All stories about "Complaints"

Bloggers are gluttons for self-congratulation and petty ingratitude. Many remarked on the recent maneuver by our despised Transportation Security Administration to establish a somewhat freewheeling blog, though tagged with a clunker of a name ("Evolution of Security"). Now, bloggers are falling all over themselves with glee for having pointed out a foolish TSA screening process taking place at some airports, then wringing a blog apology from the TSA. Except it wasn't an apology, but a surprisingly forthright admission of a mistake. And even that gets mocked, ridiculed, and somehow also considered further proof of the TSA's incompetence. Bloggers! I'm here to tell you: Hang up thy swords, stow thy muskets, and relax. The TSA blog is the best thing to happen to American air travel since the noise-canceling headphone.

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The AP just released a survey ranking the TSA as one of the least liked federal agencies in the US. Only beleaguered FEMA scored lower, meaning Americans prefer the IRS, the FDA, and TSA's parent body, the Department of Homeland Security. The biggest complaints are the obvious ones: rude and incompetent security personnel, long lines, and unpredictable enforcement of rules. [AP]

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If you've been following the travel press over the past couple of days, you've probably read about Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza's "big goof." An Orlando couple named James and Christine booked a flight on Spirit to Atlanta. Their flight was delayed by three and a half hours, and apparently everybody at Spirit was mean to them, so not only did they miss the concert they had tickets for on the first night, they also got their feelings hurt. When they returned home, they made several attempts to complain about their experience to Spirit's customer service department, but apparently everybody there was also a jerk. Eventually, James and Christine found Spirit CEO Baldanza's email address and fired off a long, extremely detailed account about their nightmare flight and attempts to complain about it, demanding a refund for their airfare, concert tickets, hotel, and parking. Baldanza, in turn, sent a note to one of his staffers, asking that they respond to the complaint, but his email inadvertently included James and Christine's email address. Baldanza's email reads: "Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I'm concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny." Well, James and Christine did go out and tell the world, and the world responded with predictable outrage. But you know what? Baldanza is absolutely right.

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