Airtran Baggage Mix-UP

Hello again,

Either I am the unlucky consumer or I like to complain! :-)

On Thursday June 7, 2007, around 2:15-2:30 pm, I checked into Denver International Airport, (airport code, as I was corrected by an Airtran employee, Lynn, DEN, not DIA) for my flight to BWI, Baltimore Thurgood Marshall Airport. I did not catch the name of the reservationist, but she was very nice, polite, and seemed very efficient at her job. I checked one item and carried on another item. As I was walking away from the ticket counter, i looked down at my boarding pass to look at my seat assignment, the reservationist had complimented me on how I had a "good Seat"-If you're that detail oriented to notice that, then I have more faith in you checking me in. So, imagine my surprise when I looked at my ticket and saw the name "Shane J Berens" and an airport code of that was not my destination. I immediately rushed back to the ticket counter and went straight back to the agent that checked me in (i couldn't believe she even looked at my ID! my legal name is LEIGH J BARAN and that is what appears on my Driver's license, not even close to Shane J Berens! The agent apologized and took all the boarding stuff she gave me, including the baggage claim receipt (unbeknownst to me at the time) and trashed it, then proceeded to print new boarding passes. I specifically reminded her I checked a bag, and she assured me the bag would arrive at BWI, she would change it, not to worry. My flight left at 3:35pm so I believed her, then rushed to go through Security. I boarded the flight, a little uneasy, but had very limited choices at this point.

I arrived at BWI around 11:30pm, went to baggage claim and stood around, waiting for my bags. At the end of the "baggage parade" my bag, along with about 15 other folks did not have their bags on the flight! (Many were connecting flights, either from Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and I was the lone Denver passenger) Danielle, the ticket agent appeared very busy and was actually a little rude to the passengers. She is only one person, and she did have a throng of people asking her questions re: their luggage, in my opinion, if Airtran routinely loses people's baggage, they either need to pay them more or hire one more person on staff. Anyway, I was the last person she helped b/c most of the other passengers were flying home to BWI, whereas I am visiting through June 11 and I did not have my temporary address. (it was around 12:15 AM at the time and i had to wake up the people I was staying with.) Danielle helped fill out my claim form, then gave me the customer service phone #, assuring me this number is not the standard 1-800 number. She also told me to call first thing in the morning, to see if the bag arrived. I called today, June 8th at 11:00 am an began the normal customer service ritual, calling the 800 numbers, getting passed around, no one is willing to help b/c they're not the ones who created the problem, so they don't have to go the extra mile, or do their jobs to locate their mistake. The first person I spoke with on the phone was Lynn, at the special 800 "customer service" number that Danielle gave me. She promptly told me she needed to transfer me to the Baggage people at BWI, she's not at the airport. I pointed out that Danielle the previous evening told me to contact this number, didn't matter, she couldn't help, then transferred me to BWI. I didn't catch the name of the person I was transferred to; she was not Danielle, and not helpful. My bas is still missing, and they do not even show I checked a bag in their system! AHHH! Danielle had tried to call Raleigh, which is where "Shane J Berens" was traveling to, but they were not answering their phones. I tried to get the new lady on the line to do the same, they weren't anwering their phones again! I then asked if she could call Denver to speak directly to the ticketing agent that screwed up everything in the first place and she refused! IN my mind, to fix this problem, I would expect a company to be proactive and utilize every measure/idea, backtrack, to locate the missing item, question the people now while they still remember! Instead, the lady on the line was snide enough to tell me that the agent would not remember me amongst the "thousandts' of people they help each day! Well, i don't know about you, but if i saw a passenger twice in 15 minutes, that would stand out in my mind! She then told me Then I proceeded to tell her, well, this is about the time I checked in, there were only 4 agents working, can't you find out who it was through process of elimination? Well, that agent would not be working at this time, you checked in at 2:30, it's 9:30 in denver ( 30 minutes of my life wasted trying to fix a problem I did not create, and I tried to proactively resolve) Finally I told her, just call, please and find out, said our goodbyes, then called the "speciall 800 #) back, Unbelievably I get Lynn again and she remembers me calling. I tried to get her to help me locate my bag and was given the same answers, not at the airport, can't help you. Then, that is when I asked her, i thought this number was for customer service- she responded its for customer complaints-what?!? why are all the AIRTRAN employees more interested in correcting the customer when they're the ones that screwed up? PLEASE HELP ME! Lynn, let me know I could be reimbursed for anything I had to purchase but no guarantees, and was very good at why she couldn't do something, like call denver, b/c of corporate policy! With the airline industry already struggling, it appears this airline is unaffected, since they continue to treat the customers as nuisances and they underdeliver when they do make a mistake, not putting themselves in the shoes of their customers when they screw up!

Leigh J Baran