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Man Booted From Southwest Flight and Threatened With Arrest After Critical Tweet

Posted by samzenpus on from the that's-some-good-costumer-service-work-there-lou dept.

CanHasDIY writes The old saying goes, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." A man learned the consequences Sunday, after Tweeting about his experience with a rude Southwest gate attendant: "A Minnesota man and his two sons were asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight after the man sent a tweet complaining about being treated rudely by a gate agent. Duff Watson said he was flying from Denver to Minneapolis on Sunday and tried to board in a spot for frequent flyer privileges he held and take his sons, ages 6 and 9, with him, even though they had a later spot to board the plane. The agent told him that he would have to wait if he wanted to board with his children. Watson replied that he had boarded early with them before and then sent out a tweet that read 'RUDEST AGENT IN DENVER. KIMBERLY S. GATE C39. NOT HAPPY @SWA.' Watson told TV broadcaster KARE in Minneapolis on Wednesday that after he boarded, an announcement came over the plane asking his family to exit the aircraft. Once at the gate, the agent said that unless the tweet was deleted, police would be called and the family would not be allowed back onboard." He gave into the threat, deleted the Tweet, and was allowed to board a later flight. Southwest, as one could have predicted, offered a boilerplate "apology" and vouchers.

18 of 928 comments (clear)

  1. Re:name and location tweeted... by DaHat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Using publically visible information (nametag & gate sign) to state an opinion constitutes harassment?

    God help the reviewers on Yelp or Angie'sList who give their opinions on different businesses.

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
  2. What?!? by SternisheFan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So any online criticism of any company has to be a "happy" criticism? The "truth" is no longer welcome? What a screwed up world.

    1. Re:What?!? by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And that is fully legal.

      NO, IT FUCKING ISN'T!

      I seriously doubt their soliciting for getting people to fly with them includes notification of that "if you think we're rude then we will not fly you and just take your money".

      I mean, think about it. He paid for a service to be transported and they cancelled that contract based on that he tweeted the one person being rude. Why do you think that would be a legal way of doing things? taking money and not delivering their end of the contract? you also think it's legal for them to just sell tickets and then not fly at all?

      Now do you think it would be legal for best buy to come to your house and take your tv away because you stated publicly that the salesman was an ass who tried to rudely pressure you into buying extended warranty? fuck no.

      and why do you think they back pedaled? because what they did was "normal"? fuck no it wasn't. the criticized person was just using the powers he had for ANOTHER PURPOSE(purpose of keeping the plane safe) to make him delete the tweet that could negatively affect her career.

      so next up - when you complain that comcast is a bunch of fuckers online you think it's also legal for them to cancel your internet.... with that kind of attitudes no wonder americans are corporate bitches getting bled dry into debt.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:What?!? by countach · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If he'd claimed to be kicked off because he was black/white/gay or whatever, there'd be outrage. But because he was only exercising his free speech rights, people don't care that much.

  3. Customer service? by Calibax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pulling a family off a flight and threatening to summon the police seems pretty intense. They must have done something very bad. What? One of them tweeted about poor customer service before entering the aircraft? That's it?

    Did the SWA agent seriously think that threatening the family with not being able to fly and reporting the man to the police (for what?) unless he deleted the tweet would be the end of it? Did the agent think the whole thing would be erased from everyone's memory and it would be as if nobody complained? That's not the way it works. Now everyone in her management chain knows who she is, and not in a good way. Creating a PR incident like this will not go without notice. It's a variant of the Streisand effect.

    It's not important to the story, but at least one airline I've flown has figured out that it's good customer service to allow people who spend a lot of money travelling on their airline have their children treated to the same boarding privilege - especially as it costs the airline nothing to do so.

    1. Re:Customer service? by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's all good reason for boarding them last - so they don't slow down those who can board quickly.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Customer service? by Yaztromo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's all good reason for boarding them last - so they don't slow down those who can board quickly.

      I promise the plane won't take off without you. What, are you in a hurry to cram yourself into an airline seat instead of enjoying the comfort of the airport lounge for another 10 minutes or so? Entitled much?

      Yaz

    3. Re:Customer service? by fluffy99 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would fire the agent for starters, and whoever was involved.

      The gate agent was correct in telling him he could move back in the line to join his kids, but they couldn't cut in line and move up to join him. That's the policy and they tell you this when asking you to line up. The guy was in the wrong and then whined on twitter about how they didn't bend over to kiss his ass. His tweet naming the person could be construed as harassment or slander.

      Pulling him off the plane was a poor reaction, even if the intent was just to just to ask him to delete the tweet or at least revise it to delete the persons name. I suspect the agent threatened to call security and have him removed because he continued to be an ass, but that would be a one-sided opinion just like the guy claiming they were rude and threatened him.

  4. Is there an SWA Twitter police? by Jeremi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How did Southwest find out about this tweet?

    Do they have a team of people sitting around watching a Twitter feed, so that if anyone mentions Southwest they can pounce?

    If so, good job guys! You really saved the day here. SWA stock is going to go up tomorrow for sure! :^)

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    1. Re:Is there an SWA Twitter police? by hduff · · Score: 5, Insightful

      AFAIK, he told the agent he made the tweet, so his "I'll show you" attitude figured into the equation. The agents' "You're not the boss of me" attitude was also a part. Result: Two asshats vie for the title of "Biggest Dick". And they both won.

      --
      "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
    2. Re:Is there an SWA Twitter police? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Absolutely. Have a bad day, make one wrong judgment call, and see your livelihood vanish. Good luck getting another job.

      Fired? Maybe not, unless this was a pattern of bad behavior. Suspended for a week or two? Yes, absolutely.

      Where do you work, I wonder, that you believe people who have flaws, like we all do, should be treated like used tissues?

      Just my opinion, but this goes beyond a minor "flaw" or a slight error in judgment. The guy had already shown his willingness to publicize his dissatisfaction by tweeting about a minor inconvenience, and this employee provided him with a much worse story to tell. Any person with common sense should have seen this as the potential for some seriously bad publicity.

      There were many ways to handle this and defray the damage from the initial tweet, from a sincere apology and perhaps offer for free future tickets or upgrade (if the employee wanted to use kindness) or a response tweet thanking the customer for his feedback and also thanking all the other customers for following the rules (if the employee wanted to be passive aggressive but still make a point).

      Escalating a minor disagreement with a customer into a public fight is just not a good idea, and employees who can't avoid that do deserve punishment. Customers can be jerks sometimes. Employees have a corporate image to uphold, though, and they need to aspire to a higher standard -- they're getting paid to be there. The customer was not.

    3. Re:Is there an SWA Twitter police? by sribe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where do you work, I wonder, that you believe people who have flaws, like we all do, should be treated like used tissues?

      I've worked in retail. I've dealt with real assholes. I have NEVER EVER even come anywhere near the kind of absolutely unacceptable behavior exhibited by this agent, nor did I ever see any my colleagues do anything remotely like it not ever. She absolutely should be fired.

      Complaining to the guy, OK. Calling him off the plane, questionable. Threatening to call the police over a complaint, fired, ASAP.

      Think about it for a minute--why was she so anxious to get rid of the tweet? Because she knew she was going to be in trouble. So instead of trying anything at all to de-escalate, she threatens to call the police, in order to COVER HER OWN ASS.

  5. Re:name and location tweeted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    harassment/hrasm()nt,harsm()nt/
    noun

            aggressive pressure or intimidation.

    What kind of sycophant would label this tweet as harassment?

    Also, what type of asshole employee would separate a man from his two young children?

    Finally, it would be great to see the 180 degree flip in reaction if the airline attendant had been male and the passenger had been female with her two young children.

  6. He is lucky not being labelled a terrorist... by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After all, he committed several unforgivable sins in a police state:
    1. Being critical of authority
    2. Having an opinion about authority, instead of accepting it as god-like
    3. Communicating said opinion

    I see sedition, inciting violence and refusing to let proper authority mishandle him. Of course, if he let them call the police, he would probably have been shot.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  7. The lesson here isn't to be quiet, but... by Nutria · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to tweet her rudeness after you land.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  8. Re:name and location tweeted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This. As a father with kids, there is a serious double standard. Particularly with women. When my wife goes places with my daughter, she gets helped out, and treated like a parent. When I do the same, it only seems to be other fathers who give me a hand.

    Men really need to start to stand up for equal rights.

  9. Works Fine For Me by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ie. their boarding system is utter shit to begin with.

    A matter of opinion. It works very well if you pre-print your boarding passes 24 hours before departure time. I have *NEVER* had anything but A or B.

    Southwest (who still does not charge for 2 checked bags) has always treated my wife and I well. We have traveled with our grand children many times.

    If you know and follow the well established and well know rules for obtaining your boarding pass and boarding the jet, it's a very smooth process.

    But on the other hand, if you're an "entitled power flyer", your asshole attitude will get you nowhere.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  10. Re: name and location tweeted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doubtful. More plausible is that the guy bragged to the flight attendand that he sent the tweet.