[egrossman]

SW cost our family $1,300. We can't afford $1,300! Buyer beware during the holidays. Our flight was canceled yesterday and after waiting 1 hr for customer service, the agent immediately said given how quickly flights are filling up let's move your family to Thursday's flight -- five days later!

I quickly asked if there were options including them putting us on another airline. I said we can't afford to stay through Thursday. The agent said yes, you can get a full refund and cancel your return for $1,300. Given the amount of money in hand, I asked for a supervisor to ensure we could go ahead and process the refund.

Once I had a supervisor, she said the agent made a mistake and that technically the only option given we were moved to Thursday is now a flight credit. She said given I was not informed properly, she would cancel the Thursday flight and process a full refund (the right thing to do). She said I should call customer service on Monday and ensure the refund has been processed -- given the circumstances she did not see an issue.

Acting on SW guidance and knowing how quickly seats were being booked, we purchased a $1,300 return to Denver on United airlines. To my surprise, customer service has now said, they can only process a credit and that they would not stand behind their employee.

This is not over, I asked for yet another supervisor to call me but buyer beware in listening to the first agent you get on the phone with SW.