Southwest Airlines says computer glitch caused ticket woes
Southwest Airlines' attempt to thank its Facebook friends
with a half-price ticket sale backfired when customers were inadvertently
billed multiple times for a single flight -- they're not feeling the
"luv."
"No, it wasn't a hack, it was just a technology
glitch in our system that caused that," duplicate bookings and billings to
customers' debit and credit cards, Ashley Dillon, a Southwest spokeswoman said
Saturday.
The company became aware of the problem around 5 p.m.
Friday, she said, when they experienced website slowdowns and saw that
customers were having to repeatedly refresh pages to take advantage of the
airlines' one-day "luv2like" promotion.
The special sale designed to celebrate Southwest's
reaching the three million mark in Facebook fans was supposed to give customers
who booked flights on Friday a 50 percent discount on certain fares.
Instead, hundreds of frustrated would-be fliers wound up
posting stories on Facebook about how their credit and debit cards were being
repeatedly charged, in some cases 20 or more times for a single flight. They
tweeted and blogged about the related financial hassles, which ranged from
drained checking accounts and bounced checks to overdrawn credit limits and
canceled bank cards.
Several complained of having to wait hours on the
telephone when they called to speak to customer service representatives Friday
and Saturday.
Suzanne Worrrell, 37, of Virginia Beach said she was just
trying to fly down to Georgia to see her dad on a $69.60 ticket but was charged
20 times.
She clicked "purchase the ticket" and
Southwest's website froze so she wasn't sure if it went through. Since she
didn't get a verifying email, Worrell said she went to her credit card's
website and that's when she noticed repeated charges piling up.
The airline's 800-number was busy and she said its
website made no mention of the mix-up or suggestions about what to do late
Friday, but when she got on Facebook she learned she was not alone.
"They've charged over $1,400 now for a $69
ticket," Worrell said. "Initially I was sympathetic. I get it. Stuff
happens. Make it better."
Her attitude changed after finally speaking to a
Southwest representative on Saturday. She said she was told it will take 8 to
10 days before she can get her money back.
"Now I'm just mad," Worrell said, worrying
about the penalties and interest fees she'll be hit with because the charges
knocked her over her spending limit.
On the upside, she said, if it's not resolved, her
20-month-old son is less likely to annoy fellow passengers because mother and
child will have a large section on the plane to themselves.
"Essentially I have 20 seats on one flight,"
she said. "It's just crazy."
Dillon said Southwest did not yet know how many people
were affected and doubted they would release that information when they do get
it but stressed they are working to fix the problem and refund the erroneous
charges as soon as possible.
"We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience it's
caused the customers," Dillon said. "We realize that people rely on
Southwest for great customer service.
"Yesterday a lot of folks didn't see that so we're
working to make it right."
But not everyone was unhappy. One customer said she was
grateful she learned about the promotion in an email the company sent her -- at
12:11 a.m. Saturday, when it was a day too late to opt in.
"It looks like it saved me from a ton of frustration
& ridiculous charges," she quipped.
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