Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird
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Time to send the CEO to Microsoft Outlook School! Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza hit “reply to all” instead of “reply” and thereby sent this charming e-mail not only to one of his customer service employees, but also to the angry passengers who contacted the company to complain in the first place. Here’s the CEO’s message:
Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.
Comedy gold, or the perfect distillation of the state of air travel? Maybe both!
“Let him tell the world how bad we are.”
Well, Mr. Baldanza, you’ll be glad to know that the customer did! Blogger Alex Rudloff posted a reader’s entire correspondence with Spirit on his site. Go read the whole thing.
Rudloff’s post hit the Consumerist earlier today, which is where I first saw it. But it’s making the rounds, going viral even, and frankly, the airline is getting exactly what it deserved.
James Wysong asks why U.S. airlines are so bad. Spirit Airlines’ disdain for their passengers just provided Exhibit A.
I get a lot of complaints about Spirit — more than any other airline. (Chris Elliott recently named US Airways to his “blacklist” on the basis of sheer volume of complaints that he receives. If I were writing that list, Spirit would have to be take the top slot. No contest. Most of the complaints surround their baggage fees or automatic opt-in to travel insurance or the $9 club. One airline employee wrote in with a long list of complaints, many of which were common to other airlines, but the sheer litany of issues… Tip: Avoid the coffee.)
Spirit just keeps leading the charge downhill.
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August 23rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm |
The CEO of Spirit might need to learn how to use email better, but his assessment of the situation is right on.
1. Nobody with half a brain books flights and leaves only 90 minutes of leeway should something go wrong. Especially to Atlanta, especially in summertime. Come on.
2. They were offered vouchers that exceeded what they paid for airfare. And chose not to take them, and then emailed the CEO of a company.
3. It’s been shown time and time again that good customer service doesn’t matter to the bulk of travelers today. Lowest fare wins every time. That and frequent flier programs that have some of us addicted to the benefits.
4. The customer is not always right. Sorry. The customer does have the money, but if giving them exactly what they want every time puts your company out of business.. probably not a wise strategy.
Frankly, I’d rather see more CEOs publicly say what they’re really thinking. I can appreciate a response like that much more than “We value the opportunity to serve you” or other such platitudes.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:43 pm |
[…] are seeing it a day. These blogs include Rick Seaney, USA Today, Gadling, Cory, Michael Ring, upgradetravelbetter.com, the consumerist, Elliott.org from the TV show What You Get For The Money: Vacations, Jaunted, […]
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:47 pm |
Well, I agree that their complaint was not the strongest, though I am of the view that airlines shouldn’t sell some of these connections if the airports are that backlogged. Don’t blame the novice traveler for following the timetable that the airline provided.
More importantly, the key here is not even the CEO’s fat finger. It’s the corporate leadership’s view that customer complaints don’t matter. “Let them eat cake!” It’s THAT brazen callousness that deserves mockery, disdain, and zero of my cash.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:03 pm |
[…] unsurprising as to be a big yawn? Apparently. But given that Gadling , Jaunted , The Consumerist , Upgrade: Travel Better , Christopher Elliott , Rick Seaney , Today In the Sky , et al., have reacted as if the airline’s […]
August 27th, 2007 at 4:23 pm |
I have to say, the traveling public is responsible for the nature of the airline industry today. Loyalty to a specific airline has gradually eroded over the years causing airlines to reduce staffing, services, schedules, and other ammenities focusing on cheap ticket pricing. I find it ironic, almost funny when individuals board our flights complaining about not having white glove service when “I paid 100 bucks for my ticket!!”. (It would be more expensive to take a train or ride a bus) So I guess the point is, “You get what you pay for” and as long as you want to enjoy ultra low fares, expect terrible service and very few ammenities. Good Luck!!
August 29th, 2007 at 7:04 am |
[…] now been picked up by several other blogs, including The Consumerist, Jaunted, Gadling, elliot.org, Upgrade: Travel Better and on a blog by FareCompare.com CEO Rick […]
September 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm |
I am a former employee of Spirit Airlines and have seen the ownership of the company change hands at least twice while I was there. When I started with the company back in 1997, it was still owned by the original founder and I was proud to be an employee then. After reading Mr.Baldanza’s reply to the customer’s complaint, right, wrong or otherwise, I can only say that I’m glad I’m no longer an employee. By the way, Spirit Airlines does not just extend bad customer service to it’s customers, but the internal customers (aka employees) are not treated much better. At least the ones at the Orlando station are not. That station alone has gone through four different managers since 2000, two of them due to incompetence and the current one is a joke with an axe to grind, making her the worse kind. I won’t make this personal, but from an insider’s point of view, I will say that the lack of quality customer service can be attributed to two things; poor management (lower and upper apparently), and hiring people who just are not cut out for working with the public. You either have people skills or you don’t.
The airline industry has become all about turning a profit and there’s nothing wrong with that but, it can be done without sacraficing quality customer service with the right peolpe in place.
Mr.Baldanza’s suggestion that customers will still book with Spirit as long as they can save a buck is so far fetched. I’m sure others feel the same way, but know that consumers are willing to pay a little more if it means better service, and there are other options as far as carriers with competetive faires in the same markets.
Spirit has direct flights to and from my former home yet, I absolutely will not fly them for a number of reasons. I’ll give my business to US Air or Airtran and pay the extra to fly back home before I give Spirt a dime. As far as saving a buck, it’s my understanding that Spirit is now charging passengers for all checked luggage, so where are the savings?
September 11th, 2007 at 4:38 pm |
PERHAPS MR.bALDANZA’S SHOULD FLY HIS AIRLINES IN COACH, AND PAY FOR HIS LUGGAGE,PLUS SOFT DRINKS,
QUALITY , SERVICE AND SPIRIT LACKS BOTH LATELY, THE SAVINGS ARE NOT WORTH THE HASSELS
AND ATTITUDE OF THE TOP DOG
September 16th, 2007 at 10:03 pm |
[…] posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!Granted, this isn’t a Spirit Airlines style non-apology. But when I read press reports proclaiming that Southwest had apologized to the publicity-seeking, […]
October 29th, 2007 at 7:07 am |
[…] Upgrade: Travel Better […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:28 pm |
[…] to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda - Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining? - Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Spirit Airlines keeps it classy with their M.I.L.F. sale”, url: […]
December 19th, 2007 at 2:31 pm |
I don’t agree with your post. I just flew this airline and it was almost criminal in the way they operated. I prepaid my baggage and when I got to the airport they said I didnt and wanted another 20 dollars. Thankfully I had proof and they had to let me on the flight. On my return flight weather caused the flight to be cancelled. Spirit offered a refund or rebooking, I chose the refund and took another airline to get to my destination. When I called to check on my refund they told me the flight was never cancelled. Tell that to the 100 people who had to rebook! Think of the arrogance! The whole airport was shut down for the night due to fog! I would guess from what I heard in line 60% re-booked with spirit, filling their later flights that were obviously empty and 40% opted for refunds will never be paid. Small claims court is the only other option and how many take that option? I must admit pretty brilliant on their part since the CEO strategy doesnt look for repeat business. However, its not a substainable operation…I predict he will be selling.
December 23rd, 2007 at 4:58 pm |
You are so correct.I am glad you said this, Gerri, because my husband works for Spirit and they are a terrible company. Last January , they cut the pay for mechanics $13,000 . this was for courses they had taken , but most people who fly do not care who are the mechanics who work on the planes they fly. I will not fly Spirit either. My family flew stand by with them on several occasions and we were treated like criminals.. Standby is a bad word for this company and the supervisor at the La Guardia almost physically attacked me in front of passengers. I hate what they do to their employees. Gary West, the director of maintenance is a horrible person who will pay dearly for his treatment of others. I only wish him the worst there is in life.Thanks for standing up for what you believe in.
January 1st, 2008 at 7:42 am |
This airline gets an F in customer service. We too pre-purchased luggage and it was not indicated in their system. It was a shame that we had to “pay” to have them lose a bag and not return it until the last day of our vacation. No one answers the phone at baggage in Fort Lauderdale nor their corporate headquarters. No one communicates and responds to their e-mails. Its really despicable not to mention highly inconvenient to not have a single thing to wear on Christmas day when there isn’t a single store open. Good management starts at the top and it is very apparent to me that Mr. Baldanza cares very little for his customers. This attitude is reflected in each of his employees with whom I had contact. Although ineffective, I dealt with one baggage person in Detroit (Dana) and another in Fort Lauderdale (Maria) who at least attempted to be helpful but were paralyzed by the incompetency prevalent throughout the company. I did travel this airline on a regular basis prior to this trip but will avoid it at all costs now.
Kristen Gross
January 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am |
Wow, where do I start! Well, I purchased tickets to NY from Ft. Lauderdale in December, butI caught the flu and was unable to go. I called Spirit’s 1-800 numberto cancel my tickets before the 24 hour cut off to receive my ticketvouchers and was told that I had to pay $70 for each ticket toreschedule. I thought this charge was unfair and argued against it,but I finally came to realize that there was no way out of paying thefee (always read the fine print people). The agent, who is based inthe Philippines, took down my flight information and told me aboutthe flight vouchers. Before we ended the call, he said “is thereanything else I can do for you?” I said no, and both of us hung up.Weeks later, I realized I never received my vouchers in the mail andI never received an email pertaining to my flight cancellation. Icalled the customer service line and was told that “the agent whotook my cancellation call put in his notes that I called to cancel myflight, but I changed my mind.” They had me down as a “no show” at theairport and told me that “I had lost my money” ($350.00). At thispoint I was furious and wanted to speak with a manager. They refusedto let me talk to a manager and would not give me the name or Rep. IDof the agent who took my cancellation call. I asked for the corporatenumber and they told me that they were not allowed to give that out.The following are the steps I had to take just to talk to a CorporateCustomer Service Agent… Step 1:I went online and found a phone number for the corporateheadquarters, but this number turned out to be a customer serviceline that disconnects you when you select the number (#3) thatcorresponds to “customer service” I tried a different extension inhopes of being transferred to the correct department, but all of theprompts disconnect you immediately. No luck here! Step 2:I live in South Florida and the Spirit Corporate Office is located inMiramar, FL., 20 minutes from my house. I arrived at the corporateoffice at 3:00 pm EST. and found that there were signs directing meto the customer service center. The customer service center consistsof a large room with 2 desks and 1 phone. Get this! The desk has asign on it that instructs customers to call the same 1-800 numberthat was disconnecting me. There is a door that leads from this roomto the inside of the main building, but it is locked and theemployees that pass by the glass window just ignore you. Step 3: I asked every employee that came out of the building if there wassomeone that could help me with a customer service related issue. Itappeared to me that the employees have been directed not to speak toanyone who is asking for customer service, as some of them justignored me and walked to their cars. One person told me that nobodyis going to come outside to help me. Step 4: I found a local phone number listed on an occupational licensehanging the wall of the “so called” customer service room and dialedit. It was a number assigned to the corporate office. A womananswered the phone and I asked to speak with someone in customerservice because the number that I had was disconnecting me. What doesshe do? She transferred me to the same 1-800 number that I just toldher about. I called her back and there was no answer. I called nearly30 times in a row and I could hear someone picking up the phone andtransferring me back to the 1-800 number. Finally, the woman answeredthe phone and I pleasantly told her that I was standing outside thecorporate headquarters and would like to speak with someone incustomer service. She said she will send someone out to assist me. Awoman and a man came out about 10 minutes later and wereconfrontational, immediately asking what I am doing there and told methis was a FAA secured building and I should not be there. I explainedmy situation and gave them my flight number and locator number. Theysaid to wait outside and they would look into it for me. 30 minuteslater, the man came back outside and told me that there was nothingthey could do for me because I had forfeited my money by not showingup to the airport. He said that the Philippino sales rep. put in hisnotes that I changed my mind about the cancellation during my initialcancellation call. I told him that there was “no way” I said anythingto that effect and asked him to review the recorded tapes of theconversation. He stated that they will not listen to the tapes unlessthere is a fraud investigation. I asked him if they were really goingto take the sales rep’s word over their customer’s word along with adocumented recorded conversation. He said YES, and there is nothingelse he could do for me. Step 6:I told the Spirit employee that Spirit is known for their terriblecustomer service and if I knew then what I know now, I would neverhave selected their airline. I also told him that if you GoogleSpirit Airlines the 3rd or 4th result is a website instructingtravelers to stay away from your airline. He goes on to tell me thatevery airline has a negative website. I said that might be true, butit is not the 3rd result listed. He arrogantly stated that they arethe fastest growing airline and they must be doing something right.If that’s true, then it’s not going to last for long with their totaldisregard for their customer’s concerns. Step 7:I called my credit card and reported Spirit to their frauddepartment. Looks like they will be reviewing those audio tapes afterall! I will be flying to Boston in February (not on Spirit) and I willbe wearing my custom made Spirit Airlines shirt. It reads on the front“GOT CUSTOMER SERVICE?” On the back it reads “DON’T FLY SPIRIT” Ithink I will hang out by their sales counters for a few hours to killtime before my flight! This airline needs to go down, and go down hard (not literally).Please do everything in your power to keep your friends and familyfrom flying this terrible airline. It may be cheaper, but they havesacrificed customer service in order to keep their fares low.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:22 pm |
All i have to say is most of these comments on here are 100% true, and this comes from a current spirit airines employee. If you you think they treat the customer bad, then you see how they treat the employees. Its a a hard world out there today and unfortunally most if us at spirit are only here to collect a pay check. 90% of us would jump on any other job offer it we found it. Jobs are hard to come-by, expecially in the Detroit are. (spirit has laid off 400 people in the Detroit area since june 2007) They outsourced there reservation center to the philippens and has reduced there flight attendants and pilots in Detroti and forced them to move to South Forida or quit. Additionally they have laid off all aircraft cleaners (the planes dont get cleaned anymore after 2-1-08.) And the scariest part is they laid odd most of the mechanics, leaving just a skelatin crew, system wide. Now keep in in mind they are downsiing empployees in every singe city they fly to. In Fort lauderdale for every flight they add to there route they fire 4 agents to save money. Does this make any sence?
I AM TRULY EMBARASSED TO WORK FOR SUCH A COMPANY THAT TREATS BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CUSTOMERS SO POORLY.
THANKS ALOT BEN BALDANZA
February 5th, 2008 at 4:13 pm |
This airline will fail. I have prepared a number of people with the ability to destroy their corporate network, they will lose the ability to receive payments, book online, their ip phone system will soon be on the blink, and every workstation in their office and at their check in coutner will fail to operate. I have been embarassed by spirit now 10 times, and never recived a voucher, a sorry, any sort of assistance, i have slept in 4 airports due to them kicking me off my flight because they wish to move their flight UP an hour without notice, BULL#@#@. May i suggest that noone fly spirit in the fourth quarter of the year 2008. That is, september to december, as you will not be able to book your flight, or seats or baggage, and spirit employees, may i suggest you prepare your resumes to find new employment after december, as spirit will be filing for bankruptcy, whether they choose to do so or not. I have had enough of corporations who abuse a service that used to be viewed as a new horizon of travel and appreciated.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:57 pm |
I am writing about a stolen item from our luggage. My brother was on a flight NK300 at 9.25AM to LGA from MYR on Thursday, February07th 2008.
Around 8.30AM we checked one piece of luggage, which had inside a brand new laptop, laptop charger and users guide which mysteriously dissapeared by the time my brother arrived to NYC.
When he got his luggage in NYC, there was no delay in getting a luggage. HE got it right after the plane landed it came out on baggage lift. He opened his luggage right away to inspect the belongigs and discovered that the laptop is gone. Right away he tried to do a baggage claim on Your airline refused to do it.
I tried to call customer service and there is no answer, they transfered me to corp office no answer.
So I went to MYR to do some research. First of all i got awful customer service from Airline workers, who didnt care at all.
I thought that a company workers supposed to take care of their customers, help them find out how the problem can be solved.
What happened to us today is simply showing that Spirit Air has a very weak security system and the workers of airilne can not be trusted.
I said its a fact that the laptop is gone in “secure area”.
Today is Saturday, Feb 09th, i left 3 messages at airline baggage claim voicemail, nobody called me.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm |
Oh, man. I stumbled on this blog, and feel bad. I was just trying to get my money back after falling for a bait and switch. Nothing nearly as horrible as the things everyone else is going through. If they aren’t helping in these more serious situations, they certainly aren’t going to help me!! I was angry at myself because I booked on the phone (more expensive than online) and didn’t realize that my $116 per person tickets came out to $370 for my husband and myself. The taxes are so outrageous I didn’t even comprehend the 300 part! Well, I guess I’m not going to get my money back. It’s a lesson learned, and I will never fly with them, and will make sure NOONE I know flies with them. I mean, I’m telling people I run into at the supermarket to avoid Spirit when I tell them about my upcoming trip. The CEO will soon find out that unhappy customer CAN ruin a company. Arrogant prick.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:02 am |
Started to call Spirit Airlines at 9AM this morning. Finaly got a line that would put me on hold, not just a busy signal, at 9:20 AM. Call was answered by the spanish seaking desk in the Dominican Republic at 10:17 AM. Was put on hold again. Finaly talked with someone at 10:20 AM. Got disconnected. Called back and actually placed on hold at 10:23AM. Still holding. Have heared their sales pitch now for the 7th time and counting……
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm |
I had a flight earlier this month I needed to cancel, and must have called their 800 number 20 times during the afternoon and evening. Never once got a human, was disconnected from the menu after making a choice. I suspect this is intentional on spirit’s part, in tandem with their cancellation/forfeiture policy. Do I sound paranoid? I would remind readers of Time Warner’s AOL division policy of not letting users cancel accounts, and even managing to charge cancelled credit cards months later.
Won’t fly them again unless I am just desperate. What a scam.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:32 pm |
I booked a flight as a gift for my neice on Spirit Air in December 2007. Yesterday when I received my AMEX bill I saw a charge from Spirit Air Promotions that I did not authorize. After being on eternal hold my call was finally answered by a very rude “customer service representative.” I explained the situation and she told me when I booked the ticket I signed up for this, I told her at no time did I see anything about this and I do not even know what the promo was for, further I would never sign up for it as I never travel (or ever will!)Spirit Air I had purchased the ticket for a gift. I asked her to take the charge off my AMEX card and she said it was non refundable and the only way to get my money back was to cancel the ticket, at that answer I became even more upset and asked to speak to a supervisor, she refused to transfer my call! I then asked for the number for the CEO and she refused to give it to me. I found the number myself and again was put on eternal hold and finally hung up! It is not so much the money but the fact that I feel my credit card was charged without my knowledge and I was treated so rudely by the so called customer service. I have reported Spirit Air to AMEX and I hope they will see my side.
Margaret Curran
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 am |
Booked a flight on line in April 2008 for travel in August 2008. Made a mistake in the online booking. Instead of reserving in October, I reserved for August. The dates were correct buyt the month was incorrect. A simple error at not looking at the drop-down menu. After being on hold on six occasions for more than a total of 3 hours, I got some young lady who told me I would have to pay a $70 per person change fee. I said, “Lady, I booked this flight yesterday and it is for travel in October. I did not wait for even one week to call to make a change..I did it immediately when I noticed it which was next morning.” She hung up on me! Screw this airline. As a travel agent, I will not recommend this airline to anyone ever again.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:47 pm |
I have booked a flight for June 18 to go to Puerto Rico to visit the family. I called the So called 1800 nunmber to be put on hold with elevator music for almost 2 hrs. The customer service in this complany really sucks… I bet the hire people with no customer skills and pretty sure with no collage or high school education at least. This will be our last flight with this florida base airline company. I would love to see begging for customers when they reach bankruptcy.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:13 am |
Flew w/Spirit on April 29th told us we would be boarding at 7:10 after 8 pm finally started boarding. Got on the plane and the seats that I reserved months in advance were taken by another couple who WOULD NOT MOVE and they didn’t make them move either. Finally got sat in the very back of the plane with an intoxicated man who kept bumping into my seat because he couldn’t stand up. The plane was filthy!!!
Flew back WRONG seats AGAIN put way in the back of the plane and once again seats, floor, and even the pockets where they have magazines DISGUSTING… there was actually old moldy food in the pocket of my seat. DEFINITELY will never fly SPIRIT again!!!!!!
Would love to contact Spirit but can NEVER get connected you either get disconnected or put on hold FOREVER!!!!!
They should be ashamed that they run a business like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 11:23 am |
I recently wrote to the Spirit CEO about my bad experience…As someone who travels weekly I was shocked to say the least, of how I was treated during my last Spirit encounter.
I was booked on a flight from MCO to Atlanta that was scheduled to leave Thursday at 1:55PM.
When I arrived at Orlando International all of the flight boards noted that my flight was not leaving until 4:50pm. I approached the Spirit counter at the main terminal of Orlando International and was told, rudely,they didn’t know why the flight was late. I then went online to inquire to see if there was an explanation and the flight status had no update, just noted to check with the Airline.
After wondering around the airport for an additional hour, I again checked the flight board, this time in the departure terminal. Again, the boards notated that flight 832 was departing at 4:40. I moseyed to the gate and imagine my surprise to learn the flight had left – and left on time!
The customer service agent from Spirit told me that unfortunately all of the boards in Orlando International did have the wrong flight time for flight number 238. He said that flight 238 had previously been scheduled for 4:50pm and that ten days ago the flight was updated to earlier departure. He said they had no control over the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and they had asked them before to change the boards.
He went on to say he couldn’t give me a refund. I needed to be in Atlanta by 8:00am. He didn’t offer to book me with another carrier and told me there was nothing he could do. I find it hard to believe he couldn’t have refunded the money, or arranged a flight with another carrier. I was forced to pay $189.00 with Airtran for a last minute ticket.
I want my money back!! Is this the way to run an airline?
May 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm |
I’m sorry to hear that my irritating experience with Spirit was not unusual. I am a relatively frequent traveler and I have never been treated with such disregard. The agents I had to deal with very openly admitted that the kind of thing I went through happens every day, so it was no wonder that they were so nonchalant at my irritation, as well as that of literally all of the other Spirit customers in my vicinity — and we weren’t all on the same flight, either. My frustration initially stemmed from having to wait an hour to go through immigration and another hour to go through customs in Ft. Lauderdale. So, we ended up missing our connecting flight. Of course, they didn’t hold the flight, even though there were many people who were also on my flight stuck in customs, but I understood that to some extent. From there though it was a true runaround to rebook. We had to wait in line for hours, even though the line I was in wasn’t even that long–just one angry passenger after another with a single agent. I was told I would have to wait over two days (!) in Ft. Lauderdale to get another flight to NY. No accommodations, no nothing. One woman in front of me was in a true panic because she needed to get back for dialysis. When I finally booked a flight to Long Island for the following day — an hour and a half away from my destination in NYC — they acted like they were doing me a favor by “waiving” the $40 rebooking fee or the $20 luggage fee(which I had already paid at the beginning of my trip). My problems seem so minor compared to everyone elses! But all told, this “cheap” ticket, which by the way wasn’t that cheap ended up costing me quite a bit more than I counted on — bewtween hotel & meals & the parking ticket for not moving my car on time!