Allegiant Air Incompetent and misleading Sioux Falls, South Dakota

I traveled home last week to visit my granpaernts in Iowa for their 50th wedding anniversary.  We flew out of Phoenix into Sioux Falls, South Dakota on United Airlines with no problems whatsoever. Flying back we also flew out of Sioux Falls but on Allegiant Airlines and ran into countless problems.

First off, Sioux Falls is 2 hours away from where my family lives. We drove all the way there and got dropped off at the airport with 45 minutes to check in and get to the gate before take off but the Allegiant Air counter had been closed an hour prior to take off. We asked a number of employees if there was anyone they could call to get us checked in and they refused, telling us that the counter will open in another 2 hours for the next scheduled flight.

When that time came around the Allegiant Air representatives then tell us that they do not handle booking or rescheduling and the only way to get on another flight was to buy another ticket or to call this number- 702-505-8888 which I tried to do for an hour but kept getting disconnected becuase the call volume was too high. By the time i got through to someone we had missed our flight. They then told me that they do not do stand by and that the tickets I purchased are nonerfundable due to us missing our flight, and that there was no one else (higher up) such as a manager that could help us or even talk to us. 

They gave us nothing back, no discounts, and no standby and told us that the only way to get on the plane was to purchase another ticket.  I refused to give them any more money so I first checked all other airlines but the prices were sky high, so with no other options I returned to the Allegiant counter and asked how much tickets were for the next flight. It was within reasonable price, and because we had work obligations the following day in Phoenix I had no choice but to buy the tickets. I am then informed that this next flight was going to Las Vegas, Nevada.. not Phoenix. 

They said they only had two flights going to Phoenix that day and they had both already left.  So with no other options, we paid another 300$ for two 1-way tickets to Vegas then had to rent a car there and drive 5 hours to Phoenix, and the tickets we had purchased for 215$ a peice, weeks in advance for the flight we misssed- due to their counter closing an hour before the flight- had gone to waste. We basically gave them 400 dollars for free.

This to me is ridiculous policy and unfair. No where on the website before you purchase a ticket does it say their counter closes an hour before the flight. It recommends you to be there and hour early but does not state specifically that the counter closes and flights missed are nonrefundable or that stand by is not an option.

Every airline I have ever flown has done stand by if you miss a flight or late getting to a gate (and i have missed flights before). And no airline that I know of closes the counter to check-in an hour before the flight. I have checked in up to 30 minutes before my flight, that is unacceptable. Had I known that was a "policy" I would have made sure to leave with more time. This is completely unreasonable and by far the worst experience traveling in my life. I have never felt more angry, mislead, or ripped off in all my years of traveling. I will never use this airline again, and will never recommend it to anyone. I find it hard to believe that any company could even get away with this.