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Spirit Airlines receives record fine for mistreating passengers
A quick search for past posts about Spirit Airlines here on Gadling shows not much more than negative news. Sadly for Spirit, today's news is no different. The low cost carrier was handed a $375,000 fine by the Department of Transportation for the way it treats its passengers.
The fine is a record, but the violations also appear to be pretty nasty. They include:
- False fare advertising
- Failure to provide compensation on oversold flights
- Failure to provide baggage compensation claims in a reasonable time frame
- Failure to accept liability for missing baggage items
- Failure to retain copies of customer complaints
- Failure to file customer complaint reports
As the lowest cost carriers move towards the "service not included" methodology, customers are always going to find something worth complaining about. Whether or not the issues are indeed a thing of the past remains to be seen, and I'm sure the DOT will be keeping a close eye on their operations.
Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
darwiniandemon Sep 20th 2009 9:21AM
Spirit Airlines "receives" record fine for mistreating passengers
Jay Sep 20th 2009 11:26PM
This shouldn't be any news we all know they are just a public transit bus with wings attached nothing more.
Devin Sep 21st 2009 2:25PM
I have flown Spirit numerous times since they came along, I was hoping they would be the "Southwest" of the Caribbean. Hence they are NOT, I have personally experience the worst experiences in customers service from this airline. I am a true frequent flier among the airlines and I do my best to avoid Spirit when ever possible. In fact they are the only company I have ever sent in a compliant to and that was even difficult. Unfortuantely, its a few people who work at companies and they ruin it for everyone else, although I have found some great people in their company, they are few and far.......lookout if Southwest ever starts flying the Caribbean.
They haven't solved anything at Spirit, ever try booking a flight using your miles with them.....good luck.
Sue Sep 21st 2009 2:30PM
I watch one day as the baggage handlers let luggage fall from the plane. When I mention this to the flight attendant, I was rebuffed. After landing my luggage was destroyed. Would they do anything?
No. I wasn’t even allowed to file a complaint. There was no one available. “You can call” I never was able to get thru other than a voice mail. At that time I swore off Spirit airlines. Go Airtran!!
dan Sep 21st 2009 2:32PM
I booke the Big Front Seat to Vegas..a plane arrived without any big front seats even installed...OK fine, except, REFUSED A REFUND FOR THE DIFFERENCE..with no rationale except, that's how we do things
Millie Sep 21st 2009 4:50PM
In all the times that I have searched, and searched, and searched, I have NEVER been able to book any of their bargain flights. This is even if I'm on the web page 10 minutes after I receive the email, and you can go from the day the sale starts to the day the sale ends and never, ever find seats availabe at the SALE price. Always at the regular price, never at the sale price. I finally gave up and sent them an email about THE WORST WEB PAGE EVER,
and got a reply "THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN SPIRIT AIRLINES". Crap, they don't
even read their customer comments area on their web pages. THey are a rip-off, and deserve the fines they get, and believe me I'll never fly Sprit, and I work at the Atlantic City Airport!!!!!!!!!!!!
lizzie lui Sep 21st 2009 5:04PM
You get what you pay for.
TraceeT Sep 21st 2009 9:03PM
WOW! I have flown with spirit several times in the past year as has my son. We have gotten some awesome deals too~! 9.00 each way to Myrtle Beach, 17 each way to New York and 53.00 each way to orlando. We have had a couple delays but nothing major. My son has flown to LA several times in the past year. he flew airtran and southwest and liked spirit better. we got flights for 9.00 each way and we got it for 79 and 89 each way. So we have nothing to complain about. We love this airline. It has allowed us the oppotunity to go places we probabvly would never have without those great fares and for my son to come more than he would have.
So, the good for us has way out weighed the bad.
Thanks spirit for it all. We have travelled way more than we would have and seen our son way more than we would have.So we are very happy with this airline and would travel it again and again~
Nancy Sep 22nd 2009 3:59AM
So what does DOT do with the $ 375,000? How does that help those of us mistreated by Spirit? It's a drop in the bucket and certainly not going to any of the people who've had bad experiences with or bad service from that airline....I do still have the complaint letter I sent them (somewhere), and their GFY reply. Anyone know if we can get better service from the DOT than from Spirit? If so, who to write? (I'm only half-kidding.)
BTW, I do agree w/ the person who said "You get what you pay for" TO AN EXTENT, however when not flying on one of the super cheap budget fares of that airline one should expect normal, polite and reasonable service. I saw ticket clerks yelling at customers who were just trying to find out what to do when their flights were missed/cancelled and it was a really, really rude scene so I stopped flying that airline, even though they are a budget carrier to San Juan where my family flies regularly.
Bill Sep 21st 2009 7:24PM
How do you think they've been able to keep prices down? Gotta cut corners somewhere
Laykay Sep 21st 2009 7:37PM
I flew Spirit with my family from Florida to Cancun. The airline took off while we were still clearing the immigration. We were left stranded at the airport and we slept at the airport. We approached their manager at the Fort Lauderdale airport but was told that he could not do anything. We complained officially to the airline and for nearly 2 months; we have not received any acknowledgement let alone response from them.
My advice- please do not fly the airline as they have no respect for any passenger. I agree that they are public transit with wings attached.
dkbrowncpa Sep 21st 2009 7:48PM
WOW. In the 8 years of George V, enforcement of consumer complaints was next to zilch in all industries. Compare that with the past 8 months. What a difference electing a Democrat as president makes.
Roberto! Sep 21st 2009 7:55PM
Hey guess what I fly $pirit frequently and not once have I had any trouble with them. Of course the more expensive airlines that fly to more destinations most of us enjoy are the ones that usually lose my baggage [not to mention first to crash] and have the snobbier staff. Spirit has a weird system of ultra low fare sales that last like a day. However one thing I do regret is their flights are always packed (which is great for Spirit) and I have to share all my luggage and seating space with the most awkward people that I assume are the ones to make these false claims...
Lisa Sep 22nd 2009 5:00PM
We've flown Spirit dozens of times, and we've saved hundreds of dollars. Never had a problem.
John Sep 23rd 2009 5:50PM
Go SPIRIT!!!! U never have done me wrong!!!!
Heather Harvey Oct 1st 2009 3:51PM
Hi everyone!
Let me start by introducing myself. I am the Customer Relations Manager of Spirit Airlines. I've been with the company for 2 years and 4 months, and managing the CR team for the last year and a half. Recently, I have been tasked with turning our customer perception around - which is why I am appealing to you here.
As I read through the posts on this and several other blogs, I find that this is the first time that I or my staff see the complaint. Prior to posting something negative about our company, I challenge you to reach out to our customer relations group or myself (Heather. Harvey@spiritair.com). You may also reach our consumer relations via our website, Spiritair.com by selecting the 'Help' tab at the top right corner of the home screen. In the search box please type contact us and select the 'question/comment' tab. We are committed to correcting our mistakes. Your complaints and compliments spur many conversations with upper management.
Our staff is a caring and intelligent group of individuals who see the bigger picture. Help us be a better company by bringing your issue to our attention – if we aren’t aware that there is a problem how are we going to fix it?
You have given us the opportunity to improve our service and we will do our best to do just that.
Please travel with us soon. It is always a privilege to welcome you aboard.
Sincerely,
Heather Harvey
Manager, Corporate Consumer Relations
Spirit Airlines