Southwest Pole Charges

[jmayesvaultmom]

I don't think that it was just the agent. I think it was the supervisor that the OU coach was dealing with. Apparently Becca said there was a memo that went out to all SW agents "warning" them about us all leaving Reno and to charge per pole! They wouldn't let her see the memo. Maybe by the time Laura went through she met up with an agent that was tired of being blasted! We definitely need to find out and get something in writing by email or something with a guarantee of only a $35 charge before I book SW again!

[rainbowgirl28]

Steve Chappell wasn't back from the Summit yet. I talked to Jennifer and let them know and I'll try and talk to Steve tomorrow.

[sassyplvltr]

For future reference, before you make plane reservations, call the airline and check with them on their charges & policies for checking polevault poles. Also check to see if the flights you're wanting to book are on large enough planes to check the poles as baggage. Yes, it might take a while to get their answer, but it's worth it in the end. And write the name of the person down, date & time you talked to them, and what they told you. That way, if you get into this type situation again, you can say, hey, this person in baggage told me this.

I called SWA back in October to be sure on their policy/charge and also to be sure they'd fit on all of our flights. The guy guaranteed me that they would fit and that the charge was per pole bag, not per pole in the bag. But if they were each in separate containers, it would be per pole. And the max that they're supposed to charge is not $35...it's $70 - right off the SWA website's baggage info screen.

We weren't charged on the way out, but got a whopping $245 charge on the way back, when others we knew were only charged $70. So on Monday morning, I called SWA to complain. I was told to send a letter to their customer service noting our receipt number and that of the other person with the lesser charge. So that's what I did. Now I'm just going to wait.

We all need to be glad that we just got overcharged for them to check the poles as baggage and that they did not saw them in half in order to fit them on the planes - which HAS happened in the past to people I know.

[jmayesvaultmom]

The only time we flew American, we were to fly out of St. Louis. I called three different times checking on the size of the plane, the charge ($80 each way), the time needed to come before the flight (2 hrs), etc. I asked them to note it in the computer under our reservation. We got to St. Louis and the counter agent said we couldn't get them on the plane, etc. etc. I told them I had called, had the person's name I had talked to and everything. They still ended up having to call the airport MANAGER and it took an hour to get it worked out.

[CowtownPV]

It has never done me any good to call ahead. I have been told there would be no charge and then get charged, I have been told there would be a charge and then didn't get charged, even once was told I had to take them to cargo and I tried the terminal and took them for free. One time I flew a male vaulter with 16' poles with no problem and a year later the same airline, same size plane said my girls 13' poles wouldn't fit. I think this is why the Summit set the deal with the trucking company because of all the airline problems. I recently talked to a friend that works for the airlines and she said it is up to who is working at the time. So good luck the next time you have to take poles somewhere, at least the folks at Reno know what they are now, about 9 years ago someone asked me how long those skis were.

[Bruce Caldwell]

OTHER CONCERNS ABOUT FREIGHT SHIPMENTS TOO!!
http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1725&highlight=

[rainbowgirl28]

I talked to Steve Chappell yesterday and made him aware of the problem. He said it sounded ridiculous and was going to make some calls and look into it.

[vaultdad]

Scuse me while I step up on my soapbox . . .

The shipping charges are, in my mind, becoming a problem because customer service is essentially dead these days. It has been replaced by marketing folks who have bypassed the customers wants and needs to pursue the next great craze in revenue pops.

In my business, repetitive jobs are sought after , and "pops" are jobs that may generate a lot of cash but don't occur regularly enough to pay the scheduled bills and salaries.

What has happened here is the airlines have chosen to follow the same route as the fuel distributors in this country. Get as much as you can, when you can and make as much money off the "pops" such as vault summits. This works short term, until people find ways around it or acclimate to it because they have no choice. Apparently, these folks do not give consideration to what happens if they lose the revenue bearing customer due to them findng an alternate carrier(s) because now they have a reason to do more research. Do you think anyone did the math on how many seats/aircraft were filled? One big plane with a scheduled flight and empty seats = -$. My guess was that they were pretty busy with the business this event generated.

When was the last time you saw someone taking alpine skis to a resort asked how many skis were in the bag? Or how many execs using a business trip as an excuse to golf asked do you have 5 clubs or 25 clubs in your bag? They don't get asked, they just have their bags insured againest loss and get on the plane. Have you ever thought about how full the cargo compartment is when hockey teams, baseball teams, golfers, or skiers travel during their seasons? And I don't mean pro teams. High school hockey teams fly regularly in MN. as an example

I don't know the answer, but I know there has to be a better method of dealing with this problem. It's not like poles only get transported once every blue moon.

[rainbowgirl28]

Yay I talked to Deanna Wylie with Customer Relations and she was very nice and helpful. I explained the whole situation and I am going to send in documentation on everything and they will review their policy

I am very hopeful that we can get this resolved in a manner beneficial to the pole vault community.

[Erica]

Has anyone used Southwest Airlines since Reno? I am going to be flying with them next week, and was wondering if they have actually changed their policy or reimbersed anyone yet.

[rainbowgirl28]

I tried to call Deanna Wylie today to find out what the status of things is. She is in a "team building exercise" (no joke) so I'll have to try again Monday.

[lonestar]

The mother of one of my kids who brought a bag of poles to Reno told me that she sent a letter to them complaining about how she was charged $35 for the way out, but $70 for the way back. This week she received a call from them apologizing for the double standard, and stating that she'll be receiving a refund for the overcharge on the return trip. They also said they'd be "reviewing" their pole transportation policy - I hope the don't decide to stop taking poles because of all the complaints and problems that occurred.