West Jet Should Be Grounded- My Frustrating Experience with WestJet
I own a group of companies, which employs approximately 200 people. Our people travel extensively with West Jet. After reading about what happened to me last weekend, I am sure that my associates will think twice about flying with West Jet. I understand that West Jet won’t likely feel the dent. But this bad publicity eventually will catch up with them as it did with Air Canada.
Sunday August 17, 2009
Last weekend I was travelling to Vancouver for Ralph Gibson photography workshop. Since this was going to be a week of shooting I took most of my camera gear which consisted of the following:
· 2 Canon EOS Mark III bodies,
· 1 Canon 85 mm F 1.2 lens
· 1 Canon 28-105 mm zoom lens
· 1 Canon 150 macro lens
· 1 Canon 70-200 mm zoom lens
· 2 Canon Camera flushes
· Some filters and lens cleaning cloth
All of the above fit in a legal size Think Tank carry-on bag. The combined weight was 35 lb.
I had another similarly sized carry on bag with two lap top computers, computer and camera charges, two 250 GB portable storage units and some USB cables. The combined weight of this bag also was about 30lb.
I was travelling with my wife, so I thought that one carry on for each of us wouldn’t cause us any problems.
We checked in Toronto, dropped our luggage and took our carry-on bags. Everything went smoothly.
During 5 hours flight West Jet offered us a stale coffee and lousy cookies that gave me a stomach ache. When we arrived to Vancouver we went to pick up our luggage and heard West Jet announcement that they were short staffed and they will start delivering our luggage as soon as they could. All of the passengers were very tired as they still were in eastern time zone. It was 12:00 a.m. We waited over an hour until the luggage conveyor started to run.
Friday August 22, 2009
As we were leaving Vancouver we approached West Jet counter to check in. Our flight was scheduled for 13:55pm. We wanted to catch an earlier flight. The agent told us that it would cost us $41.00 per person $82 for me and my wife. We agreed to pay just to catch the flight one hour earlier (which I think is a new money-grab policy from West Jet). The agent weighed our luggage. The weight of our luggage for two of us was the same as we left Toronto 56lb, which didn’t cause any problems then. She wouldn’t allow the extra 6lb. She made us take the extra 6lb from our luggage.
And it didn’t end there… She decided to weigh our carryon’s… She told us that we were allowed to take only 20lb per carry on and insisted that I should check in my camera and computer bags. We refused and she called the manager. Meantime the time was ticking and we had 20 minutes to pass through the security and catch flight. The manager wasn’t very helpful either… We ended up taking our computers and our cameras from the carr-on bags and carrying them in our hands. Then she told us, with a great authority. “I am going to let you go this time sir but I will put a note in the computer. “
I happen to own group of companies, which employs approximately 200 people. Our employees travel extensively with West Jet. After reading my blog, I am sure that my associates will think twice about flying with West Jet. I understand that West Jet won’t likely feel the dent. But this bad publicity eventually will catch up with them as it did with Air Canada.
The ticket agent managed to make our return home miserable. The inconsistency of West Jet made my trip a nightmare. It seems that West Jet employees are not properly trained and they don’t apply their policies consistently.
When we arrived to Toronto our bags didn’t show up with the flight. We ended up waiting for our original flight to pick up our luggage. When we asked our $82.00 back West Jet’s response was “this is against our policy sir”.
If you want to take chances with West Jet go ahead. However, next time, I would prefer to take my business elsewhere.
Tags: baggage, carry-on, planes, travel, travelling with camera equipment, westjet
September 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Hi,
I read your story - not a good one. I work at WestJet and we take customer service really seriously and I’ll bet that if you give us a chance, we’d make this right for you.
Can’t hurt to try. http://www.westjet.com. Then click on the ‘contact us’ button then e-mail Guest Relations.
Rick
September 4th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
It is your responsibility to be aware of what your baggage (checked and carry on) allotments are and to be within those limits, and you are subject to being checked by the carrier at their discretion.
When you purchase your tickets you agree to the terms and conditions of carriage.
If you desire flexibility and convenience involved with your travel, explore full fare tickets which allow you to do that.
Discounted fares come with restrictions; the airline industry is and has always been about supply and demand; you demand a service then supply the funds for it.
On the return flight you got caught with overweight baggage. It is not an inconsistency just like you don’t get a ticket every single time you go over the speed limit. Human power can only do so much.
Those people that try and beat the system, especially with excess or overweight baggage only do more damage to the market; every ounce costs money in fuel to loft it in the air.
Bring on too much your stealing from the air carrier; which then results in higher fares or fuel surcharges. Everyone suffers then.
I am quite sure that if your checked baggage did not have to be repacked, for being over weight, it would have made it down the belt in time to make it to the aircraft that you were actually traveling on. (This is always why there are mandated minimum connecting times which are found in the OAG “Official Airline Guide”)
One other point to make is that those that handle your baggage behind the scenes are not always airline employees; rather “ground handling” services that are contracted, sometimes forcibly by the specific Airport Authority, that are handling your baggage.
Think about what kind of motivation a contracted employee has and how that would translate into your baggage going into airplane from Airline A over Airline B - its just another bag. No ownership or no need for them to care how their performance reflects on the airline itself.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Thank you for repeating what the agent told me a couple of weeks ago. Your explanation will not change my experience about West Jet and in fact it added more to my frustration.
I am an avid photographer and I travel with the same gear all the time. I traveled many times with the same gear with West Jet without any problems. When West Jet agent are not consistent the message they send is that there is + tolerance for carry-ons beyond the accepted terms. So, please don’t give me the argument that I am responsible and that I have agreed with terms and conditions when I purchase the ticket. The inconsistency kills. Besides, I am not trying to build up a legal case here. I just want that all photography enthusiasts know how inconsistent West Jet is. In the short run you may not feel that your business is hurting. But believe me it will catch up with you. I know from first hand as I own Algranti Group of companies which consists of of 5 manufacturing companies one consulting and one real estate company. I know the power of word of mouth… Especially with the internet and emails which I started another email campaign to my photography friends and all camera clubs in Canada and they will send them to their friends that I can’t reach.
I don’t know if you are a West Jet employee. If you are; keep up with this attitude and keep repeating passenger’s responsibility.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
And I suppose when I use your companies, I get consistent service every time. Consistent exposure, focus, contrast, composition? WestJet is world renowned for their customer service and while they may have some hiccups, overall they have superior service that you won’t find in another airline. I fly them any chance I get because they treat me like a human and appreciate my business. But I also stay within their guidelines for luggage etc and have not had an issue. It is irresponsible on your part not to adhere to the luggage guidelines. It is not rocket science.