Westjet Troubles Continue

[JestWet]

Raven, don't you have anything better to do with your time than cut, paste, and re-post random negative comments from an air traveler's forum? Look hard enough and you'll find that there's always someone out there with something negative to say about someone - just ask Tiger.

Show a little more professionalism.

[Jastapilot]

I can imagine the shitstorm if someone did this over on the AC forum.

[Huge Hammer]

I can't believe it has taken this long...KOOL AID DRINKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Old fella]

I for one would like to personally apologize for anyone, and everyone who has been inconvenienced by the whole Sabre cutover. It really sucks, and we all (owners) feel it. Everytime I hear a story, I feel like we've let another person down... since we've all worked hard to achieve an awesome level of service that people have now come to expect from us. When they don't get that same level, they notice something is wrong. That says a lot about us as a company, and the standard we've set in the past. Every day, we're getting closer to where we were at before, and as much as you guys on the outside (Guests, Jumpseaters, and even the compettition) think it sucks... I feel it even more so, personally. I hope it all gets fixed ASAP.

On a diffrent note, I wish everybody a safe, and happy Christmas. I hope you all get to spend the holidays with your loved ones, and all the best in 2010.

What can one say, other than "WJ welcome to the world of the big guys with the heavy iron" Your reservation issue is just one of the many that has hit/will continueto hit those "big outfits" you want to play with. Fix it, Get over it and don't be hard on yourself. Shit happens, period end of story.

To those who are complaining about your res system do you think they will stop flying with you when the next "seat sale $59.00 one way YYT - YYZ or YHZ - YYZ. Better still If(and I bet it will happen) you see $59.00 one way from YYZ or YHZ to the Caribbean, think all the bitchers won't take advantage this comming winter - my arse they won't.

[Jastapilot]

"On the flip side, I got frustrated being on hold with Westjet for over half an hour a while back and I sent out a tweet saying this. Almost right away, the official Westjet Twitter account sent me a direct message asking if there was anything they could do to help. I told them what I needed and they said that they would take care of it. Damage control. They nipped the problem in the bud and, thus, I still have a relatively positive view of their company."
http://btr.michaelkwan.com/2009/12/10/f ... a-pitbull/

[PAXUNK]

Why is Westjet doing this? They had an adequate standalone reservation system with known running costs.

Sure, something like SABRE gives them more exposure and possibly more traffic from interlining.

But with unknown additional costs:
Changeover costs,
re-scheduling flights to connect with other airlines,
responsibility and costs for handling connecting pax and baggage, especially after flight delays.

Personally, I am happy to book flights separately on individual WEB sites for European flights knowing that I get the lowest cost flights this way.

[Jastapilot]

To continue beating the horse to death, the old system has outlived it's purpose. We want(no NEED) it to be able to do more, and it simply can't be done(without spending 10's of millions more than the 30 mill we've already pissed away)

[Pratt]

Not to add flame to the fire, and I understand the problems they are having, but just to add a fact, I spent 2 hours and 20 minutes on hold last night before I got to speak to an agent.

Surprisingly the agent didn't seem too stressed when I got through, although I just about forgot why I had called by that time. I hope it all comes together for you folks soon.

[Jastapilot]

Take your frustration and multiply it by 100, and that's about where your average Westjetter is right now. All we can do is be patient, apologize, and hope this storm passes quickly.

I'm sorry, Pratt.

[The Raven]

but just to add a fact, I spent 2 hours and 20 minutes on hold last night before I got to speak to an agent.

Don't you know that facts that are critical of Westjet are not allowed on this forum.

[jjj]

Nice try Raven.

Your lousy arguments have been shot down time and time again.
Some WS guys even came on here and apologized for the lousy situation - I thought that was classy.

Unfortunately you still need to come on here and sling mud - how very pitiful.

Have a nice day Raven.

[bmc]

Every airline have their bad days. To think that they don't is naive.

Westjet is a well managed airline that has enormous customer loyalty.

They'll survive this.

[Pratt]

Take your frustration and multiply it by 100, and that's about where your average Westjetter is right now. All we can do is be patient, apologize, and hope this storm passes quickly.

I'm sorry, Pratt.

No sweat, that is what they made speaker phones for.

[Blastor]

u forgot to mention:

Half the call center staff quit due to the saber fiasco. Know anyone
who want kool-aid and low $$$ ?

I am glad we have a nice, shinny, warm building . I'll take a grande latte to go please.

[Flightlevels]

Not true. Maybe you should go to a town hall like the one about 3 weeks ago to learn the facts. knob.

[mikeecho]

u forgot to mention:

Half the call center staff quit due to the saber fiasco. Know anyone
who want kool-aid and low $$$ ?

I am glad we have a nice, shinny, warm building . I'll take a grande latte to go please.

Welcome back Blastor. Too bad your facts are incorrect. There's a slight difference between having people leave early due to burnout and stress compared to quitting and walking off the job.

Since you;re so warm and enjoying a latte, why don;t you head to the 3rd floor and sit down with June O for some factual info.

[loopa]

This quote is from FlyerTalk. I suppose customer service isn't improving as fast as the Westjet PR department would have you believe.

"almost 2 full hours on hold....get an agent....I want to change the date of my outbound flight. We select appropriate flight, she tells me she needs to do a manual price because I have an old reservation code, yada, yada, yada.
Asks me if I can be put on hold while she does calculation. I say I'm leary of being put on Westjet hold again. She says ok, I'll just switch off from my headset.
HANGS UP ON ME!!!!
No one calls me back!!!!

I'm on hold again, but have a meeting in 30 minutes, so I suspect I'll have to try again later.

Westjet? NEVER, EVER, EVER again!!!"

You have got to be kidding me right?

I have a feeling that there's a side of the story that is missing... perhaps the tone of the conversation on both ends. Was the caller aggressive and in a pissy mood? Was the operator having a bad day? Lol there are so many things to consider if you're going to call WestJet a bad deal...

I was on a 1 hour 15 minute hold when I did my trip to YQM, I was wanting to book my seat. A young lady with a British accent answered the phone with a Sigh. By this point I knew that if I was going to do the same, she would probably not help me out as much as she ended up doing. So I was courteous understanding that they probably have a busy day. I asked her how her day's going and she felt relieved to tell somebody... I ended up getting a wicked seat with no body booked beside me. I slept for the entire flight and got caught up on my jetlag. Thanks WJA !

In contrast, I've flown Air Canada a lot and I've had as many good as bad experiences with them. My opinion remains neutral about them. They say, if you see consistency in something, do something about it. But if it's one or two bad experiences, get over it - otherwise you're a person with a big sense of entitlement. As Louis Ck says, you should be sitting in your chair going "OH MY GOD!!!" the entire time.

Cheer yourselves up with the Christmas spirit and call it a day... for heavens sake, have some ham and potatoes.

[jjj]

Raven and Blastor,

Merry Christmas.

[amraam]

Travelled with WestJet on December 23rd from YYC.

Was able to check in with a ticket that was booked before the switch-over to Sabre online as normal, had a boarding pass and checked luggage looked after manually at the YYC terminal in about 90 seconds (there was NO line-up). Flight left on-time (even after MANY wheelchairs required for the inbound flight) and service was WestJet's usual, friendly quality.

Thank you WestJet for continuing to work through your initial growing pains. And yes, at times I HAVE flown on the competition, and admit that I enjoy the comfort of the E-Jets, and will continue to support both airlines based on the convenience of the schedule and price.

Both airlines have come a long way since days of competing B737-200 flights on the YWG-YYC route I used to frequent.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Brgds,
amraam

[Flying Nutcracker]

I think some of those "cut and paste" comments sometimes are from individuals who will literally p*ss on anything that doesn't go their way... I agree that excessive time on hold is far from customer friendly and doesn't really paint a picture of world class service, however... there will be a time again, when everything is back to its good ole self and, the crap dusters will come around like a windsock complaining about the next screw up from whatever airline that happened to have the cheapest fare to where they are going at the time...

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

Raven... I know what you are saying. Don't shoot the messenger... But put things in context and realise that everything is relative! Yes, things are very bad now compared to how exceptionally well it has been in the past. But in the near future things will be extremely good compared to how exceptionally bad things are right now. You gotta give a little to get a little!

And one more thing... You have NO IDEA how embarrassing it is to stand in a lineup in uniform to check in for a commuting flight, surrounded by angry, frustrated and obviously fed up guests, listening to the conversations about "next time we're flying Air Canada!!!"... We feel it! We ALL feel it!!! But things are getting better. Lineups are shorter, time on hold is reducing and the quirks are disappearing. Thank God!

[The Raven]

Can anyone help this dude? If so, post your response on PPRUNE.

Dear Westjeters:

What is wrong with your reservation system? I have waited 50 minutes only to have the phone connection drop and then another 50 minutes to contact someone( while waiting I booked with AC). What’s up?

Calling Air Canada to make a reservation, it only takes 10 minutes.

Not bashing WJ by no means as I usual travel on both carriers and I needed to talk to a person at WJ. It was not like this before.

When will this be sorted out?

Self-Loading Freight

No airline bashing please just looking for a close answer.

[The Raven]

It looks like things aren't getting any better with the new reservations system. The frequent flyers are really starting to get pi$$ed.

From today's FlyerTalk.

Ok are they kidding me?

Being a loyal AC flyer for the past 7 years, I decided to try WJ as they fly direct where AC doesn't.

This has been my experience, they implemented the BS mastercard securecode which has on three occasions turned a 3 minute transaction into a multi hour ordeal. (Merchants need to tell MC Secure code to die). Anyway, after MC SC broke the entire transaction I though I would just call WJ and speak to someone on the phone.

After 4 tries over an hour hearing "We are too busy, Goodbye", on the fifth try, I hear, "You are in the queue, your expected hold time is 3 to 4 HOURS!!"

Is that a joke? Do they really NOT want my money that bad???

[balfour]

Does enjoying other peoples pain get you off? You are truly a fucking moron.

[sepia]

Does enjoying other peoples pain get you off? You are truly a fucking moron.

balfour, Almost every post you've ever made has been you gloating at the expense of some other group. It's a bit rich that you're such a whiner when the shoe is on the other foot.


That out of the way. I do believe that WJ is getting it worse than they deserve here. I'm sure things will get sorted sometime soon and it will be business as usual.

[The Raven]

Does enjoying other peoples pain get you off? You are truly a fucking moron.

Geez balfour, don't take it so personally. I don't write the complaints. The passengers (oops, guests) write them. I'm only the messenger. Hope Durf (Durfsky, the Durfster) gets it sorted out soon. If not, "your screwed brother"

I made an online booking today and tried to call them to use a flight credit. I was also told to call back some other time. There was an option to press 1, 2, 3, or 4, but all options just gave a message saying "We do want to help you, and ask that you try again later."

This is entirely unacceptable. It's now been almost three months since they switched systems. AC's call centre at their worst has never been this bad.
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