Southwest Calls Kenlie Tiggeman Too Fat to Fly

by Emily Co 20

I find this story inspiring because this is an example of how much a consumer can achieve if she fights back. Kenlie Tiggeman, didn't know what a ride she was in for when she was boarding her Southwest layover in Dallas. MSN reports that Kenlie, who had already lost 120 pounds, and her mother were subject to a public 45-minute conversation with Southwest employees, which included personal questions about their weight, clothing size, and reasons for weight gain and loss. Further, the humiliating discussion was carried out in front of more than a 100 people. Kenlie tells MSN, "I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't know, just that we were too heavy to fly. Too fat to fly."

To make matters worse, the worker from the airline tried to resolve the situation by saying that Kenlie, her mom, and another overweight passenger could get on the flight if the three of them sat together at the back of the plane.

Although Kenlie and her mother managed to get on the plane and sit in seats of their choice and were given a $200 voucher from Southwest, she decided to fight back. She blogged about her experience in the post, The Day Southwest Airlines Turned My Old Fears Into A New Nightmare, which got the immediate attention of Southwest. This led to an executive from the airline contacting her to apologize and offering more vouchers to compensate.

To find out about the good that came out of her experience, read on.

However, there is one silver lining out of this ordeal. Kenlie wrote about how she was going to use the flight vouchers to visit Richard Simmons' weight loss studio in Beverly Hills, which somehow caught Richard's eye. The exercise guru, who Kenlie said was instrumental to her weight loss achievement, then wrote to her and asked her to work out with him.

If you've ever been wronged as a consumer, you'll know how frustrating it feels to be Kenlie. Even if you don't have a blog to voice your opinion on, remember you can vent to these six online sites, as well as spread the word about it on social media networks. Hopefully, your voice will be heard.