Banned from Jet Blue for "mean girl" tweets

[WOT?*]

I was debating between here and ML because this is laughable but it's also "customer service" and "airlines" and "BANNED!" which is totally CEP...  And there is a need for funny and eye-rolly today.

This yahoo was banned from JetBlue for tweeting about "bad customer service" and including the CS worker's name and badge number. I'm Team JetBlue on this one because I don't see bad customer service as much as I see "normal airline service, change fees and he's an entitled ass".  But then again, a life-time ban as a "physical security threat" is more than a little laughable.  I'm team JetBlue simply because he's an annoying, entitled special snowflake and they can ban whomever they want as long as it's a legal ban and not a protected one.  Lifetime, probably not, but at least until he grows up and enters the real world of cheap airline travel.  But then, Team Lush should come in and go all First Amendment! here. 

www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/jetblue-permanently-bans-youtuber-over-a-mean-girls-tweet/ar-BBghLLk

Be careful what you tweet!

YouTuber Matthew Lush was permanently banned from JetBlue airlines after tweeting a "Mean Girls" joke at a customer service representative named Regina (like the character Regina George) and including her employee identification number.

It all started when Lush was charged and booked for a flight without receiving any notification of the booking.

When he "tried to correct the error on the phone, an agent named Regina was apparently less than helpful, telling him he'd incur a $150 charge. Lush refused the charge and decided to just take the flight instead of booking a new one," The Daily Dot reports.

Then he sent out a tweet to his 154k followers:

Don't fly @jetblue! Their customer service is horrible! Especially Regina 87346. She is ruining my Thanksgiving vacation ??
— Matthew Lush (@matthewlush) November 25, 2014
This inspired a bunch of his fans to send out tweets of support, all of them including Regina's ID number, and Lush continued to tweet.

#[e-mail]/xCWPD1dGjR
— Matthew Lush (@matthewlush) November 25, 2014
When Lush went to take his flight, JetBlue agents told him he was no longer allowed to fly the airline. He was then removed from the terminal for being a "physical security threat."

"Lush described his plight in a video on his channel and encouraged his 580,000 YouTube followers to boycott JetBlue," The Daily Dot reports.

In a statement to Yahoo, JetBlue defends its decision to permanently ban Lush.

The decision to remove any customer from a flight is made after careful and informed decision by local airport officials and flight crew. It’s based on an individual’s actions and our assessment whether further actions during the flight would lead to further disruption or non-compliance with crew member instructions which could lead to diversion and delays for all customers.

[downtoearth]

Dec 4, 2014 15:49:53 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

His Tweet:

Don't fly @jetblue! Their customer service is horrible! Especially Regina 87346. She is ruining my Thanksgiving vacation ??
— Matthew Lush (@matthewlush) November 25, 2014
This inspired a bunch of his fans to send out tweets of support, all of them including Regina's ID number, and Lush continued to tweet.

#[e-mail]/xCWPD1dGjR
— Matthew Lush (@matthewlush) November 25, 2014
....

In a statement to Yahoo, JetBlue defends its decision to permanently ban Lush.

The decision to remove any customer from a flight is made after careful and informed decision by local airport officials and flight crew. It’s based on an individual’s actions and our assessment whether further actions during the flight would lead to further disruption or non-compliance with crew member instructions which could lead to diversion and delays for all customers.

IDK - It seems a little over the top to ban someone for life because they said your customer service sucks.  And the "ByeRegina" thing is obviously a pun on Bye Felicia and not a threat so I'd say I'm giving Jet Blue a bit of the side eye on their very official statement that they had to ban b/c his actions would "disrupt" and "delay" others.

[ttt]

That's totally ridiculous. There's no way that tweeting something sarcastic is in any way indicative of someone being a "physical threat" to passengers or the airplane. Come on.

I'm utterly disappointed in JetBlue between this and their decision to destroy their brand and flying experience to make Wall Street happy.

[elleblue]

I don't like that he tweeted her badge number but I don't know that he should be banned for life because of it. He does sound like an asshole though. Chances are she was just doing her job and didn't have the authority to waive the fee or whatever. Why didn't he take it up the chain? Write a complaint letter (include her badge number there, that's an appropriate time to use it) to management, that's more likely to get things corrected to his satisfaction. 

[AJL]

What's wrong with tweeting her badge number? Is it visible on her badge?

[newgirl412]

I have to wonder how he was charged a flight if he didn't book it himself? If he didn't book it himself, then he should have been able to talk to someone and get it canceled with no fee/etc.

[heyjude]

But did they vote first?

[AJL]

Dec 4, 2014 16:40:52 GMT -5 heyjude said:

But did they vote first?

They did but they had some one-time flyers and their votes shouldn't count.