This is the letter I sent to AirTran:

Dear Corporate Complaint Resolution Officer:

I am writing to complain about an incident that happened while checking in for a return flight from BWI to Boston Logan Airport on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

My wife and I had checked in online several hours before our flight was scheduled to depart and indicated that we'd each have one bag to check. We arrived at the AirTran ticketing counter 90 minutes before our flight. Upon arrival, we proceeded to the self-service kiosk and entered our confirmation numbers. We each received our boarding passes, and patiently waited five, then ten minutes for someone to check our bags for us. Finally, when the female agent behind the counter continued her personal conversation with her friend after ten minutes, we and another traveler, whom we did not know, asked if she could check our bags for us. Instead, she told us that we'd have to take the bags to another agent. We both proceeded to the area she indicated. Three separate agents never even made eye contact with us and continued their personal conversations. So, we went back to the original agent. She again told us we'd have to go to the other agents. When we returned there was now a line of five people in front of us. (The line was not surprising since apparently 90% of AirTran employees' work days at BWI are dedicated to personal conversations. On the plus side, I did get some rather JUICY details about one of their dates, so we can always cherish that.)

At this point I was extremely frustrated and went BACK to the original kiosk to complain about the service we'd been getting. It was at this moment in time when my wife and I were delighted to have had our lives on this Earth cross path with someone who we will never forget. Unfortunately, it was for all of the wrong reasons.

Bruce, one of your lovely Customer Service Officials who you so proudly tout as being specially trained and available at all of your locations, began a course of events that cost you two customers for life.

Let me briefly interject that I am a well-seasoned traveler. My line of work in national, non-profit management requires me to fly frequently. I just recently moved to Boston from the Baltimore area where I was a member of Southwest's Rapid Rewards program and earned countless free flights. So, you can imagine my wide-eyed hopefulness when I realized that a low-cost carrier, AirTran, flew out of Boston to many of the places I need to go. But, I digress.

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. After explaining the series of customer service failures we'd just experienced, Bruce's first comment was to chastise us that after we check into a kiosk we should never leave. (Nevermind that we were told to leave the kiosk three times from AirTran's own personal Dear Abby.) He then begrudgingly decided to check our bags for us without uttering one word of apology for what we'd been through.

Our first bag was a small duffel bag, no problems. But, Bruce was determined to make sure to lose us as customers. Bag two is placed on the scale. Bruce places an evil smirk on his face as he looks to the scale in maniacal anticipation of our bag being overweight but, alas, it wasn't. Bruce's smirk fades. But wait! Bruce isn't done yet. There is still a way to seek retribution. Perhaps the bag is, wait for it... OVERSIZED!

A brief pause here once again. The bag in question has been used in flights on AirTran and other carriers no less than 50 times, including our originating flight from Boston to BWI.

Back to Bruce. Bruce interrupts two different counter agents from their important work as gossip mongers to ask for a tape measure. Then, with lightning speed, Bruce measures two dimensions of the bag, the height and width (not depth). He then, somehow with only taking two measurements, determines that the bag is 63 inches. Finally, Bruce has us in his clutches. A $29 fee is imminent.

After telling Bruce that we had no problems checking the bag when flying from Boston, he indicated that the counter agent in Boston wasn't doing their job and pressed AirTran's cardboard baggage policy stand into my wife's face. Bruce may have thought that being a condescending blowhard works with women in his own personal life, but not my wife. He is lucky that she didn't find another place in Bruce's body to put the tape measure where he wouldn't lose it again.

At this point, I knew there was no arguing with Bruce the Bully. I paid the $29 on my credit card and we boarded the plane. Now that I've had a chance to examine the bag, I realize that it isn't even oversized. It is 28' tall, 21" wide, and 11" deep. In other words, 60".

I have disputed the charge with my credit card company. I insist that my $29 be refunded as well as a letter of apology from Bruce the Bully's supervisor. Unfortunately, I had booked two flights with AirTran before this incident occurred. Unless I receive the refund and the letter, as well as much improved customer service on my next two flights, you can rest assured they will be our last flights ever with AirTran.

I have cc'd the Washington Post's Coming and Going section as well as the travel editor and reporter for the Boston Globe. Since there must be hundreds of other disgruntled AirTran customers, I hope that they will remember this letter when dozens of others arrive.

Last month (May 2008) I have had the worst airline experience I have ever had with Airtran. I was incorrectly charged for an oversized bag and Airtran seems to be unwilling to do anything helpful. If you are flying Airtran, beware, they look to charge you extra even if your baggage does not warrant it. Below is a copy of the correspondence I have had with Amy Baker in their customer service department about refunding the money for the oversized baggage fee. This will by my last time flying with Airtran.

"On Thursday, 5/29/08, I flew Air Tran for the first time in several years from Philadelphia to Orlando. In the past I have flown Air Tran multiple times, all with good experiences. This is why my boyfriend and I chose to drive down to Philadelphia instead of flying out of Newark, which is much closer to us. Upon arriving at the ticket counter in Philadelphia, we were greeted by a ticket agent who looked as if she would rather be anywhere than behind the counter. The first word out of her mouth was not a cheery hello, instead it was a rude, condescending comment of, "That bag is oversized." I was completely shocked. First of all the bag was behind my boyfriend and I, and was not very visible to her, and second, she hadn't even asked if we were checking it in the first place. When I finally did get a chance to put my bag up on the scale, this woman did an extremely quick measurement of the bag, not even bothering to tell me what the measurements were. She then just said, "It's oversized. It's going to cost you $29.99." Of course, I argued this. I have traveled on Air Tran, and many other airlines with this bag and have never had any problem before. The piece of luggage in question is a standard size Samsonite rolling suitcase. No other airline has even asked to measure my suitcase before, my last flight being less than three months ago. As I tried to argue my case to this woman, she became very loud, causing a scene that embarrassed my boyfriend and I tremendously. I finally demanded to see her supervisor. She called over another ticket agent, who I guess was her supervisor, but she certainly didn't act like any kind of manager or supervisor I've ever seen. This woman who looked to be in her late 40's, just looked at me and said, "Oversized is oversized, you'll have to pay", and then she walked away. I was completely shocked. She didn't even offer to remeasure my bag, and there certainly was no apology for how my boyfriend and I were being treated. At this point, we were running out of time to get to our flight. My boyfriend is on crutches and I didn't want to rush him through a busy airport. I finally just handed this woman my boyfriend's credit card and said to just charge the fee. I figured that she would just quickly add the fee and we could be on her way, but I was wrong yet again. This woman took ! her time entering in the credit card information, typing it in manually instead of swiping the card. When I advised her that we had a flight to catch, she simply said, without looking up, "That's not my problem, you should have gotten here earlier." I did not say anything further to this woman, as I knew she would just continue to give me smart answers back and no real assistance. On our return trip we arrived at the ticket counter in Orlando, which was very busy. When we explained that our flight was leaving in about an hour they extended the courtesy of allowing us to check in right away. It was actually the shift supervisor who checked in our bag. He did measure it, but he did it very carefully and then told me that my bag was fine. Needless to say there was much more inside the suitcase on the return trip. I do not see how my bag could have shrunk any, seeing as it is a hard suitcase, and upon returning home we measured the dimensions of length, width and height which added up to 60 inches. I would expect at a minimum, the fee charged to my boyfriends credit card be refunded, but since your company claims to have great customer service, I hope you will extend more to us than just the refund we deserve, as we were embarrassed for about 30 minutes by this rude woman. If you choose not to do anything, we will be taking this matter up with our credit card company, and will never fly Air Tran again as we live closer to Newark, and it is much easier to fly Jet Blue, as they offer exceptional customer service."

"Dear Ms. XXX,

I am sorry to learn your experience with AirTran Airways was less than satisfactory. All of our Crew Members are instructed to professionally perform their responsibilities while providing the highest level of Caring Customer Service. There is simply no excuse for the manner in which our ticket agent behaved toward you and your boyfriend. I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the appropriate department head for review and corrective action.

The maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 61 inches (length + width + height). Oversize baggage with dimensions from 62 to 70 inches will be accepted, subject to an oversize baggage charge of $29.00. Baggage measuring between 71 and 80 inches will be subject to a fee of $69. Baggage over 80 inches in dimension (with the exception of some sporting equipment) will not be accepted.

In an effort to provide consistent service to our customers and in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulation, our agents are instructed to verify the size and weight of checked luggage. Our company instruction includes the correct procedure for bag measurement and fee assessment.

While I sincerely regret any inconvenience this matter caused you, please understand that the baggage fee was applicable. Therefore, I must respectfully decline your request for reimbursement. I apologize for any disappointment this response may cause you.

Your continued support is important to us. We hope to have an opportunity in the future to serve you again and regain your confidence in our airline.

Sincerely,

Amy Baker

Customer Relations Department

AirTran Airways"

"Ms Baker,

After reading your reply, I am more than convinced that I will never fly with your company again and I will make sure to let everyone that I know hear about the way that your company does business. It is very obvious that this issue will not be resolved by AirTran's customer service department so I will be taking the matter up with my credit card company. I doubt they will give me the same run around that you have.

According to your baggage policy, " The maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 61 inches (length + width + height). Oversize baggage with dimensions from 62 to 70 inches will be accepted, subject to an oversize baggage charge of $29.00. Baggage measuring between 71 and 80 inches will be subject to a fee of $69. Baggage over 80 inches in dimension (with the exception of some sporting equipment) will not be accepted.", my bag should not have been subject to a fee as it is at the size of 60 inches (length + width + height).

I want to thank you very much for obviously not taking the time to carefully read my prior email. AirTran's lack of care towards their customers has truly shocked me. I would have expected a phone call at least, but instead I received a standard form letter. Your pilot summed up AirTran's customer service best when he said, "Thank you for flying AirTran where we love your money." I guess now that you have our money, you don't need to provide any level of customer service.

From now on, I will be spending the extra money to fly on JetBlue. You should really take a lesson on customer service from them. I hope you will take the time to actually read this email and take the correct steps to resolve this problem, but I won't hold my breath."

"Dear Ms. Choromanski,

I am sorry that you are disappointed with my response, please understand that this department corresponds with customers by e-mail only. Please know I did read your email and also reviewed the comments in your record. Your bag clearly states it measured at 63 inches.

I am sorry to hear that you will not be flying AirTran in the future. I hope that we can have an opportunity to better serve you so that we can prove our commitment to you.

Airtran Airways is the worst airline I have ever flown.

After being treated rudely because we arrived 4 minutes after their cut off time for checking baggage (which we were never informed of), and after not receiving any answer at all as to why they would not take our bags, we asked to speak to a manager.

The "Station Manager" at San Francisco Airport came out to tell my mother and I that she would, "Rather give us a refund than deal with *** like us."

Customer service did not care at all that we had been verbally abused, made no attempt to help us or reconcile anything. We were issued a refund, and I will never fly their airline again.

Somebody in aitran needs to be fired! I booked to single flight at Airtran, I never flew with them and will never again. The 1 flight was booked for September 20 White Plains to San Francisco. 3 weeks later I receive a confirmation schedule by email that it was changed to September 20 with another schedule, that's fine but the rental car reservation has to be re rescheduled... the second change was worse. I booked for October 1st San Diego to White Plains and I receive it has been re-scheduled to October 2nd. That’s unacceptable rude. When you call customer service they say that it s company policy and that they can change your schedule anytime. So that one I cancelled and re booked on another airline with a big financial lost but that's life... I just want other people knows that Aitran play with the people schedule and looks like somebody is having lot of fun doing that. That's a shame for the industry and the guy doing the schedule should be fired immediately before he brings Airtran to the bankrupt. On my side it's done, they will not see me anymore.

I fail to understand AirTran's method of "charging" the customer for a cancellation. The majority of airlines charge the "penalty" - a rebooking fee of anywhere from $75 to $100 per - at the time of rebooking, whereas AirTran wants it's money up front.

I had to cancel my husband's ticket to Florida - a ticket that was originally priced at $215.00 excluding taxes, etc. Because we hoped he'd be able to make the second leg of the trip, I originally cancelled only the outbound leg. AirTran charged $75.00 for that "change" reducing the value of the ticket price.

When it was determined that my husband would not make the second (return) leg, I called a day in advance to cancel the flight. AirTran again charged $75.00 to cancel the flight.

So, a ticket that I originally paid $255.80 for is now worth a whopping $76.40 ... AirTran has quite the scam going on!

I'm sure that airlines can set their penalties and fees however they want ... perhaps it's time forthe Government to step in to ensure that the customer is getting a fair shake in transportation!