Worst Airline, Worst Customer Service
If we could give 0 stars, we would. Our first flight from Knoxville to Fort Lauderdale was delayed 30 minutes due to incoming flight delay. Then once on the plane there was another delay of 30-45 minutes for paperwork. Then they announced that there was a missing screw found on flight inspection for one of the exterior panels and they de-boarded the plane to fix it. We were then back waiting in the airport for another hour. Once we finally arrived in our destination, 2 hours later than expected, we had to wait 20+ minutes on the tarmac because our gate was occupied. The flight attendants were helpful in moving us up front so that as soon as we parked we could try to run to our next flight, unfortunately with all the delays we missed our connecting flight from Fort Lauderdale to New Orleans. Once we got off the plane and our next flight had taken off without us, we went to Allegiant’s desk and manager JP was very helpful and instructed us on how to call customer service and what to say. He was also very compassionate. Both the flight attendants and JP shared there was nothing they could do, but assured us that in calling customer service, they would be able to help with our current situation. As one of the top 10 airlines in the US with over 2.6 billion in capital gains, I would think they would be able to take care of us. However, that was clearly not the case, nor their priority to take care of us, and that was definitely what was communicated to us. We called customer service and talked to Danielle. She was horrible. She first made this out to be our fault and shared that when the flight was delayed we should have called, however it was delayed 4 times. We were told multiple times that they do not have the capability to help us. (For the Allegiant employee reading this, I implore you to listen to this 1.5 hour conversation). Being a Knoxville native and having Allegiant as one of our main hubs it’s disappointing and baffling that this is how they would treat their customers not to mention returning customer. They intentionally left us stranded in an airport not willing to do anything about it in the middle of a pandemic. Danielle said there was nothing they could do, that she didn’t have the capability. Then she would put us on hold for a minimum of 5 minutes each time and as long as 15 minutes and come back with nothing. As someone who is in customer service and client care, this hour and a half was the worst display of customer service I have ever experienced in my entire life. I have never felt more helpless, disrespected, and manipulated. Danielle wouldn’t get us a return flight, or put us in a hotel in the middle of a pandemic when it was their fault we were stranded. Finally, Danielle offered to book us a return flight for 24 hours later, but shared we would still have to pay for the return flight, and still insisted that they wouldn’t get us a hotel. Finally Danielle shared that she could change our original return flight to be the flight mentioned above (24 hours later) she took our email and said she booked the flight, and then hung up on us, and never registered us for the flight or sent us the flight info. At the end of our conversation, Danielle was not apologetic and she was frustrated that I was frustrated that there was absolutely nothing being done to accommodate this awful experience, and then unapologetically hung up on me. When I asked her, “Are you really hanging up on me right now?” she replied, “I told you there is nothing we can do so I’m going to have to leave it at that,” she then thanked me for flying Allegiant, said, “I hope you have a good rest of your evening,” and then she hung up on me.
By Dalton