- Report: #857567
Complaint Review: Hawaiian Airlines
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| Hawaiian Airlines P.O. Box 30008
HONOLULU, Hawaii United States of America |
|
Hawaiian Airlines BREACH OF CONTRACT. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. FORCED TO SHARE MORE THAN HALF A COACH SEAT WITH OBESE PASSENGER. HONOLULU, Hawaii
*Consumer Comment: Consumer Affairs Department
*Consumer Comment: Good luck and keep on pursuing
*Consumer Comment: That sucks
*Consumer Suggestion: Half a seat for the full price ?
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
On Monday Feb 27, 2012 my family of four was traveling home from Honolulu, Hawaii to San Francisco, CA. We arrived very early and asked the ticketing agent to please seat us together as a family. The total fare for the four one way tickets home was a total of $2,328.80, $563.00 + $19.20 each ticket. We received our seat assignments and they were not together as we had asked but we weren't going to fuss, we just wanted to get home.
When we boarded and were ready to take off, the flight was delayed almost 2 hours because of a flat tire. My six year old son was seated next to a very obese man and forced to share more than half of his small coach seat for a total of 7 long hours.
Even the flight attendants apologized and said they would feel as upset as I was if that were their family being squished. They offered to give my two kids free cartoons, I had already paid the $4.99 cartoons for my three year old. The flight attendants said they would have moved my son to another seat but the flight was completely full so there wasn't anything they could do. They suggested I fill out an incident report and then file a complaint.
The entire flight, this obese man was asleep and kept leaning over on to my 6 year old's body. The arm rests were not even able to come down. There was no personal space at all. It was very obvious that this man needed two seats or that no one should have been seated next to him. No adult would have been able to fit next to this man. I feel that they sat my child next to him on purpose knowing that a grown adult wouldn't fit.
The flight attendant Denise, filled out the incident report and the following day I called the customer service line to put in a complaint. I did not receive a call back right away so I posted this picture on their Facebook fan page. Click here to see picture. In my complaint I told them I felt I deserved to be refunded for them failing to provide my son with a full seat and we expected to receive what we paid for. We didn't pay for half a seat and no one should be forced to share their tiny seat with anyone. There should be policies in place to prevent this kind of situation.
They offered a 4 travel credits of $50 that expire in one year. We have no plans on going to Hawaii again any time soon. So basically this company feels that it has given me a fair compensation for what my son had to endure.
BELOW ARE EMAIL'S FROM HAWAIIAN AIRLINES:
Aloha Leslie,
Thank
you for taking the time to write us an email about your situation.
Were very sorry that youre unhappy and were looking into your report.
Since you
already filed an incident report, Ill forward your email along to our
Consumer Affairs Office so they have additional supporting documents to
go along with your case. We appreciate your patience as our CAO
department processes your claim.
Mahalo,
Asiana Ponciano
Social Media Marketing Coordinator |Hawaiian
Airlines
Follow: www.Twitter.com/HawaiianAir | Fan: www.Facebook.com/HawaiianAirlines
March 5, 2012
Email: leslie.ivonne@yahoo.com
Contact Ref. # 1202370320
Dear Leslie:
We received your call to our advocate line on February 28. Today, we received your postings on our social media page. Our office is designated to investigate and respond to passenger issues within our Customer Service Plan commitment of 30 days. Cases are usually investigated in the order that it was received. Thank you for your patience in awaiting our reply.
On behalf of Hawaiian Airlines, we are sorry to hear your son was unable to enjoy his flight because he was seated next to a large passenger. If, at the time of check-in, Hawaiian Airlines believes that a large passenger may be more comfortable sitting in two seats, the customer service agent may make a suggestion to the passenger to purchase a second seat. We cannot, however, require that this passenger purchase the second seat if he chooses not to.
The other alternative is to offer the passenger another seat on another flight so that the passenger, as well as other passengers, may be more comfortable. The only instance where we can deny the passenger boarding is if we feel that he is not fit to travel or may endanger the safety of our passengers. Hawaiian Airlines has maintained the option for a large
passenger to purchase a second seat since 1985 and has not made any changes to this policy. We appreciate your feedback and have shared it with our management team.
To encourage you to travel with us again, we have issued each of you a $50 e-certificate towards a future Hawaiian Airlines flight. The instructions and terms are listed below for your reference.
Thank you for sharing your suggestions and observations with us. We appreciate your comments and look forward to the opportunity of serving you on future Hawaiian Airlines flights.
Sincerely,
Trenda Sylva
Sr. Resolution Coordinator
Hawaiian Airlines
Consumer Affairs Office
March 14, 2012
Contact Ref. #1202370320
Dear Leslie:
We received your recent Facebook posts, and we regret you were dissatisfied with the travel credits we offered you.
Again, we apologize for your son's discomfort, and we hope you will allow us another opportunity to serve you.
Hawaiian Airlines considers its response to be fair and appropriate, and respectfully, Hawaiian Airlines considers this matter closed.
Sincerely,
Rose Harman
Manager
Hawaiian Airlines
Consumer Affairs Office
When we boarded and were ready to take off, the flight was delayed almost 2 hours because of a flat tire. My six year old son was seated next to a very obese man and forced to share more than half of his small coach seat for a total of 7 long hours.
Even the flight attendants apologized and said they would feel as upset as I was if that were their family being squished. They offered to give my two kids free cartoons, I had already paid the $4.99 cartoons for my three year old. The flight attendants said they would have moved my son to another seat but the flight was completely full so there wasn't anything they could do. They suggested I fill out an incident report and then file a complaint.
The entire flight, this obese man was asleep and kept leaning over on to my 6 year old's body. The arm rests were not even able to come down. There was no personal space at all. It was very obvious that this man needed two seats or that no one should have been seated next to him. No adult would have been able to fit next to this man. I feel that they sat my child next to him on purpose knowing that a grown adult wouldn't fit.
The flight attendant Denise, filled out the incident report and the following day I called the customer service line to put in a complaint. I did not receive a call back right away so I posted this picture on their Facebook fan page. Click here to see picture. In my complaint I told them I felt I deserved to be refunded for them failing to provide my son with a full seat and we expected to receive what we paid for. We didn't pay for half a seat and no one should be forced to share their tiny seat with anyone. There should be policies in place to prevent this kind of situation.
They offered a 4 travel credits of $50 that expire in one year. We have no plans on going to Hawaii again any time soon. So basically this company feels that it has given me a fair compensation for what my son had to endure.
BELOW ARE EMAIL'S FROM HAWAIIAN AIRLINES:
Aloha Leslie,
Thank
you for taking the time to write us an email about your situation.
Were very sorry that youre unhappy and were looking into your report.
Since you
already filed an incident report, Ill forward your email along to our
Consumer Affairs Office so they have additional supporting documents to
go along with your case. We appreciate your patience as our CAO
department processes your claim.
Mahalo,
Asiana Ponciano
Social Media Marketing Coordinator |Hawaiian
Airlines
Follow: www.Twitter.com/HawaiianAir | Fan: www.Facebook.com/HawaiianAirlines
March 5, 2012
Email: leslie.ivonne@yahoo.com
Contact Ref. # 1202370320
Dear Leslie:
We received your call to our advocate line on February 28. Today, we received your postings on our social media page. Our office is designated to investigate and respond to passenger issues within our Customer Service Plan commitment of 30 days. Cases are usually investigated in the order that it was received. Thank you for your patience in awaiting our reply.
On behalf of Hawaiian Airlines, we are sorry to hear your son was unable to enjoy his flight because he was seated next to a large passenger. If, at the time of check-in, Hawaiian Airlines believes that a large passenger may be more comfortable sitting in two seats, the customer service agent may make a suggestion to the passenger to purchase a second seat. We cannot, however, require that this passenger purchase the second seat if he chooses not to.
The other alternative is to offer the passenger another seat on another flight so that the passenger, as well as other passengers, may be more comfortable. The only instance where we can deny the passenger boarding is if we feel that he is not fit to travel or may endanger the safety of our passengers. Hawaiian Airlines has maintained the option for a large
passenger to purchase a second seat since 1985 and has not made any changes to this policy. We appreciate your feedback and have shared it with our management team.
To encourage you to travel with us again, we have issued each of you a $50 e-certificate towards a future Hawaiian Airlines flight. The instructions and terms are listed below for your reference.
Thank you for sharing your suggestions and observations with us. We appreciate your comments and look forward to the opportunity of serving you on future Hawaiian Airlines flights.
Sincerely,
Trenda Sylva
Sr. Resolution Coordinator
Hawaiian Airlines
Consumer Affairs Office
March 14, 2012
Contact Ref. #1202370320
Dear Leslie:
We received your recent Facebook posts, and we regret you were dissatisfied with the travel credits we offered you.
Again, we apologize for your son's discomfort, and we hope you will allow us another opportunity to serve you.
Hawaiian Airlines considers its response to be fair and appropriate, and respectfully, Hawaiian Airlines considers this matter closed.
Sincerely,
Rose Harman
Manager
Hawaiian Airlines
Consumer Affairs Office
Click on image to enlarge:
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/21/2012 09:29 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Hawaiian-Airlines/HONOLULU-Hawaii-96820/Hawaiian-Airlines-BREACH-OF-CONTRACT-POOR-CUSTOMER-SERVICE-FORCED-TO-SHARE-MORE-THAN-HA-857567. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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Search Tips#1 Consumer Comment
Consumer Affairs Department
AUTHOR: Steve - (USA)
SUBMITTED: Monday, April 02, 2012
I don't understand why HI is paying employees like Mrs. Robyn Lopez and Rose Harman to send out letters which always end in "We have done everything possible - the case is closed." HI could as well pay some work-at-home-moms to stuff standard letters into envelopes.
One of the principles of HI's "Consumer Advocate" is not to address the issue - in my case that they advertised something on their website for which the system was not set up, or in other words: FALSE ADVERTISING.... And never ever admit any wrongdoing from their side.
The other principle is to limit their so called "compensation" to something that creates additional revenue for the company, like vouchers which would require the victim to book another flight with them. In my case their so called "solution" was: "Now we have made some changes to our system and if you book another flight with us you will be able to use the miles that you purchased...."
What they consider "fair" is always fair for the company and their balance sheet.
One of the principles of HI's "Consumer Advocate" is not to address the issue - in my case that they advertised something on their website for which the system was not set up, or in other words: FALSE ADVERTISING.... And never ever admit any wrongdoing from their side.
The other principle is to limit their so called "compensation" to something that creates additional revenue for the company, like vouchers which would require the victim to book another flight with them. In my case their so called "solution" was: "Now we have made some changes to our system and if you book another flight with us you will be able to use the miles that you purchased...."
What they consider "fair" is always fair for the company and their balance sheet.
Respond to this report!
What's this? #2 Consumer Comment
Good luck and keep on pursuing
AUTHOR: Sallymae - (USA)
SUBMITTED: Friday, March 30, 2012
Although Hawaiian Airlines is the best US airline to fly to or from Hawaii and the Mainland USA (in my opinion), their consumer service department really is the pits.
It was very unfortunate that your son was squished - but great that he was young. Imagine if you or a full size adult had to be in that position! Smart to take a picture and also to post online. Keep on keeping on.
I had a few incidences with Hawaiian Airlines in the past, and in the "old" days, the resolution of the problems were done with class and aloha. If the flight was delayed, we got free headsets. If a mistake was made on their part, it was made up for very adequately.
However, in the past few years, Hawaiian Airlines has outsourced their reservations and almost all customer contact to the Philippines. Nothing against the Filipinos, for they are very polite and well trained, but the disconnect between the passenger and the corporation has grown immensely because of this outsourcing as well as corporate policies.
To make matters worse, the head of the Consumer Affairs department is Rose Baraquio Harman, who is a beautiful (and knows it) local Filipino that knows how to twist corporate heads with her mean little fingers. She is the one with the final say on a case, and it always ends with "Hawaiian Airlines considers its response to be fair and appropriate, and respectfully, Hawaiian Airlines considers this matter closed."
Notice how you are not given a phone number to call her or contact a representative of the corporation? Instead, you are told to call their 800 number and get one of those nice Filipino agents with fake names who apologize and blow you off politely.
If anything, your son should get a free one way ticket to or from Hawaii, fully transferable. Because they insulted you with $50 flight credits that would not even cover extra luggage fees and bulk head upgrades, and because you are going public (bravo!) on the cold-hearted, unfair and inappropriate response to your valid complaint, your family of 4 should have a personal apology by the head of the airlines (I heard he is a nice man, Mark Dunkerly) and 4 round trip vouchers, fully transferable.
Keep on fighting. It will take a lot to win, but victory will be sweet and hopefully the cut and dry consumer affairs department gets some cuts of personnel, replacing them with people who actually care.
It was very unfortunate that your son was squished - but great that he was young. Imagine if you or a full size adult had to be in that position! Smart to take a picture and also to post online. Keep on keeping on.
I had a few incidences with Hawaiian Airlines in the past, and in the "old" days, the resolution of the problems were done with class and aloha. If the flight was delayed, we got free headsets. If a mistake was made on their part, it was made up for very adequately.
However, in the past few years, Hawaiian Airlines has outsourced their reservations and almost all customer contact to the Philippines. Nothing against the Filipinos, for they are very polite and well trained, but the disconnect between the passenger and the corporation has grown immensely because of this outsourcing as well as corporate policies.
To make matters worse, the head of the Consumer Affairs department is Rose Baraquio Harman, who is a beautiful (and knows it) local Filipino that knows how to twist corporate heads with her mean little fingers. She is the one with the final say on a case, and it always ends with "Hawaiian Airlines considers its response to be fair and appropriate, and respectfully, Hawaiian Airlines considers this matter closed."
Notice how you are not given a phone number to call her or contact a representative of the corporation? Instead, you are told to call their 800 number and get one of those nice Filipino agents with fake names who apologize and blow you off politely.
If anything, your son should get a free one way ticket to or from Hawaii, fully transferable. Because they insulted you with $50 flight credits that would not even cover extra luggage fees and bulk head upgrades, and because you are going public (bravo!) on the cold-hearted, unfair and inappropriate response to your valid complaint, your family of 4 should have a personal apology by the head of the airlines (I heard he is a nice man, Mark Dunkerly) and 4 round trip vouchers, fully transferable.
Keep on fighting. It will take a lot to win, but victory will be sweet and hopefully the cut and dry consumer affairs department gets some cuts of personnel, replacing them with people who actually care.
Respond to this report!
What's this?
They are full of it when they said that they "can't" make someone pay for 2 seats if they are that obese.
Good call in taking the picture BTW, it really shows the dude taking up part of your kid's seat.
The airline should definitely refund the price of the one ticket.
Good call in taking the picture BTW, it really shows the dude taking up part of your kid's seat.
The airline should definitely refund the price of the one ticket.
Respond to this report!
What's this? #4 Consumer Suggestion
Half a seat for the full price ?
AUTHOR: Steve - (USA)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, March 24, 2012
this is the typical answer their "Customer Advocate" sends out" and with this airline you will never receive a fair compensation, no matter what happened. They should have given a full refund for your son't ticket + coupons for future flights but they believe that they can resolve any matter with a "mahalo - sorry for the inconvenience."
what they consider a "Fair solution" actually is an insult and they act like they are the only airline going to Hawaii. The good news is: they aren't and the only option is to avoid them as the plague. They transferred 50% of the inches of your son's seat to the obese passenger who preferred not to buy a second seat. Actually there are airlines which make it mandatory for obese passengers to buy a business class ticket or to buy two seats. I heard about cases in which an obese passenger who had purchased only one seat was denied boarding. In my opinion they did not have the right to lift up the armrest to give him access to your son's seat. If someone does not fit in between two armrests and purchased exactly that amount of inches between two armrests he simply can't fly.
Try to file a dispute with your credit card company: tell them that you paid for a full seat and not for half a seat, you should have a good chance to get at least 50% of your money back, especially since you have the picture as evidence.
And I would never ever fly with them again - please spread the word and tell other potential passengers what kind of airline this is.
what they consider a "Fair solution" actually is an insult and they act like they are the only airline going to Hawaii. The good news is: they aren't and the only option is to avoid them as the plague. They transferred 50% of the inches of your son's seat to the obese passenger who preferred not to buy a second seat. Actually there are airlines which make it mandatory for obese passengers to buy a business class ticket or to buy two seats. I heard about cases in which an obese passenger who had purchased only one seat was denied boarding. In my opinion they did not have the right to lift up the armrest to give him access to your son's seat. If someone does not fit in between two armrests and purchased exactly that amount of inches between two armrests he simply can't fly.
Try to file a dispute with your credit card company: tell them that you paid for a full seat and not for half a seat, you should have a good chance to get at least 50% of your money back, especially since you have the picture as evidence.
And I would never ever fly with them again - please spread the word and tell other potential passengers what kind of airline this is.
Respond to this report!
What's this? 
