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Southwest Airlines

Customer Service Ratings and Comments

Southwest Airlines is ranked #13 out of the 301 companies that have a CustomerServiceScoreboard.com rating with an overall score of 111.60 out of a possible 200. This score rates Southwest Airlines customer service and customer support as Acceptable.

NEGATIVE Comments

18 Negative Comments out of 36 Total Comments is 50.00%.

POSITIVE Comments

18 Positive Comments out of 36 Total Comments is 50.00%.

Issue Resolution

Reachability

Cancellation

Friendliness

Product Knowledge

Acceptable Overall Customer Service Rating
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  • Had returned from Buffalo,N.Y. to Tampa on your airlines. Got into Tampa around 7 o' clock. When unpacking, I saw 3 boxes of cookies,I had purchsed & 1 box had been opened & not sealed as it was. Ther were crumbs all over. I know it had been opened as I had twisties on my zippers. And no tag stating it had been checked & opened. I love flying Southwest. But you need to know about this . My suitcase did get some grese spots. Please be aware of this. Thank you. Not happy about the matter.

    cyszyn 7/15/10 12:39PM

  • Have been trying to get an answer regarding multiple authorizations to credit card billing. Regular customer service is powerless to resolve issue. Customer relations number is perpetually busy. Southwest provides no other options.

    deegee823 6/21/10 1:53PM

  • I had to cancel my daughters flight and later rebook a different day. I used their automated booking, clicked on the link that would allow me to use the previous "credit" filled in information and next thing you know my card was charged again! I called, finally got thru, and felt like i was being talked down to when i tried to explain THEIR system messed up. Finally got an agreement from them to reimburse the first amount. 7-10 days as usual. Been two weeks and still waiting!

    Jeff 6/16/10 9:43AM

  • I love flying with southwest but getting in contact with them is impossible i been on hold for an hour come on...but other thasn that i love em they are kind and considerate!!!

    babygirl 6/15/10 9:10AM

  • My family and I recently flew flt 1099 from Las Vegas to Lubbock on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The flight attendant working the front with long dark hair and wearing a blue sports coat was horrible. She was more concerned with going through her personal purse and heating her lunch on the coffee maker than attending the rest of us. She was extremely arrogant and seemed to be bothered by we customers. I am a frequent flyer and have never experienced this type of treatment. Hope she is talked to>>

    Disappointed 6/2/10 2:32PM

  • Twice in April, booked first AM flights to ABQ from Phoenix, only to have the first and second flights consolidated into one, and arrive an hour late. Both times blamed mechanical, but clearly just filling one plane. I really miss the days when SWA actually stuck to schedule, that I paid for.

    Anonymous 5/27/10 7:43AM

  • Horrible trip from Las Vegas to Norfolk, Va o may 21 2020. Sat on runway for over 1 hour with no explanation what so ever. It may have been a medical problem. A fellow at the front of the plane looked ill when we boarded, issue was not addressed for over a half hour when ? paramedics arrived. The man was taken from air craft in a wheelchair only to be brought back in 15 minutes with more discussion at the front of the plane. We were told that we were waiting for a transfer passenger. Lies...People were edgy and it ended a wonderful vacation on a horrible note. One person should not have been allowed to disrupt a whole plane full of passengers. If he needed medical attention, he should have been removed immediately and gotten the attention he needed and gotten a later flight. Is there no procedure set up for a situation such as this?

    Anonymous 5/22/10 11:59AM

  • TERRIBLE experience. Their customer service was a joke. I flew alone across the US with three young kids and a babysitter, and the flight attendants made no effort to get us together. My oldest daughter had to sit alone on the flight, and it was very upsetting to her. I may never fly Southwest again because of this experience. The response from the customer service department was simply,"sorry, but that's the way it works with Southwest."

    NZVT 5/21/10 9:10PM

  • Southwest, horrible experience.
    firstly why cant they have seating arrangements. PEOPLE TRAVEL WITH KIDS. only familes with 4yr n younger are called in first to board the flight. Then if the family fall in C or even B section, you have no idea if you will even get a chance to sit next to your child and your child could be sitting with someone and who knows what could be in those peoples mind. We bought a whole package through Southwest. Confirmed seats, hotel and passes. A family of 4 traveling together coming from this wonderful vacation from florida 13 yr old n 8 yr old. We come to chicago and they HAVE OVERBOOKED THEIR FLIGHT, so they tell us only 3 can fly . told them we would like to be together and the guy at the counter goes , if you stay we cannot compensate for all n there is no guarntee. We are so upset my 8 yr old starts crying, and at the last moment the 3 of us get in the plane and now OF COURSE THE EMPTY SEATS ARE SCATTERED. My 13 yr old was fine but my younger was crying , asked the airhostess if she could announce if anyone would let me sit next to my kid. Downright she was rude and said everyone was traveling with family. my husband finally got home the next day going to from chicago to denver to Boston. WHY DO AIRLINES DO THIS. WE ALL PAY FOR THE TICKETS. THEY OVERBOOKED AND SPILT FAMILY TRAVELING TOGETHER. I UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO OVERBOOK INCASE PEOPLE DONT SHOW UP BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPLIT FAMILIES TRAVELING TOGETHER. I tried the whole day to call the head office in the number that was given to me, but it was always engaged. You know you guys ruined our trip. would have been perfect if we could have come home together. THE GUY AT THE COUNTER GAVE ONLY MONEY TO MY HUSBAND AND WHAT ABOUT THE FREE TICKET????

    ANK12 4/26/10 5:22PM

  • I flew s/w on 4-16-10 and their booking

    agents wre extremely RUDE. My carry on was
    2 pounds over weight which cost me $50.00
    It was really POOR!! Won't fly again

    Anonymous 4/18/10 4:29PM

  • We just returned from a recent trip to CA, flying on Southwest for the first time. Never again will we fly Southwest. In our many years of travelnever have we had such rude, unfriendly, unprofessional, inappropriate customer service as with this airline. We paid $500 a ticket for our roundtrip flights from MKE to California, so for $2000 we expected a lot better service. I've read comments where people fly Southwest because it is cheap. It certainly was not cheap for us. In fact, this has been the most we have ever paid for flights. Besides this, they lost a brand new piece of luggage at LAX. Not only did Karla not apologize for the inconvenience, but she was extremely rude, unfriendly, and unhelpful, along with the other women in the office. After about 1 hour they finally found our luggage, only to make us wait without trying to even correct the situation. It was totally damaged as the whole top was cut off, including some of the belongings damaged. Finally after my husband and I were so frustrated, they offered us a cheap, no brand, smaller suitcase. We told them we could not fit all our belongings into it. Then one of the lady workers told me I should just be thankful they found our bag. Finally after more verbal abuse, they finally offered us a cheap suitcase comparable in size. When we finally got to leave after about a 2 hour ordeal, Karla and her lady co-workers were laughing their heads off and talking about us. A security guard was called in, but I think he felt so bad for us that he never said a word to us, only helped my husband empty our bag and pack the new one. Then to make matters worse, on the return flight in San Diego, I asked Victoria, a younger worker in the airport to explain the A,B,C policy. She was so rude and kept interrupting me, and would not let me get a word in edgewise. As soon as I returned home I called the Customer Relations Dept in Dallas, only to get similar treatment. Of course it was a long distance call as they offer no toll free number for their customers, which was no surprise to me. Finally after waiting about 45 minutes, the lady who answered told me all we can do it write a formal complaint. She apologized on their behalf, very unsympathetically, only after I felt I had to beg for an apology. Never once did she offer any type of reimbursement, etc. I would not have had any problem accepting lost/damaged baggage,delays, even paying outrageous fees, but what bothered us more than anything was how unprofessional, rude, unfriendly, and unhelpful they were. If you read Southwest's mission statement, these workers did not live up to its mission. If I were the CEO or top dogs of Southwest I would be very concerned with how some employees are representing their company. Never have we been treated so poorly from a major company, especially with no resolution. NEVER will we fly Southwest again. We will pay top price (although I did for this flight anyways) to any airline just to avoid Southwest Airlines. I can only pray that no one else ever has to endure what we had to.

    very disappointed 4/14/10 12:35PM

  • Group sales, check in, boarding, customer relations,overbooked flight made my entire experience with 18 high school students dreadful. I will not consider using Southwest again for any kind of travel experience.

    Anonymous 4/2/10 7:50PM

  • This has been the WORST experience I have had to go through and it's still not resolved. I'm on a limited budget that travel is something that is needed to be planned for well in advance, so you can see when I had to fly from Austin to San Fransico to see my Dying brother who had only days to live, I had to rely on a family friend to help out to get there. The flight there was Great! But when I went online to purchase my return ticket through an error on southwest I was double booked and double charged. I notified the airlines and was given a refund for the error just to have on the next day to be double charged again. when I contacted the airlines again to explain what had happened I was told by customor service rep #79 I had to wait 7 days then to recieve my money back I then explained I was in the military and I needed the funds to repurchase my ticket and that through no error on my part was now un ble to access $468.40 of my own money much less pay for the return trip I was told to contact their customer service # 214=792-4223 after several attempts and countless wasted cell phone minutes I still am sitting tring to get through to a real person but with little success.JUST A BUSY SIGNAL. I'm OUT RAGED that this airlines has put me in such a hardship....IF your thinking of fling this airline I would recommend you re-look at your options..

    Anonymous 3/18/10 2:12PM

  • Tried you call back service --said 4- 7 minutes and never got a call back Had to make the call again and get back in line Great idea but it does NOT work

    Anonymous 1/27/10 4:30PM

  • My friend and I fly SWA to and from Washington DC recently. On both flights, the fasten seatbelts signs were on the entire flight and the attendants refused to allow anyone to use the restrooms. Obviously no drink services were offered. The flights, both of them, were some of the smoothest I've ever had. What a sneaky, cheap way to cut costs! I think everyone that flies has heard the story of AA saving thousands of dollars by cutting just one olive from the martinis in first class. Well, SWA, you've topped that, and I hear from other passengers that this has become a routine event. Shame on you for making people suffer just to save a few dollars.

    IFlialot 11/1/09 12:08PM

  • After her routine demonstration about the use of the yellow emergency oxygen mask, the very rude flight attendant walked down the aisle, stood by my seat, and proceeded to interrupt my conversation with my child by shoving the face mask in front of my face and lecturing me about its correct use.

    It gets worse---

    As I was leaving the plane, cleaning up the area around my seat before exiting, another flight attendant shouted, "Come on, Grandma!" When I shook my head, she laughed and shouted, "Grandma, Mom, whatever!" I remarked, "I am Mother, thank you."

    Both incidents were extremely humiliating. What a way to end an otherwise fabulous family vacation.

    To add to the "fun," our family of five must often sit in the very last row, near the foul-smelling restrooms, in order to sit together. What happened to the "families with small children board early" policy? Southwest airlines, please clean up your act, or risk losing valuable business.

    Finally, why do I have to make a toll call to talk to a customer service agent and express my chagrin at these incidents?!!! Don't you care enough about your customers to offer a toll free number for our comments?

    ZAEU 8/12/09 10:27AM

  • On a recent flight from Las Vegas, I believe it was flight 2190 that left Las Vegas on 5-23-09 at 12:10pm and arrived in Baltimore around 8:00pm I had a very bad experience with a flight attendant. The name of the male attendant was Greg. Well after in flight I had to use the restroom and was refused access to the restroom. I understand that the seat belt light was on due to minor turbulance however on past flight when it was necessary to urs the facilities I would have been told that they (the attendant) are required to remind people that the light is on and have NEVER been stopped and turned around. I attempted to tell Greg that due to medications that I am on sometimes I can not wait and must use the rest room. Greg said that I was not allowed to talk to him near the rest room and must return to my seet imediately. Later after Greg passed my seat to hand out snacks I went to the rest room only to be scolded like a child and embarrassed in front of other passengers. later Greg stopped by my seat and interrupted a conversation that I was having with my wife only to insist on telling me how very important his job is. I told Greg that I was talking to my wife however he insisted on continueing on lecturing me again in front of other passengers. I reported this to the pilot at the end of the flight. I have never been so embarrassed on a flight with any other airline nor have I ever had an attendant so rude and egotistical.

    Anonymous 5/26/09 12:15PM

  • I flew to Las Vegas from dallas Love field southwest airlines. I received the most evil discriminating customer service ever. My mother and I arrived at the las vegas Mccarran airport August 14, 2008 3 hours before our plane was to leave. We checked in our baggaged and received our boarding passes. The represesentative gave us boarding pass # B55 and B56. turns out we were the last one to board the plane and one of the first customers to arrive for our flight. I feel this was a totally discriminating incident because of our race. I will be taking this to the EEOC.----
    Lisa

    Mad as Hell! 8/19/08 7:00PM

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  • I booked a rewards flight a few weeks ago. This morning found I needed to change to an earlier flight for tomorrow due to a family health issue. A few minutes after that change, I needed to change again due to airport transportation matters. I got online, clicked a few times and it was taken care of and no extra fees added. I LOVE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES !!!! Peg

    Peg 8/17/10 8:37PM

  • They have a great airline. They reservation system, and employees are first class. I have been a Southwest customer for years and will remain one.

    Ken 8/14/10 10:48AM

  • I have had wonderful experiences with your services since I found them and now one of my children have moved to the Atlanta area only to find out you don't have services there ... Atlanta of all places!!! :( By daughter has small children and the closes place is a couple hours is a distance for picking up Nana when she is needed!!! :) So is there any chance you will be opening services there anytime soon as I hate having to go back to another airline as I switched to you all because I was upset with another airline!!!

    Anyhow, thank you for your services and the wonderful people I have encountered!

    Mary Jo

    BornIrish45 8/7/10 8:59AM

  • I lOVE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES! i have never had a bad experience on southwest! They are personable and sweet and genuinely are going to make sure that you are going to have a great flight, i almost felt at home on the plane as crazy as that sounds, and the man that was announcing was so funny!

    VERY HAPPY CUSTOMER

    Anonymous 7/3/10 9:03AM

  • I ENJOY FLYING WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES AND FIND YOUR ATTENDANTS OUTSTANDING. I RECENTLY WAS ON FLIGHT NUMBER 340 ON MAY 25, 2010 FROM PHILADELPHIA TO FORT LAUDERDALE.
    I WAS TAKEN, ALONG WITH MANY OTHERS, ON THIS FLIGHT WITH YOUR ATTENDANT # 79066 CARLOS.
    HE HAS AN OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY, A GREAT SINGER AND I THINK YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO USING HIM FOR SOUTHWEST COMMERCIALS. HE IS CERTAINLY AN ASSET TO YOUR COMPANY.

    THANK YOU.......AUDREY H. BLAKE

    Anonymous 5/31/10 6:12AM

  • I have flown hundreds of thousands of miles and NEVER gotten a thank you e-card like the one received from Southwest Airlines. What a pleasure to find in my inbox after returning from my trip. In addition to expected services, Southwest provided free bags, fun flight attendants on both legs, very clear guidelines for boarding in order without seat assignments, a pilot coming out of the cockpit pre-flight to welcome everyone on board, and now a thank you signed, “Your friends at Southwest Airlines”! As a marketing speaker and trainer, I am continually telling my clients how little things add up to big impact. Yours not only demonstrated exceptional customer service, they were the compilation of little things that can drive business. Kudos. I'll definitely fly Southwest again.

    Julie Wassom
    President
    The Julian Group, Inc.
    www.juliewassom.com

    Anonymous 5/10/10 3:10PM

  • I tried to call but unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to wait for my turn. I want to give a HUGE compliment to one our your employees. I was on a flight to Orlando on Thursday, April 22 2010 leaving out of St.Louis around 3:15pm. I an unhappy with myself that I did not get the gentleman's name that did the announcing on this flight. He was hysterically funny! It was the most fun I have ever had on a flight! The whole plane was laughing and it set the tone for a great flight. He was so much fun that I caught myself wishing there would be another announcement - can't say that I ever wished that before! Is there any way that you could let this employee know just how much his efforts were appreciated. Thanks
    ps - I vote for a bonus for this gentleman!I will book with Southwest again in hopes of being on his flight!

    scholzly 5/4/10 8:56AM

  • Our mildly handicaped but very scared grand-daughter flying by her self in the easter vacation crowds away from her family standing in a huge line bording a huge plaine which she didn't know where it was going. was helped by the gate attended at the Orlando airport.Flight 808 Friday april 9 at 4:45 P.M gate 122 These few personal and freindly words of support rendered to this little gril when seating her made this hole excurition a very enjoyable trip !!!
    THANK YOU-THANK YOU VERY MUCH from two thank full grand parents ! saying SOUTHWEST IS THE WAY TO TRAVEL

    kobeandkobe 4/15/10 5:03PM

  • Traveling and booking is always simple with SW. Never a problem or charge with changing flights. Free cans of water and free luggage. If the prices drop it's simple to get the price difference. I got over $50 refunded per ticket because of price drops on the last flight I booked. Please never change SW!

    Mila_M 3/18/10 12:06PM

  • Used call back service. Worked great. Was checking on a voucher code. Very helpful rep.

    asher333 3/9/10 12:40PM

  • excellent service in a stressful holiday departure change situation. highly recommend this airline and their service!!

    greenface 12/22/09 3:08PM

  • I have always had a pleasant experience flying Southwest Airlines. The flight attendants have always been accomodating and professional. Keep up the good work Southwest.

    Anonymous 10/16/09 8:48AM

  • Great airline to fly.
    Everyone was positive and cheery. They go out of their way to be DIFFERENT, in a good way.

    Also very creative in their boarding policies.

    I recommend people trying this airline. Bet you notice a big difference from the baggage handler to the ticket counter agent, all the way to the pilot.

    Kudos to Southwest Air for great customer service.

    Tim S, Smile-Therapy.com

    smiletherapydotcom 10/6/09 6:41AM

  • Just call and instantly spoke with a wonderful women name Caroline. She answered all my question and unfortunely let me know that southwest doesn't fly to the airport I needed but she gave me the phone number to a company that does.

    active duty sailor 8/11/09 3:55PM

  • My family and I had a fantastic experience with Southwest. The flight attendant went the extra mile to help us entertain our kids on the 1 1/2 hour flight with snacks and cute coloring books, even making a rattle for our baby out of the honey roasted peanuts and a plastic cup and lid (amazingly enough, it was virtually indestructible by our child). We had to change dates on our return flight, and had absolutely no problems doing so. I give this airline two thumbs up.

    Anonymous 8/5/09 11:23AM

  • Always very easy to get someone on the phone that knows how to help. They get things done quickly and with as little red tape as any airline these days. Their customer service is why I keep flying Southwest.

    l-train 7/17/09 5:06AM

  • This is a little shout-out and a massive thank you to Dallas Love Southwest employees Kathy Chambers and Donald Horton for their exceptional help and service on Thursday, May 21st. Just as I was pulling into Love Field, I received a phone update letting me know that my 5:30 p.m. flight to Houston - where I had a connecting flight to Nashville - had been pushed back to 7 p.m. Argh! But no worries. Even with 10 flustered people standing in line behind me, Kathy Chambers was the picture of calm efficiency as she phoned her rep in Houston to find out if there were any delays at Hobby, and sent me to another gate to see if I could get on the 6 p.m. flight to Hobby. To my initial horror, there were already 14 people standing by, but Donald Horton saw that I had to make a connection, and put me - and three others who had to make that Nashville connection - on the flight. Thank you, Kathy and Donald, for getting me to Nashville on time and for helping me remember why I love Southwest so much - no pun intended!

    Gini M. 5/27/09 11:38AM

  • I had a question regarding the cancellation/modification of a 'Wanna Get Away' fare. Spoke to a representative named David to whom I explained my situation. He was courteous and polite, and provided me with the answer I was looking for within a minute or so of dialing.

    dub 1/20/09 10:04PM

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  • I would like to respond to two Customer comments that I saw posted on your site. Not knowing the specifics of the situation, I can only comment on the most common occurrence.

    Regarding the lavatory incident: Passengers are asked to remain seated while the seatbelt signs are on. Also- if the lavatory (near the pilots) is occupied, no one is allowed to stand "in line" to wait. These are TSA rules. I'm sorry if the FltAttd was not courteous in his/her response to you.

    Regarding the boarding pass: Many of our Customers take advantage of the internet online checkin which assigns the boarding pass numbers. This checkin procedure begins 24-hours prior to the departure of your flight. Even if you arrive in person, 3 hours before the flight, many boarding passes have already been assigned, and those Passengers have printed out their passes from home. These are enhancements that we have made to our systems for Customer convenience. Boarding passes and security documents can also be printed at our Kiosks in the airport, prior to entering the security areas.

    I hope you will continue to fly with Southwest Airlines, we do strive to do our best for you. If you wish to register specific comments with our Customer Relations Department, please refer to our "Contact Us" page on southwest.com (now with email!) or call us at 214-792-4223.

    IT4LUV 8/6/09 8:54AM



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