Don't use AirTran

neovulcan · 06-10-2005, 06:43 PM

I haven't flown very much but I do know that I will never use Airtran again. I was double charged for my flight and my portable DVD Player was lost. I consider myself an even-tempered guy and I could even live with this if their customer service department was worth anything.

While the double charge was annoying, I knew that my credit card company would take care of me if AirTran wouldn't. I mentioned it when I checked in at Atlanta. They said they'd see about it. I checked online and it still wasn't fixed. On my first call I found out that I was refunded but it would take a week. Fine.

I bought my Portable DVD player while I was in Georgia. I didn't think that it would leave me with a 4th bag when I flew back home. I decided to stow it inside one of my duffle bags. When you check your bags you watch them go up into this X-Ray machine and come down this little ramp. My first 2 bags went through without any problems. My 3rd bag was pulled off and examined behind this little metal wall. I couldn't see very well but I know the catalog and papers I had inside were looked at quite thoroughly. The bag seemed full when it was put back on the ramp but when I think about it, I didn't close it quite so easily when I packed that bag. I am almost positive it was pulled out and left out when it was inspected. Whether it was actually taken there I can't be sure. The other odd thing is that my bags didn't roll down the conveyor belt and roll around for me to pick up. They were brought close to the baggage claim area on a big dolley. I don't know how many hands could have touched them at that point. One way or another, it was there when I checked my bags in and gone when I got them at Chicago's baggage claim. In my eyes that makes it AirTran's responsibility.

When you call AirTran you'll get a long speech and several options about what you want to buy. No options about helping the customer at all. Every representative I talked to gave me someone else's number. It appears that no one has the authority or even the desire to provide any useful information. I finally got a number for "Customer Care". It's a ****ing answering machine. I have 7 numbers right now and no confidence anything is being done to resolve my problems.

All I really want is to speak to someone who knows what they're talking about and has some authority to do something about it. Having my DVD Player shipped to me would be perfectly acceptable. Refunding my money would be perfectly acceptable. I could even deal with taking it to the police. Some of my relatives are lawyers, I'm sure something could be done that way as well. Being routed to a whole bunch of people who shift the blame to another department is not acceptable. I realize my trust was misplaced and I've learned my lesson.

jetmech717 · 06-10-2005, 09:14 PM

Not to "shift the blame" yet again on your experience, but TSA is the company that performs the x-ray's and inspections of all baggage that is checked or carried on to an aircraft. AirTran does not perform x-rays on costomers baggage. If we recieved a bag from someone and lost it in transition from the concourse to the A/C and then back to the arriving concourse then thats a different story. Not sure how everything went down with your experience. As far as the double charge....these things will happen from time to time and I cant believe that you actually think that the airline is going to try to keep the extra payment??? Even though it sounds like that issue is being resolved also. So other than that, how was your flight? Was it on time? Where the employees friendly? How did you like the new planes? Did it have XM radio installed yet? Hope that you give everything a chance to pan out instead of judging so hastly. Good Luck in you travels and hope you fly us again.

AirlineFanatic · 06-11-2005, 03:42 AM

I'd have to say the TSA is to blame for this one. I'd be upset too.

neovulcan · 06-11-2005, 07:37 PM