[ragnhild]

I was travelling on Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, TX. to
Baltimore, MD. My scheduled flight was for 7:40 PM but I arrived at the
airport around 5:00 PM. I was already checked in via the WEB but thought I
would see if there were any earlier flights. Asking an agent at the desk, I
got the reply "it will cost you $200" (I was travelling with my daughter so
the actual cost was $100 x 2). When I indicated that I would not bother, he
quickly said, "It seems we have some problem with your flight so I can get
you on the earlier one anyway". I said "OK, can you check my bags?", "No
problem" was the reply. We checked in and received boarding passes etc., I
did note quite clearly that my bag had the usual tag attached and was placed
on the belt (I travel a lot and often wait a few seconds to make sure that
my bags are tagged and on the belt). After this we boarded and had an
uneventual flight to Baltimore. Arriving in Baltimore our first stop was the
baggage collection area where we waited until everyone else had retrieved
their bags before unhappily walking over to the Southwest baggage office. A
lady identifying herself as "baggage supervisor" explained that they were
late checked and would be put on the 7:40 flight. A little puzzled, I asked
calmly why I had not been told that they would not get on the flight I was
on (I think anyone who has travelled more than a few times would never
separate themselves from their luggage if at all possible), and could they
please deliver them to my hotel as I had an 8:30 AM flight to London the
next day. I was then told that I would have to pay for the bags to be
delivered because it was my fault I had changed flights. But the agent
wanted me to change to the earlier flight and said my bags would be checked
"No Problem", I responded, so why should I pay for you to deliver the bags
that you misplaced? At this point the supervisor became VERY aggressive:
"Southwest policy states that they need to inform you that bags are late
checked either by word of mouth or in writing", she then ripped the luggage
recipts off my ticket folder and showed the tiny print "late checked",
"There, there it is in writing, so there is nothing that you can do". So I
replied that I could still complain, but immediately I got the reponse: "I
am the supervisor here so there is no-one else that you can talk to". Then
to make the comical tend towards ludicrous, the supervisor tried to persuade
me that even if I had known that my bags would be late, I would have still
got the earlier flight....... No you silly person, I would have thrown my
deodorant and toothpaste in the trash and hand-carried the little bag.
Interesting to note was that when my bag and I were eventually reunited,
there was a large dayglo yellow tag on it saying "Late Checked".

This may have been a little rambling, but I am getting pretty sick of the
disgusting service that companies like Southwest provide, I am not
interested in some clown making jokes while I try to get a seat, I want to
sit down quickly and get moving. I wonder what it would be like to see a TV
program ridiculing the airline rather than the airline ridiculing its
passengers......

In a final note, did you know that if you go to the website SouthWorst.com,
it takes you directly to the SouthWest website?