Consumer complaint received 2023-05-14
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: AL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with rewards from credit card

Complaint:
Hi, In XXXX of XXXX, Southwest Airlines ran a promotion where if you purchased a flight within a 2-3 day period of time, and took a flight between XXXX to XXXX, you would earn a companion pass for flights taken between XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  and XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately jumped on this because I wanted to take my son to visit my sister in Texas, and this would help me save money. So I bought and took the flight, and earned the companion pass. 

So the flight I wanted to take occurred on XX/XX/XXXX, the first day of the promotional period. I called Southwest about this maybe a month to a month and a half prior to the trip to explain my predicament to see what could be done. I was told that my companion pass would not be added until midnight on XX/XX/XXXX, and there was no way this could be done in advance of that date even though I had earned the promotion. After speaking with a manager, I was told to book my son 's ticket with my Southwest Credit Card points, and then, on XX/XX/XXXX, call Southwest to cancel that ticket and book my son 's flight using the companion pass promotion that I earned. Doing this would ensure that my son would have a seat and since Southwest miles are always refundable, I would get the approximately XXXX points I spent back. This was an acceptable solution to me as it allowed me to use the promotion that I had earned. 

Well, there was terrible winter weather during XXXX of XXXX, and Southwest Airlines experienced a major, perhaps catastrophic, disruption of service. It was a mess. So when I called them on XX/XX/XXXX to do as the manager told me, I was unable to speak to anyone at Southwest. In fact, the line picked up to a pre-recorded message that said something to the effect of " We are unable to address customer issues at this time '' and the line automatically hung up. That was a first. So, my flight was that evening, and we went ahead as planned, and I said I'd call the company to straighten things out after I got back. In fact, I waited a couple of weeks to give them time to recover from their debacle.

So I called customer service on three separate occasions trying to get my points refunded. Each representative told me they couldn't do anything about this, it had to be sent to corporate to be handled. After several weeks, I received an email from corporate denying my request for the points, and the explanation they gave did not match the facts of my case. So I called back again and explained that Southwest must not understand what happened, I want this situation escalated. Then about two months after that on XX/XX/XXXX, I received this email : Southwest Airlines Response to your Inquiry ( Case # XXXX ) Dear XXXX, Thank you for taking the time to contact us. As a valued Customer, I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns. 

I reviewed our records and found that confirmation number XXXX was a valid flown flight. While we are unable to honor your request, we are hopeful you were able to take advantage of Fall XXXX Companion offer. 

We truly appreciate your patronage, and we look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Southwest Airlines Again, Southwest is skirting the issue. No one is disputing that I took the flight. The dispute is that I earned a promotion that I could not use because their incompetent business operations rendered them unable to provide basic customer service to consumers. The only thing I wanted done to rectify this situation was to have the points that I accumulated by virtue of using their rewards credit card refunded to me as I was told by the manager. I have been fighting with them for five months regarding an extremely simple request. I'm not asking for extra compensation or special consideration or anything. Simply acknowledge your inability to honor the terms of your promotion and refund to my credit card the points that I EARNED.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation