NORFOLK, Va. — After a relaxing vacation in Cancun, Nadine Smith was hoping for a smooth trip home on Spirit Airlines, but she said it was anything but.
"Five to 10 minutes, at the most, before it was time to board [the plane], the young lady at the counter announced that the flight to Norfolk [was] canceled," she told Problem Solver Erin Miller.
Smith, who was on a layover at the Orlando International Airport with her sister, was stuck.
She ended up booking a flight back home on another airline since the next available flight on Spirit was two days later.
"When we got up to the counter, we told the young lady that [we had booked a new flight]," Smith said. "She said, 'no problem.'"
Smith said she was promised a refund within three to five days.
"I asked her, 'Is there anything that we can get as proof that we'll get our money back?' She said if I gave her my phone, she could take a picture of the screen," Smith said.
She said after several days of silence, "I discovered that they had no intentions of giving me my money back because they have me as a no-show."
Smith said the system marked her as a no-show, despite the customer service representative in the airport assuring her that the rebooked flight information had been adjusted.
When she called and messaged the airline for answers, Smith said she didn't get far. So, she asked the News 3 Problem Solvers for help.
"The only time I heard back from Spirit was when you reached out to them," Smith said to Erin Miller. "I figured [them answering] had something to do with [the Problem Solvers] because we were getting the runaround all along."
After the News 3 Problem Solvers got involved, Spirit refunded her $152.72 for luggage.
Smith's big takeaway, and it's a lesson everyone can learn, is to do your research before booking. The Department of Transportation has a resource to help. Its Customer Service Dashboard breaks down what each airline will and will not do in the event of canceled or delayed flights.
Smith's other advice was, "call the news station if [the company is not] answering because, I'm telling you, nothing else worked."
News 3 reached out to Spirit, but they did not respond to our request for comment.
They did, however, apologize to Smith for the canceled flight, saying in part, "I am so sorry that your flight was canceled due to weather/Air Traffic Control. We do all that we can to leave on time, but the safety of our guests and crew will always come first."
According to Spirit's website, the company does not offer refundable fares.
