NEWS FORUM/California Trip
Vol. 1, No. 1

August 30, 1999

UPDATE: The Better Business Bureau was filed about Southwest Airlines's refusal to give refund or free ticket, as well as their lack of responsibility towards flight attendant Dawn. While Southwest still had not complied to our wish after filing, we experienced a brainstorm. That was...drumroll...to sell their gift that they sent us! A-ha! That would help pay what they "owed" us. How's that?! Yippee! Now, while we firmly believe in happy endings, with US winning (always) with getting money from that gift, as well as having had a GREAT trip to Hollywood, we're still spreading the word around on Southwest's rude fate. We encourage YOUR empathy and help us do the same. Thanks in advance.

Hi, there! Welcome to our brand-new edition of this NEWS FORUM Page. We certainly hope you enjoy our stories and check up on other updates...

Announcement:
Our column, "Collector's Corner", appears in the August, 1999 issue of the Autograph Collector magazine. If you haven't seen it, send us your SASE, and we'll be glad to forward you a copy! The column features a story about Beau's North Hollywood, California, Ray Courts autograph show to get personal autographs and pose with the stars! We stayed in the lovely, mission/San Diego-influenced Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn (not cheap!), where the shows are held approx. three times a year. A reminder: animals are not allowed in this hotel, only Assistance Animals like Beau. This would be our second trip there last March, 1999; our first was on April, 1998 (we didn't stay overnight). If you'd also like a copy of last year's column, then by all means, inquire!

Southwest Airlines trip to Burbank Airport from Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport/Hearing Dog experience:
Beau & I made reservations round-trip to that Ray Courts autograph show, and I made sure to inform that Beau, by federal law, is allowed to be in the cabin with me as a Hearing Dog for the hearing-impaired, usually preferring to be on the seat next to me due to needing a seat belt for safety. No problem there. The flight enroute to Burbank went happily fine and smooth-sailing. The flight back home was not...flight attendant by the name of Dawn had seemingly never heard of Assistance Dogs. She rushed into the plane cabin and yelled, "We don't allow animals on this plane!" (FYI: I'm hard-of-hearing/moderate, and not totally deaf). Huh? What did the gate agent tell her, didn't he hear me say 'dog for the deaf' prior to boarding, along with a blue boarding pass with "disabled" imprinted on it (a line that I usually use when informing people unaware of Beau's presence on the "no dogs allowed" premises)? I told Dawn that Beau was allowed to sit in the cabin with me. (Thank-you, Dawn, for reminding me to act like a deaf mute next time...I will make sure from now on that you people write with me when I point to my ear meaning "can't hear", then no one would dare overwhelm me...). Dawn later demanded that Beau be in the crate under the seat! A lady passenger sitting next to me whispered (I read her lips) to me that Southwest should train Dawn better. She's darn right! In the end, I won, as Beau & I flew home without being harrassed furthermore. Beau remained on the floor next to my feet; I moved him from the seat due to a wheelchair lady needing an extra seat. Dawn radioed Sky Harbor about some deaf dog on the plane(?) That didn't end there for me. After I got home, I immediately contacted the FAA and the Arizona Republic newspaper. Importantly, I contacted Herb Kelleher, president/CEO of Southwest Airlines, Inc., and while he empathized the situation and sent me a gift (framed picture of a heart, probably representing the Dallas-Love Field Airport, home of Southwest), I told him thanks, but that it wasn't enough and insisted on a partial refund or a free ticket! (Thank goodness the trip wasn't expensive and that I didn't pay for it out of my pocket, just my name paid for the fares, but then...who cares how it's paid...). He told me that since the flight arrived in Phoenix with no problems, that a refund wasn't necessary. Ugh. I told him to stop being obstinate and cheap and to get off his high horse and take care of his employees! I also told him that I didn't appreciate Dawn's "guesstimates" about Beau's leash/harness. I felt that instead of taking care of the problem (by saying, like, the situation won't happen again and to fly on Southwest next time with confidence) without going back and forth with me, that he should stop it with the "he said/she said/they said" game amongst his employees. I remarked that if I didn't get the satisfaction that I deserved (he "allowed" Dawn to mistreat me and keep her employed; therefore, I'm "allowed" to demand a refund or a free ticket, get it?), that I'd report him furthermore. I forwarded this to the Better Business Bureau (because I wanted him and Dawn on file) and should hear from them soon. I'll keep you posted when, not if, I do. A pretty long story that I prefer to keep shorter here. Meantime, if you empathize with the above story and would like to help on our behalf, we'd greatly appreciate it! Let us know. Some of you might want to re-consider not flying with Southwest Airlines until I announce that my final request was finally granted, on this News Page in the future. By the way, we used America West Airlines for that last year's trip with no problems at all. We took Southwest this year, because of that ironic, threatening flight attendants' strike against America West (remember that??), plus I wanted various airlines experience with Beau. The recent highlight was when I read the New York Times online featuring an article, about America West allowing a Dog for the blind in-training to practice flying on its flight, to help him gain confidence. How nice...I e-mailed to the NYTimes my letter of compliment to be forwarded to America West. I should forward this to Southwest, huh? I guess some people can get jealous that I can get to have a cute doggie on the plane right next to me, or some people just don't like animals. A shame. Yeah, like I really, really enjoy flaunting my hearing aid! Ugh, again. The gall of these people making a scene and acting ignorant. Please be forewarned...you mess with the handicapped, you're playing with fire.
But, in the end, what counts is that Beau & I had a grrreat time at the autograph show. All the stars were very willing to pose with him, and they autographed his name along with mine! Enjoy!
(A list of stars that we met from this/last years: Pamela Sue Martin, Traci Lords, Lou Ferrigno, Johnny Whitaker, Britt Ekland, Erin Murphy, Dawn Lyn, Linda Blair, Alison Arngrim, Too Close For Comfort cast, Linda Harrison, Corey Feldman, Betsy Palmer, Marla Gibbs, Dana Plato, and Dorothy DeBorba).