Northwest Airlines - NIGHTMARE & TERRIBLE SERVICE!

Northwest Airline - Detroit to Dallas: =20

My daughter and a friend were flying from Detroit Metro airport to Dallas-F=

ort Worth, scheduled to leave on Wednesday, June 13th on flight 701 - leavi=

ng Detroit at 7:15 p.m. and arriving in Dallas at 9:07 p.m... Both childre=

n are 14 years of age. That being said, below is a long series of events t=

hat occurred:

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I called into NWA when looking to book these flights and I was told, "That =

as long as my daughter was 14 she did not have to be an "accompanied minor".

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When they arrived to check in at the airport we were told differently. The=

y must be 15. So, we had to pay an additional $50 for them to be accompanie=

d=2E Which is fine. They then instructed my husband, who was escorting th=

e girls, that he would have to walk them thru security, walk them to their =

gate - nothing more. They did not tell him he needed to stay with them. =

He assumed NWA would look after the girls from that point on - assuming tha=

t the fee we paid would cover this. My husband safely got both girls to th=

eir gates and left. We are responsible parents, and if we would have known=

differently he would have stayed with them up to the boarding of the plane.

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At 7:30 we get a call from our daughter that they still have not boarded th=

e plane. Odd since the flight was to have left 15 minutes ago. Come to fi=

nd out, the gate they were flying out of had been changed and no one at NWA=

informed our daughter and her friend of this change. What really concerns =

me here is that the flight leaving should have known there were (2) unaccom=

panied minors on this flight (we did pay for this service). However, they=

made no attempt to locate them or track them down? I think any reasonable=

person would assume that they could possibly still be at the original depa=

rting gate, did not get notified, or realize there was a gate change and ca=

ll the original gate to see if they were still there waiting. No one did. =

Another option would be to try to page them overhead to track them down.=

This did not happen either. Instead the plane left, knowing there were =

to be two unaccompanied minors on the plane who were not on board and then =

made no effort to track them down.

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They are now stranded in Detroit airport.

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My husband then gets a phone call from a NWA representative indicating that=

our daughter was there at the airport and he needed to come get her....she=

was rude in her tone. My husband didn't understand and said, "You are cal=

ling me in Lansing,MI" .....I can't just come right down there and get her =

I'm two hours away (he needed to think of some other arrangement). The NWA=

representative on the phone then stated, rudely, "If you don't come and ge=

t her then I'm calling child protective services". This is NOT the way to=

talk to a paying customer or handle such an unfamiliar and=20

scary situation - especially when your child is stuck in the Detroit airpor=

t and you are 2 hours away.

My husband then asked for the NWA representatives name and she replied, "M=

y boss will be back in soon, you can talk to him then," again my husband as=

ked for her name, "she repeated the statement above and then HUNG UP ON HIM=

. Again, our main concern still is our daughter in Detroit. He calls ba=

ck and talks to a supervisor and tells him what occurred and gave him the n=

ame of the lady...he said he would deal with it and call my husband back ab=

out corrective actions. No phone call was ever received.

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My husband is then instructed that he needed to fax over a letter to have t=

he girls released to his sister and brother-in-law. My husband faxes it o=

ver and when our brother-in-law shows up he is told they cannot be released=

to him and that it must be the sister. So, my husband calls his sister an=

d making arrangements for her to go to the airport to get our girls. My h=

usband calls back the brother-in-law to tell him that his sister is on the =

way and the brother-in-law says', "they just released them to me"......this=

kind of like seems like "does the hand know what the foots doing".

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Since we now have to get the girls rebooked on a flight for the next we ask=

ed for an earlier flight. We are told the early flights are booked, but to=

ld there is no room until the 12:22 flight - getting into Dallas at 2:07. =

So now, we need to make arrangements for another adult to get these girls b=

ack to the Detroit airport, escort them to the gate and wait with them. Th=

is means asking someone to take the time off of work, the extra expense of =

gas (we have to pay out of our own pocket the gas money for the other mothe=

r to drive all the way from Lansing to Detroit and back to do this).

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I then go to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to collect their luggage. My da=

ughter's luggage arrives, but her friends does not. I then had to wait in =

a long line at the airport at 9:00 at night to track the other luggage down=

. As I'm talking to the representative I tell her the flight they will be =

coming in on (so we can make sure the luggage arrives on that flight or bef=

ore hand) and she tells me "They are not booked on the 12:22 flight, they r=

e-booked them on the 7:15 p.m. flight for the next day". I told her we wer=

e told it was the 12:22 flight, that I have already made arrangements down =

here to get off work to pick them up and now you are telling me they are sc=

heduled again on the later flight? I did not want this - just in case circ=

umstances got them delayed or missed their flight they could have the optio=

n of still getting on a later flight if there was availability. I then had=

to double check her screen to make sure this time they were booked on the =

correct flight.

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At this point, I'm very concerned how this next leg of the trip is going. =20

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Update - 6/14/07 letter:

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The next day the mother who is responsible for getting the girls to the air=

port arrives to check them in "as unaccompanied minors" and is told she has=

to pay the $50 fee. She states this fee was already paid yesterday. They=

tell they do not have a record of this being paid. She then gets my husba=

nd on the phone and he begins to give them his credit card information agai=

n to pay another $50 fee. The mother escorting the girls looks at one of t=

he boarding passes and realizes that it is a receipt for "unaccompanied min=

ors" service. She shows them the receipt. Thankfully, we had this otherwi=

se Northwest would have charged us another $50 because they never kept a re=

cord of it. =20

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The girls arrive in Dallas and we go to get the other luggage that never ar=

rived the night before and it is not there. We make a claim in the lost lu=

ggage area and the lady we are talking to asks us what the suitcase looks l=

ike. She then tells us they located it in Detroit. She asked us to physic=

ally describe the contents, which we did successfully. We had a match. Sh=

e made the request to have the luggage shipped up and that we would have th=

e luggage by the afternoon the next day. The luggage never arrived. We ca=

lled again to follow up on us this, and it turns out they lost the luggage =

AGAIN. That it was never requested and that there is no available informat=

ion or status.

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On 6/16 at 10:00 a.m. I call again and talk to a "Tom" who indicates there =

is still no status. I tell him these girls have no clothes to wear or chan=

ge into, especially since they were stranded since the previous Wed. in Det=

roit in the same clothes. I ask him will NWA reimburse me for any expense =

to go buy at least some clean underwear and maybe a pair of shorts to hold =

us over. He tells me "Well, you do have the $50 a day the first day and $2=

5 each day after to cover you"...I told him no one ever told me this was an=

option. It is now 3 days since they were stranded in Detroit and I'm just=

being told this?

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I call back on 6/16 at 2:00 p.m. and talk to a Suzanna and reiterate our st=

ory and tell her that I need to go get the clothes to replace for these gir=

ls. I tell her that the suitcase that was lost contained all of the clothe=

s of one girl and =BD the clothes of the other girl. I asked her if I coul=

d get reimbursement for both girls. She puts me on hold, comes back and te=

lls me her supervisor has approved an additional $150 dollars for replaceme=

nt clothes. I asked, is this in addition to the standard allowance of the =

$50 the first day and $25 each additional day? She said yes. I reiterated=

so close to $300? She said yes. I asked her if this would be documented =

somewhere, as I have not been having good luck with NWA and I'm concerned t=

hat if I go and spend the money I may not get reimbursed. She puts me on =

hold, comes back tells me her supervisor, Donna, has made a note in the sys=

tem. I then go shopping and purchase approximately $300 worth the clothes =

and go to the airport at 6:30 p.m. on the 16th to get reimbursement. When =

I show up they tell me they are only authorized to reimburse for $150..that=

that is standard and the most that can ever get approved. I ask why then =

was I told differently and gave the names of the people I talked to. He ca=

lled a supervisor over and she indicated the same, that they could only rei=

mburse the $150 and they were not authorized to reimburse for more. I then=

ask them to please call the supervisor that approved it. We call the lug=

gage 1-800 number and ask for Donna the supervisor who I was told originall=

y approved this. I get Wayne the supervisor (in Minnesota). I reiterate m=

y entire story and he tells me the same. I ask him to please talk to Donna=

as she did authorize this. He gets back on the phone and tells me Donna t=

hought it was only for $150 that she was reimbursing, not an additional $15=

0=2E I then ask the guy at the DFW luggage counter if he could trying call=

ing Detroit and tracking down the suitcase. He calls Detroit and they loc=

ate it. He tells me he put a request in to have the luggage sent and that =

we should receive the next day. It never arrived. I keep calling, checkin=

g the status, and nothing. I am now frustrated and $300 in debt then befor=

e=2E =20

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I call on 6/20...by this time it is over 5 days old and I was told that onc=

e it is more than 5 days they will start calling around for it. I call the=

customer service line for lost luggage to use the automatic tracking servi=

ce, service cannot locate it and I am automatically transferred to a custom=

er service rep. I get a Cheryl (located in Chisholm) and she tells me that=

she needs to fax me a claim form and that she will fax it over to me right=

away, that I can complete it, and fax it back. I ask her about getting re=

imbursed for replacing the clothes. I tell her again about how it is one l=

ost suitcase, but two people's items - which means I need to replace clothi=

ng for two people. She said that it was noted in the computer that both gi=

rls were missing clothing and that I could be reimbursed for both girls and=

that reimbursement is per ticketed passenger. That means $50 each the fir=

st 24 hours and then $25 for each day after - for each girl. The fax that =

Cheryl indicates she is sending NEVER arrives. I call back and get a new c=

ustomer service rep. I tell her about my previous call and that I never re=

ceived the fax....she tells me she is confused because they have no way of =

faxing anything and that they don't handle the claim forms and they are onl=

y the back up service for lost luggage. Frustrated, I hang up and call the=

other 1-800 number for luggage lost over 5 days. I get a Marilyn (located=

at headquarters in Minnesota). She was the rudest by far that I have deal=

t with over the last few days. She gets my information, puts me on hold an=

d comes back saying they have the suitcase in Detroit and will have it ship=

ped to me. As I explain to her that I've been told this before and begin t=

o tell her my story she cuts me off and starts talking over me. I spend a =

=BD hour trying to give her the information...she keeps cutting me off or n=

ot listening. She tells me they only show one girl and not two girls whose=

clothes are missing. They have the wrong address, the wrong phone number.=

.=2EI correct them. I tell her I'm frustrated and I need her to listen to=

me. She replies, "I don't know why you are so upset, you should just be h=

appy that I found the bag".....I'm thinking your kidding right??!! I should=

be happy after what I went through??? Not very good customer service when=

you can't even relate or justify my feelings or frustrations.

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6/22/2007...The saga continues:

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My daughter and her friend were to fly out today at Noon (Still no suitcase=

)=2E Because they are traveling as unaccompanied minors I had to make spec=

ial arrangements for someone to take them to the airport, stay with them un=

til their flight left, and arrange for someone to be there to pick them up.=

Everything was all set. AT midnight, the night before (last night), I ge=

t a call from NWA telling me the flight is canceled! They have to put them=

on an early morning flight and I need to give them a commitment right then=

. Nice. I now have to have the girls packed, ready to fly out, and get a =

hold of the two people responsible for taking them to the airport and picki=

ng them up at Midnight...and the person taking them now has to be hear in a=

matter of 6 hours. My girls who are still awake now must finish up any un=

finished packing, get to bed and be up in less than 5 hours to catch a flig=

ht. This was not a good way to end the trip. Forutnately, I was able to g=

et the mother to re-arrange her schedule (from work) to get to the Detroit =

airport to pick them up 4 hours earlier then originally planned. I pray th=

is last leg of the trip is un-eventful, and just glad my time with dealing =

with NWA is over. I forgot to mention...went to the airport last night to =

get reimbursed for the clothes I bought. I was told I would be reimbursed =

$50 for "each ticketed passenger" the first day and $25 each additional day=

for each ticketed passenger. I reitertated on the phone that it was only =

one suitcase lost, but that it contained the clothes of two people. Custom=

er service reiterated I should not have a problem as reimbursement if per t=

icketed passenger and not # of luggage. I get to the airport - they will o=

nly reimbursed me $150 - for one person. They tell me the policy is only a=

maximum of $150. So why didn't the person on the phone tell me this? Sec=

ond trip to the airport to get reimbursed (more gas and time) and I'm now a=

nother $250 in the whole (their replaced clothes actually came close to $40=

0).

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Right now I don't have much confidence in NWA nor am I impressed with their=

customer service. When will the suitcase arrive? I have no idea? Will =

I ever get reimbursed for the replacement clothing? I have no idea. Right=

now I doubt either will happen.

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