and is unable to reroute the passenger to their satisfaction via Spirit, Spirit will refund as indicated below:

    1. If no portion of the ticket has been used, the refund will be equal to the fare paid by the passenger.
    2. If a portion of the ticket has been used the refund will be equal to the value of the unused portion.
    3. Customers involved in a Spirit Airlines initiated cancellation or schedule change in excess of 30 minutes will have three (3) options available to them, re-accommodation, future flight credit, or a refund.

    Please do not let this company push you around. I think there are people that could tell you horror stories.

  • Steven Meyer

    I’m an attorney in the Ft. Lauderdale area, where Spirit Airlines is based. Our firm handles a lot of cases on behalf of consumers. I have personally had a bad experience on Spirit, which is leading me to file a small claims case against it. If anyone has had a bad experience with Spirit, I am interested in speaking with them about potentially representing them in an individual case or a class action against Spirit. I would particularly like to speak to Ms. Brego about her experience. You can reach our firm at: (561) 864-0007 or (800) 805-8305.

  • L. Shapiro

    Unfortunately, I had a similar experience. It all started when a Spirit Airlines service woman at Logan Airport told us that the flight I paid for was overbooked and that we were not able to go on the flight to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived at the airport two hours in advance and they stated at the counter that the flight was overbooked and that we needed to go to the gate to see if we could get on the plane because they could not help us at the counter. When we got to the gate (after security!!!), no one was there yet, not even the passengers. The woman “Bonnie B.” arrived, looked at the paperwork that the checkout counter gave us and then said loudly “sit down; I can’t help you right now. Two people called in sick and I am doing the work of three people!” We waited for an hour, while six other people were told that they too could not get on the flight because they were overbooked. We were yelled at again after we went to the counter to ask what happens next. We were told to “sit down and do not come over to the counter.” The service woman then said “The three people who were sitting down can get on the flight. All others cannot go.” We were at the gate first and the attendant gave the seats to whomever SHE wanted. We watched the plane leave and then they rudely stated that we would get round trip vouchers for the inconvience. They took our names and addresses on the back of an envelope they had lying around! They said they would mail it to us. We were put on another flight (US AIRWAYS) that had a change planes stop over in Philadelphia. We were supposed to arrive in FLL at 10:05 and instead we arrived at 1:30. They charged us 20.00 additional dollars to take our one and only checked bag but they did take us on the flight!!! This was an awful experience and now I have tried to contact them because I have yet to receive the vouchers. I am a very kind person. I am a first grade teacher, so patience is my middle name! I stated the problem and they transferred me to customer service. I waited on hold for TWO hours!! I finally hung up, called the reservations desk again (since this is the only place I could get a person…where they take your money!!!), and they hung up on me after I said that I was on hold for two hours! I then called again, and a reservations rep told me that he does not see a voucher for me and that I should try hanging up and calling again. I asked why and he said that he wasn’t sure what I should do. He told me to try calling the ticket counter at Logan Airport. I tried calling, but they said that I needed to call the airline. I called again and they transferred me to customer care again. This time I waited ONE MORE HOUR!! I hung up again and called the reservations portion of the phone tree again, since they are the only ones that answer! I asked to speak to a supervisor and they asked me why. I explained my situation politely and calmly and they stated that they cannot hand the phone over to a supervisor. I asked if a supervisor was in the room and they said yes, but they will not hand the phone over to a supervisor. The names of the reservation receptionists that I spoke with at Sprit Air were: Jay, Jean, and Grichelle (and at the beginning, I didn’t note their name because I didn’t expect this many problems). I paid for my ticket like everyone else. I got to the airport two hours in advance. I was first at the gate for a long while. Why I am not compensated? Why was I treated SO poorly and paid hundreds of dollars for it? Finally, after trying to contact them through e-mail and telephone for the past six months, Spirit claimed that I never flew with them on a return flight and that I never booked with them. I was on the return flight and I have gate passes and ticket stubs as proof. I contacted the DOT and then a customer service rep. e-mailed me from Spirit. They stated that vouchers were not the right solution but that a total of 215.00 was. WHAT AIRLINE IN THE WORLD SELLS TWO ROUND TRIP TICKETS FOR 215.00 TOTAL? They stated that they would not further contact me on this matter. I asked them once again to grant this verbal agreement, no response. They stated that they sent a check out for the 215.00. It never was received.

  • omar turizo

    My wife and I were in San Perdro Sula Honduras for little anniversary vacation, had a nice time in the Bay Island.Then on 11/15/08 on our way back to Ft. Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines flt.#826 at 2:am the aircraft taxied to the runway,got clearance,and at very close to take-off speed the pilot reversed thrusted the engines and locked the brakes,the plane fishtailing and violently shaking down the runway finally coming to a stop ,smoke coming out from under the plane, the smell of burned hydraulic fluid in the cabin, My adrenalin was coming out my ears, I looked to the emergency aft doors where the fa has each hand on one of the two release handles eyes poping out of her face and Oh my God came out of her mouth. I look to my wife and she is clutching her cross around her neck, tears in her eyes. I now know the look of terror! The Pilot came over the pa and stated due to mechanical problem. we are going back to the terminal. Two ground crew mechanics came onboard for about one hour while we sat in the plane. The pilot never came back on the pa to reassure the passengers, my wife was upset and crying telling me she did not feel safe on this plane. At that time I stood up along with some other ten people, women and children and said we would like to get off of the plane. At the jetway a spirit check-in clerk told us to follow him to the check-in area and he would take care of us. once there he said next flt out is Monday 11/17/08 at 2:am I told him at that moment not to book us as we need to be at work on that date, he then said I will give you a refund but what refund he can’t access my cc and he has no cash, and I should talk to customer service in Ft.Lauderdale.While at the airport I talked to someone who had come in on that plane, and they too had, what they believed, was a loss of engine power. Then suddenly lost altitude. Then, the plane regained power and the plane started to climb, the Pilot aborted the landing and did a flyaround before landing. We came back on an other airline, called Spirit right away, and got the runaround from some Hindu named BillyBob with a heavy indian accent, called, & called, & called,well, I am sure you all know the Spirit game. emailed emailed and emailed no responce sent registered letter, no responce,finally got through to legal at Spirit air, spoke with Rema Fisher who assured me someone would be in touch with me right a way. On 01/06/09, I got an e-mail from a Jennifer Romero who basically said under terms and conditions what Ben Baldansa said is what goes, they don’t owe me anything. All I wanted was a dull uneventfull flight home not a thrill park scare ride at 2am in San Pedro Sula Honduras La Mesa airport. And by the way I still want and will file to get the FOIA FAA incident report if there was one filed by the Pilot. Spirit Airlines, you have proven yourself to be everything that has been said about you #$@^%$##@%$#@&%$#@&^%$#@.you have worked hard to deserve it, Planes running out of fuel and making emergency landings ,loss of power on take-off, sudden loss of engine power while inflight, what happened to my wife and I and more. You don’t have to trust me just look it up on the net. “Hell of a job Benny!” And to all of you out there thinking about flying with Spirit Airlines I hope I don’t read about you in the newspaper and good luck. Truly Your One Less Spirit customer

  • Mr Ritchie

    Hi, having just read these horror stories, I regret booking a flight through spiritair
    Is there anything I can do to guarantee I actually get on my flight in 2 weeks time
    Best Regards A concerned passenger

  • wally

    Just fuel to the fire. . .
    We encountered an overbooking situation on the flight returning from FLL to ACY at the end of the school spring break of 20009. Wife, son and I were offered vouchers “anywhere Spirit Flies and completely transferrable” in exchange for a next day flight. Well, needless to say their promise of “anywhere they fly” does not hold true as we requested to fly to a certain destination any time. We were told by both our Indian CSR and Costa Rican CSR that there were no flights available for the NEXT YEAR to our desired destination utilizing vouchers.
    We then tried to transfer them to our in-laws and was told they were not transferable. Although it was guaranteed previously by the gate agent and supervisor. We have the supervisors name and a witness (someone else bumped from the flight). Considering an action in small claims court, but not sure what the “cash value” or damage I could Sue for (if Any). I would clearly need representation as the travel to and from FLL would preclude any real compensations (can’t get there on my vouchers, even though I have SIX — yes 6, from an extreme over booking situation!)
    However, buyer beware!! Do not accept vouchers thinking you can go on a dream vacation “anywhere spirit flies” as the restrictions on voucher travel are very prohibitive to any likely destination, and the dates prevent travel south in the winter from the northern climes. They cannot be transferred and therefore voucher travel is nearly impossible except between NJ and Boston in January and February — Nice !.
    I have gone through the normal corporate channels attempting resolution for nearly 7 months now, and the vouchers will expire at the end of April unused. Empty promises by an airline specializing in bad management and poor customer relations. Would really like to be one of the many fleas on the horse to prevent further exploitation by this corporate mentality!

  • Stephanie

    DO NOT EVER FLY SPIRIT!!! THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED!!! MS. HARVEY CLAIMS THAT SHE WANTS TO TURN AROUND A BAD REPUTATION, HOWEVER HAS HER VERY RUDE STAFF RETURN HER CALLS!!! I WILL NEVER FLY SPIRIT AGAIN.. I WILL PAY THE EXTRA $ TO FLY WITH AN AIRLINE THAT HAS RESPECT FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!!!

  • Stephanie

    I WILL NOT EVEN USE MY 2 FREE ROUND TRIP TICKETS… JUST ON PRINCIPLE FOR THE WAY I WAS TALKED TO BY THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE!!!

  • Melissa

    I had a similar experience with American flying out of DFW a few years back. I was only in Dallas for a couple days and on my way back to the airport, my travel agent called to tell me that AA had canc’d me off the flight because I had apparently not taken the flight in to Dallas. I said of course I had, I even still had my boarding pass stub (the E-kiosk was down in PHL, so I had had to check in at the counter). So, I pulled the stub out of my bag and to my horror realized it had someone elses name on it! This was in a post 9-11 world mind you where I had to show my I.D. to get my ticket, go through security and show my I.D., and show it at the gate again. Amazing that it was not caught ALL 3 TIMES! Thank God the plane didn’t go down because this other womans family would have been notified, and mine would have been assured I never got on the flight. I shared this story with every AA executive address I could find at the time, and never got a single response in return. I wonder if the family in the letter still had their stubs, and if that would have helped?

  • Frrllcrlyn

    Spirit Airlines SUCK!… the reps must be based in another country I have yet to talk with someone i can actually understand I too had a flight that had to be canceled due to surgery I had.. The airline insurance informed me I could not get the flight refunded even though I had insurance because it was medicallly related.. Of course thay don’t tell you when youare purchasing the insurance to read the fine print We don’t cover cancellation for any medically related flights. The airline wanted me to pay $180.00 + what ever the cost of a new flight was, No compassion they refused to let me speak with a supervisor.. If you want a good laugh watch the similarities of the movie Soul plane and the realities of Spirit airlines  on is a funny movie and the other is an airline that needs to close!

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