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\"oh and there's a $1500 Survival Fee......\"
@KhaiJB:
They should have charged him a \"Seaplane upgrade fee\", and claimed that the added convenience of landing directly on a body of water was a luxury that couldn't be taken for granted.
I guess Spirit Airlines figures you should be glad they booked you on a SURVIVOR flight, and you would be glad to pay it.
Wow thats amazing. I would be calling news agencies about this one. Bad bad customer service.
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So, how can we get this onto all the national news circuits so that EVERYONE in the US knows not to use them?
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@badgeman46: Doesn't Drudge support the fee? He's a conservative, after all.
It's an agreement that the passengers signed up to when they accepted the ticket. They didn't have to fly if they weren't willing to accept those terms. It's just like interest rates, arbitration, etc.
/snark
And I'm guessing they lost their golf clubs...if it's not one thing it's another.
@12-Inch Idongivafuck Sandwich: There's a joke in there somewhere about a water hazard, but I'm too lazy to formulate it right now.
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@Canino: Perhaps:
Good Golfer: Avoids water hazards.
Bad Golfer: Lands ball in water hazard.
US Airways: Lands clubs in water hazard.
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I almost feel bad for Spirit for screwing this up so badly. Probably the customer service rep. doesn't have any discretion and didn't have the IQ to escelate to a supervisor.
Just dumb!!!!
Well, they did get 14 Frequent Flier miles out of it.
Please bear in mind that this is a representative, so it's likely just one of their call centers. I'm pretty sure this is just a case of some asshole having a bad day or trying to do things, \"by the book,\" without realizing that they're just being a jackass.
Won't be surprised if a manager or whomever runs the place gets wind of this and corrects this.
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@ModernTenshi04: Then Spirit is incompetent, because normal, competent companies have \"talking to the media\" policies that they remind employees of when the media calls. That is, the flunkies are told \"do not talk to the media, refer all calls to Ms. Smith in PR.\" If somebody spoke out of school, don't you think Spirit would get off its ass to issue a statement immediately?
@ModernTenshi04: Good point, chances are this representative might have been in another country or lives in a cave and has not seen what happened. I would guess if they called back and asked to speak with their manager they would get the refund.
Spirit booked them on the US Airways flight. It's not like they were trying to pull a fast one. How many people, that were booked by Spirit to be on that flight, do you think have tried to \"pull a fast one\" like this? Or are you joking?
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@balthisar: I think it's easy to understand how it could happen, but I still think it's seriously foolish move that points out the weaknesses in the CSR system (even if they had heard about the event, they might simply have no power to change anything). And that's Spirit's fault, if not the individual CSR's.
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Need to ammend that Passenger's Bill Of Rights.
If your jetliner EATS A BIRD and you survive. You can reschedule your connecting flights at no cost.
Next, airlines will be charging a fee to cover the cleaning of the seat cushions after you soil yourself from a plane crash.
this story smacks of sensationalism, the interview doesn't claim that they actually identified themselves as passengers on the crashed jet.
Isn't it possible that the CSR simply didn't know they were on the jet?? It just sounds funny to me.
RTFA
Rob Kolodjay said his conversation was blunt, \"We survived this air crash and I need your credit card number, he said 'and our policy is we're going to charge you $90.\"
Pretty sure Jeff Kolodjay lives in Norwalk CT.
He was interviewed shortly after the crash for the local papers and TV stations.
So, he definitely was on the plane.
And as far as it being a \"representative\" of Spirit airlines........wouldnt you think that makes it EVEN WORSE? I could understand a CSR drone making them pay, but youd figure a real rep. of the company would stop and think \"hey maybe we shouldnt force this out of them\".
@chrisexv6: What do you think the \"R\" in \"CSR\" stands for? There is no implication that the moron was a PR person.
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I really, really wondered when someone would find a way to pee in the lemonade of this otherwise uplifting story. Stay classy, Spirit! Nothing's more important that yanking those fees out of people's wallets, and it's totally impossible to escalate an issue up to a supervisor before you just drone on about policy and ask plane crash survivors for $90 each.
Spirit's now on my ever-growing list of airlines that I will never use, even if the alternative to flying them is just canceling the trip.
This doesn't sound right from the start.
Spirit Airlines is a super-low-cost airline that does not have interlining agreements with any other airline AFAIK. I would be very very surprised if Spirit Airlines had rebooked these passengers on US Airways.
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@emmpee9:
They probably had lower than expected ticket sales which made it cheaper to just book with USAirways rather than fly a half-full plane.
@emmpee9: Or perhaps the service is even worse than I thought. The article doesn't say whether Spirit or Kolodjay rebooked the ticket. So even if Kolodjay rebooked with another airline, that would seem to say that Spirit's policy means that Spirit can cancel one leg of a flight and then charge people to cancel the other leg.
Either way, that sounds like a shitty way to treat customers.
@emmpee9: Well, it looks like they did rebook them.
[www.myrtlebeachonline.com]
\"Some passengers on the U.S. Airways flight were rebooked from a canceled Spirit Airlines flight on its way to Myrtle Beach, Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said.\"
@Anathema777: Good find. I would have lost a bet there. Spirit seems like the last airline that would rebook someone on another airline. Their lack of an interline agreement means they probably paid full-fare for the last minute tickets.
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@emmpee9: If an airline cannot rebook you on their own flights to your destination within a reasonable time frame, they must rebook you on another airline. This goes for all airlines, although in my experience many claim to have never heard of the rule. It's there.
If Spirit did not have another flight to Charlotte or anywhere near Charlotte until the next day, say, it makes sense they would have rebooked passengers on USAirways. Had they not then attempted to get a cancellation fee out of them, I would say this is actually pretty cool of Spirit, considering how many airlines (USAirways included) have tried to tell me they can't rebook me on other airlines' flights.
@LoSpaz:
\"If an airline cannot rebook you on their own flights to your destination within a reasonable time frame, they must rebook you on another airline. This goes for all airlines, although in my experience many claim to have never heard of the rule. It's there.\"
False.
That \"rule\" has not been law for 30+ years. Some airlines still follow it (and put that rule in their Contract of Carriage), but many do not.
Good reading: [airtravel.about.com]
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Ultimate Fail good job Spirit.
Ummm
so what happens if they dont cancel their flight and just dont turn up??
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@NinjaPoo: They already paid for the return flight they'll never use. This is a fee to refund that cost I am betting.
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So, when are the rest of us getting an apology from the commenters who said anyone making jokes about how the airlines were going to use this as a money-making opportunity were horrible people?
I personally think that if someone survives a plane crash, they shuld get the white glove treatment from airlines for the rest of their life.
If that happened to a plane I owned, all the passengers would at least get free round trip tickets to anywhere in the world anytime they wanted to use them, no restrictions. I might even let them do it several times.
They bought their tickets -they knew what they were getting into - I say let them crash!
@varro:
Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.
Let me get this straight, if a family member of yours had wound up on that flight, is that what your attitude would be toward them? I hope your comment was made out of IGNORANCE and not STUPIDITY.
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Is it wrong that I love your goose graphic?
Spirit is scum.
About 7 years ago they decided that they weren't going to fly in and out of the SF bay area - 10 days before Thanksgiving. I was left without a flight home as I could either request a refund or go to LAX (which they didn't seem to realize was 300+ miles away).
Worse yet, when I bought the ticket, they weren't doing e-tickets. So, I had to mail the paper ticket in, and wait 3 months for the refund - minus the $20 \"ticket delivery fee\" and the cost to mail the tickets back (insured).
I thought stranding people on Thanksgiving was low. Now they're charging plane crash victims? Yuck.
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Way not to save face.
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@logicbox: You can vote for it to end up on the front page of yahoo's homepage by clicking the yellow and purple \"b\" at the end of the article.
@Robobot: Front page of Yahoo and home page being the same thing, naturally. Oops! Yahoo needs to be capitalized as well. Please don't murder me, fact/grammar nazis.
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The OPs should've used a local Mom and Pop airline, which would also have helped support local businesses.
:-)
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UPDATE--
Statement from Misty Pinson, Spirit Airlines
\"Spirit Airlines has given the Kolodjay family a full refund and have issued credits to their credit cards. They will not be charged anything by Spirit Airlines.. We applaud everyone involved in bringing these passengers to safety wish the family the best.\"Some airlines apparently stop at nothing to charge customers above and beyond the price of the airline tickets. Spirit Airlines is trying to charge passengers extra fees after canceling a flight, which forced the passengers to be on the plane that landed in the river Thursday.
I am so glad that my husband is getting his private pilot license, no greedy airlines for us!
A new low for the same airline with the \"Return of the MILF\" sale a while back.
My mother used to work for Spirit. I am not in any way surprised at this shit.
It depends on what your intentions are with the goose. I hope you are just a bird lover.
If it were a Spirit Airline plane, it sounds like they would charge the passengers a CLEANUP AND REPLACEMENT fee for the plane lost.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-77175-100x100.png\")
On side note, are you given a refund if your plane crashes and you survive?
What happens to the passengers of 1549? Refunds? Money? Free tickets?
Just curious...
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Thanks for the update. Posted to refunded in 4 hours-not bad at all.
This is why I never fly commercial, unless I absolutely must. It isn't because I am afraid of flying. It isn't because I am afraid of terrorists. It is because commercial airlines are horrible businesses and do not deserve any business. I would fly with Southwest, but that is about it. It would truly have to be an emergency for me to consider flying with anybody else.
That's the Spirt! Cancel their regular sched. flight and put them on a near death flight.
Wasn't that a Twilight Zone segment?
Only shows what kind of pea-brains runnung that ship!
Mac
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They're doing full ticket refunds now.
Something a bit like this just happened in New Zealand. Two men were killed by a glacier when they climbed a fence, and the rental car company they had used tried to charge the family $2,000 to cover towing costs and the cost of replacing the locks, since the keys were in the pocket of one of the victims whose body hadn't been recovered.
There was a big big outcry and later the rental car company decided to not follow through.
This sounds like something US Air would do.
Spirit airlines is the WORST. I flew them for the first time over the holidays, and after a SEVEN hour delay, they still had the nerve to charge passengers for water and soda on the flight. And, when I got back from my trip, I learned that their promotion club that I tried to sign up for to get discounted tickets that repeatedly told me my credit card had been declined, charged me $39.95 for each attempt. When I called customer service about it, they said there was nothing they could do and I had to write a letter. Check out their BBB grade - F.
Now that oil prices are down, how many airlines stopped charging their checked baggage fees?
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I can't imagine that this is going to end well for them.
I wonder, if they had not lived through the crash, would the airline then insist that the estate of the people pay a fee for not using the return tickets.
This is phenomenal, breath-taking stupidity on the part of Spirit Airlines.
Spirit Airlines took a golden opportunity (by, say, giving the Kolodjays a credit) to look like good guys, and instead have come off looking like galaxy-class knuckleheads.
I'm still waiting for someone to pick up the story that DHS has posted a warrant for BF Skinner in connection with training Canadian Geese for the terroistic purposes of bringing down aircraft. A confidential source has indicated this is the latest terrorist ploy as the geese are not affected by the new anti-missile systems being installed on commercial planes. Canadian geese can be trained to fly in military formations increasing the chance of hitting the target.
Projectile type: Shoulder-launched
Size: 76-110 cm (30-43 in)
Wingspan: 127-170 cm (50-67 in)
Weight: ~10 pounds
Un-Refueled Range: 100 miles
Speed: Sub-Mach
Misc: Good loiter capability. Can be re-used if target is not acquired.
Cut Spirit some slack. Airlines are charging for everything. Peanuts, drinks, meals, bags, pillows. It seem perfectly reasonable to pay a small convenience fee for not drowning in the icy waters of the Hudson.
Conversely, Spirit should pay all moral, decent human beings a convenience fee for not coming to their corporate headquarters, slaughtering the entire staff, and burning down the building.
Since they dropped their charges, I will drop mine ....for now.
This tops any customer service fiasco I've ever read about on The Consumerist. Truer than fiction.
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What terrible customer service, wow....
I know who I will never book a flight with.
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It is now being reported that all flight customers are getting $5000 for their belongings which may be tied up for months (read funky, wet, moldy inside the aircraft) and refunded tickets. How this affects the Spirit Airlines guys tickets I do not know but they should get the $5000 from USAir for their stuff...
Yet another example of why Spirit Airlines is the Worst airline of ALL TIME!
Business Bureau.. please fine them and put them out of business!
Thank you,
~Disgruntled Ex-patron
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-466466-100x100.png\")
MAY I CAST THE FIRST VOTE TO AWARD SPIRIT AIRLINES THE FIRST \"PIECE OF SHIT\" AWARD FOR 2009?
I would not advise anyone to spend more on a ticket from Spirit Airlines than they can afford to lose due to their likely eventual bankruptcy. Having served as the Nat’l C/S Manager for a (former) Division of a prominent Fortune 50 company, I can tell you unequivocally that a strictly enforced corporate policy of opportunistic commercial predation upon one’s customer base will rapidly erode the commercial viability of the business – regardless of pricing and/or company reputation. Like many other customers, Spirit Airlines got me once. Like the vast majority of the customers of my former employer – I’ll never give them the chance to do it again.
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So incredibly, incredibly tacky.