On November 19th, 2002 I made reservations with Northwest Airlines for my
husband and I to travel to San Francisco on December 30th, 2002. At the time
I made this reservation I told the ticketing agent that my husband had
terminal cancer and I asked if the tickets would be refundable in case my
husband died before we traveled. She stated that certainly my husband?s
ticket would be refundable, and thought that in the case of bereavement, my
ticket was also possibly refundable and that refunds of this nature were
considered on a case by case basis. I was not told that I was purchasing a
non-refundable ticket. Allegedly I was told that if I needed to change my
travel plans there would be a $100.00 penalty and that I needed to make the
change before the date of travel. I am not saying this wasn?t said, but I
have no recollection of being told this. It was a long time ago and I have
been under a lot of stress in the intervening weeks.
On November 28th, 2002, (Thanksgiving Day) my husband passed away. Shortly
after this date, I called Northwest Airlines at 612-726-2111 to inquire
about a refund. I was then told I needed to call another number to inquire
about refunds. I called whatever number I was instructed to call. Whomever I
spoke with at this number told me I had to call World Perks since we had
used World Perks miles to upgrade to First Class for our return trip. When I
called World Perks I was told I had to write Northwest Airlines Department
B4950 to request a refund and that I would need to include a Death
Certificate. In all of the phone calls, I was never told that my ticket
would be absolutely non-refundable and that if I wanted to change my travel
plans it would cost me $100.00 and I needed to do it before our travel date
of December 30th, 2002. On December 20th, 2002 I wrote Northwest Airlines
Department B4950 to request a refund and reinstatement of our World Perks
miles.
On January 16th, 2003 I received a letter from Carolyn West in Northwest?s
Passenger Refund Department stating that my ticket was "non-refundable" and
that it was "no longer valid for travel or reissue." There was no mention of
my World Perks miles. This morning I went to nwa.com to check on the status
of my late husband?s ticket and got the information back that there was "no
record of a refund request" in Northwest?s system. I then called the number
given me in the refund rejection letter to inquire about my husband?s
tickets as I had requested refunds for both tickets in the same letter. I
did not include a Death Certificate with my original request, as I still do
not have them from the State of Minnesota. I did include a copy of his
obituary from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. My husband was significant
local/national Blues musician Dave Ray (legally James David Ray) and I
included copies of a few of the articles that appeared in the local press
regarding him and his life. I also included photocopies of our tickets. When
I called to inquire about my husband?s ticket this morning, all that was in
Northwest?s file was the letter I wrote and a copy of my ticket. I was told
that the letter wasn?t received in Department B4950 until the 6th of
January, even though I had mailed it on the 20th of December. I was told my
letter "might have gone to some other department first" and that the other
items that I had included with the letter "might have ended up wherever the
letter had gone first because if they had been received in Department B4950
(where they were sent), they would certainly be in the file". I asked how,
since my letter was addressed to Department B4950, it could have ended up
somewhere else. This seemed to perplex the person on Northwest?s end of the
phone, so I asked to speak to a supervisor and was turned over to a person
named Mary Beth Lein. Mary Beth did further my case, in that she told me
that my husband?s ticket would be refunded and she reinstated my ticket with
a $100.00 penalty and told me I had until 11:00 PM on Sunday January 20th,
2003 to make a new reservation. I am not in a position to make up my mind
about travel by Sunday at 11:00 PM, but I accepted this as the best she
could do and requested the name of the head of customer relations. She
referred me to Lynn Pahl. When I asked Mary Beth about our World Perks miles
being reinstated, I was again told I would have to call yet another phone
number; she couldn?t help me with my World Perks miles.
Instead of calling the World Perks number I was given. I decided I would try
calling Northwest?s main number and asking for Lynn Pahl. I was asked the
nature of my call and was forwarded to a woman named Peggy who listened to a
brief version of my tale of woe and told me she could have someone call me
back. This afternoon a nice woman named Ruth (who seemed to know who my
husband was) called me back and told me she could help me with the refund
for Dave?s ticket, she could get our World Perks miles reinstated, and she
could offer me a $200.00 travel voucher. With the voucher, she told me that
I didn?t have to make up my mind about travelling by Sunday at 11:00 PM. I
accepted this offer even though I am still very dissatisfied.
I don?t understand a number of things regarding the way I was treated from
November 19th, 2002 through this afternoon. I don?t understand why the
ticketing agent led me to believe that my ticket was possibly refundable if
I was purchasing a non-refundable ticket. I don?t understand why it took
three phone calls to be told that I needed to submit a written request. I
don?t understand why it took 18 days for my letter to reach Department B4950
and where the rest of the contents of my letter went. I don?t understand why
there was no record of a refund request for my husband?s ticket when both
requests were submitted in the same letter. I don?t understand why customers
need to talk to two different refund departments regarding tickets and World
Perks miles. I consider this to be extremely poor customer service from the
get go. I don?t understand why, in the three phone calls I made after my
husband?s death and before I wrote the letter requesting a refund, I wasn?t
told that I wouldn?t be allowed a refund, that I needed to change my travel
plans before our date of travel and that I would be penalized $100.00. I
don?t understand why Northwest Airlines has taken such a hard line with me.
I know exceptions can be made to every rule and I believe, given my
circumstances and recent experiences dealing with Northwest Airlines, my
ticket should have been refunded in full.
Thanks for allowing me to vent. I am sorry if this isn't Minneapolis
specific enough. Dave really did not like Northwest Airlines and he would be
appalled to learn that I have been treated this way. He hated the noise of
airplanes flying over our house. Although I miss him terribly, I am glad he
no longer has to endure that noise.
MJ Mueller
Seward
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