Northwest Airlines EPIC FAIL.

I arrived at Buffalo Niagara Airport at 6:15am, expecting to check-in for my 9:15am flight on Christmas Eve Day. When I arrived and tried to use the self check-in machine, it said my flight had been cancelled and rebooked for the next day; Christmas Day. I called over the agent, because obviously this was some sort of mistake, but he confirmed; the flight had been cancelled due to mechanical errors. I asked if there was another flight leaving that I could get on. He rudely said no without checking the computer. I asked if he could reroute me to get me to my final destination. He rudely said no without checking the computer.

I decided to take things into my own hands.

I walked over to every airline’s ticket counter, and pleaded my case. Every single airline agent (aside from the one at Northwest) tried to help. Typing furiously into their computers to find some sort of path that could be taken, but no seats came up and I went back to the Northwest counter defeated. The agent, named Jermin, was still there. I asked one more time if he could please check his computer, or maybe put me on standby. He looked at me and antagonistically said that there was nothing I could do and that I should just come back tomorrow for my rebooked flight. “I’m not from Buffalo, where am I supposed to go until tomorrow morning?” He said that wasn’t his problem, and that I’d just have to figure it out.

I asked to speak to his supervisor.

I was told to wait about an hour for the supervisor. And I did as I was told. When the supervisor arrived she was more rude and more antagonistic than the agent. I explained that I understood that mechanical errors occur, but that also isn’t my responsibility but rather the airlines. She said there was nothing she nor Northwest Airlines could do, and that I would just have to come back tomorrow morning.

This is about the time when I started to get angry. At first I was just really emotional about the whole situation. Way to start off my Christmas. So I called my lawyer sister for some advice. She did what she does best, and gave me a plan of attack. According to Rule 0240 section 73, Northwest Airlines is responsible for providing a passenger whose flight has been delayed for upwards of 2 hours due to a non-force majeure (essentially anything that is within the airlines responsibility) with a hotel and meal voucher.

I went back to the supervisor with this information.

The supervisor said that because I am Canadian, she wouldn’t offer any such voucher. But (spitefully) said she would pay for my bus ticket back to Toronto. During this argument I’m taking mental note of her name. Dunia Ahmed – engrained in my memory. At this point, a line is starting to form and other passengers, like myself, are starting to notice that their 9:15am flight has been cancelled. While I’m standing there arguing, the supervisor realizes that all these people are about to hear details about Rule 0240 Section 73, so she decides to give me a hotel voucher. Great. What about the food voucher? She scowls, and again (spitefully) gives me a whole $5.00 for the 24 hours I’ve been delayed. As I am waiting for these vouchers, Jermin, my favourite agent (and I say that with heartfelt sarcasm) tells another female, who happens to be from Northern Ontario, that there is nothing he can do for her. By now I am pretty pissed off. Not only are they trying to screw me over, but they are trying to screw another passenger over too. I pipe up and tell her that according to Northwest’s OWN policy, they have to provide her with accommodation. The agent says to the supervisor, “Look, now she’s trying to tell us how to do our job”.

Maybe if you knew how to do your job, I wouldn’t have to be telling you about your own policies.

So now I leave, my face tear-streaked and full of rage. I call my sister and she tells me to get down the employee numbers and/or names in order to file a complaint. I head back to the counter. I ask for their employee number, the supervisor says they don’t have employee numbers. Then I ask for the agent’s name, and like the immature fool that he is, he covers up his ID tag with his hand. Brilliant.

I head out, and wait for the shuttle to take me to my hotel room. Once inside, I make some phone calls. I call Customer Care, but can’t get through, so I call Reservations. They tell me to email Customer Care and they will get back to me in a few days. I email, but I have yet to receive a response.

The next morning I wake up and head over to the Buffalo Niagara Airport once again. Jermin, my favourite agent, is waiting there behind the counter. The sight of him sickens me just a little. So I proceed to the self check-in machine. Scan my passport. I’ve been bumped to the 12pm flight. WTF? I ask Jermin (whose ID I checked without asking, and whose full name I found out is Jermin Harding) what the deal is, he types something into his computer and prints me out my boarding pass for the 9:15am flight. I put my luggage on the scale, he prints out my bag tag and wraps it around the handle. Jermin then asks me to double check the destination, I do and it’s correct. Awesome.

I head to my gate without a second thought.

My flights go according to schedule and I arrive at my destination on time. I meet my boyfriend at the luggage carousal, and we wait. And wait. My luggage doesn’t show up. I head over to the Northwest Airlines ticketing counter, and they check the system, type in my bag tag number, and nothing. My bag wasn’t even scanned. The agent assures me that this often happens and the luggage is just probably stuck at another airport. She tells me to keep calling to hear if there are any new findings, and that I can also check the tracking details online. Northwest Airlines gives me an allowance of $50.00 on the first day, and $25 dollars for four days after that. There isn’t a whole lot I can buy with that kind of money considering all I had was the clothing I was wearing. No toiletries, no panties, no change of clothes. But the best part of the whole thing, I had none of the Christmas presents I had brought to give to my boyfriend’s family. Showing up empty handed on a first impression for the holidays – ugh.

That first day was a write-off. It was after all Christmas, and no stores were even open. I did laundry and checked the online tracking system every 5 minutes.

I still had hope at this point.

The next day, we went back to the airport to pick up the little kit that Northwest Airlines was supposed to provide me. This fantastic kit (again, please note the sarcasm) included a XXL white T-shirt, a deodorant stick the size of a chap stick, a reusable razor, a miniature toothbrush, and some toothpaste (the kind that is in foil and not a tube). Needless to say, I went straight to Target to pick up toiletries.

I continued to call incessantly. I tried calling each individual airport’s Northwest office and every other number I could find. I did a content description. Nothing. At one point, an agent even rudely said over the phone “you know you’re not the only person to lose luggage this holiday season”.

Well whose fault is that?

I still haven’t been able to contact Customer Care and no one seems to even know where my luggage is. They say it could potentially be with the rest of the untagged luggage in the Minneapolis office, but no one really knows.

So yesterday I go back to Bismarck airport to catch my flight back home. I’m there about 2 hours early. Boarding time comes, and the plane still is nowhere to be found, but the screen at the gate says the flight is boarding. Thirty minutes later, the screen says the plane is departing. A few minutes after that the screen says the flight has departed. The main Departure screen also says the flight has departed. I ask a TSA agent, he says the flight has been delayed but that Northwest hasn’t updated their information.

I, again, call my sister. She calls reservations and speaks to a supervisor. My flight to Minneapolis has been delayed about 2.5 hours and I have missed my connecting flight. My sister is able to get me on a direct flight from Minneapolis to Toronto in the morning. And the Supervisor assures her that the agents in Minneapolis will provide me with an accommodation and meal voucher. I get on the delayed flight to Minneapolis. Once I arrive I ask the agents at the gate where I can find Customer Service for Northwest Airlines. They send me to another gate where there is a fairly long line-up made up of disgruntled travelers. When I finally make my way up to the front of the line, the agent checks my info and says that my flight is “non-voucherable” and there is nothing they can do for me.

Here we go again.

I gather my documents and head out of the terminal to the main ticketing counter for Northwest Airlines. I tell the agent that a Reservation Supervisor by the name of Sherry told me that I would get these vouchers, and that the agents upstairs gave me a hard time. He had them printed out for me in less than five minutes.

It’s about time someone at Northwest was helpful!

The next day I hop on the shuttle back to the airport. Get checked in and head to my gate. Board my flight; everything is going pretty well at this point, but obviously it doesn’t stay that way. Once we have all boarded, there is a bit of a discrepancy between the numbers the Northwest agent has for the passengers on the flight, and the number the flight attendant has. It takes about 30 minutes to square this all away. And we’re still sitting on the plane. Finally we head to the runway, and off we go. Faster, faster, until we’re about to lift off the tarmac, when suddenly the Pilot hits the brakes really hard.

FUCK! (Pardon my French)

“There’s been a bit of a malfunction. We’re getting in touch with maintenance and we’ll let you know when we know more”, says the pilot. Ten minutes pass and the pilot comes back on. “We’ve spoken to our maintenance team and we believe it’s just an indication malfunction and nothing to be worried about, so we’re going to go ahead and get back in line for the runway”. Fifteen minutes later, we’re off.



It isn’t necessarily about the delays or cancellations that I had to go through during this ordeal, it’s about how horribly I was treated through the course of the whole thing. Out of the 20 or so people I spoke to, only about two were helpful or even sympathetic. How do people in customer service not have any people skills, and why is Northwest hiring them? I am tired of hearing people say there is nothing they can do, and just want one Northwest employee to get something done. It isn’t that difficult; it’s your job.

And if this should ever get back to Jermin Harding: you better have put my luggage on that flight and not stolen it or taken the tags off. Oh and maybe you should consider a job that doesn’t put you in direct contact with people of the same species, because obviously you have no idea what proper people skills are!

Thanks Northwest Airlines, for making this the most frustrating, rage-filled, emotionally taxing travel experience of my life. You almost single-handedly ruined my holidays.


Cheers,

Foujan


Ps. Thanks sis for being my lifeline!