Delta at fault for 7 hour delay
 

I wrote the following email to Delta then recieved the poor response you will see after my email. I cannot beleive they are so incompetent and treat their customers so poorly.

I have both a compliment and a complaint. On June 26 I was
unfortunately book on the 10:45AM flight 1998. After we boarded the
pilot announced a concern with one of the tires. He stated that a
"contract company" had been called to come take a look at the tire. The
pilot stated he did not know where the "contract company was located or
if they were even in the Birminham area. After nearly an hour later the
"contracted labor" arrived in a beat-up looking van with a guy smoking a
cigarette. I'm not sure smoking around the plane was a good idea. After
determining the tire needed to be replaced, the pilot made the
announcement and said he would personnaly help to change the tire since
Delta only had one maintenance person to do this job. Later we found
that Birmingham had the replacement tire but did not have other parts
and tools neded to replace the bad tire. The parts would have to be
flown in from another airport. After waiting for SEVEN hours in the
tereminal, the job was completed. I feel Delta failed in so many areas
of customer service and fleet maintenance. (1) to have a contract
company hired to inspect tires and not located at the airport.(2) Not
have the tools necessary to change a tire. (3) Having only one
maintenance person available to conduct work (4) Not being compensated
for such a long delay which was totally the fault of delta. (5) Delta
not bringing in another plane from Atlanta as an immediate replacement I
was in Birmingham on legal business as an expert witness in a death case
and my time is valuable. Delta wasted many hours of my time which will
cost my company many dollars. My son's 30th birthday party was the
evening of the 26th with family coming in, cakes purchased and dinner
planned. I missed his 30th birthday party and will never be able to get
that day back due to Delta's poor management. I do seek a reply and
adequate compensation or I will continue with my reporting. I would
consider two flight vouchers to be adequate compensation. The pilots
worked hard and long hours in the heat to assist the one maintenance
person while changing the tire. I commend their efforts and very proud
they took the situation so seriously. They should be thanked. However, I
am pretty disgusted with Delta Airlines.


Delta's reply
RE: Case Number 9333161

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the service provided while
traveling with us and I appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance
with your compensation request. On behalf of every one at Delta Air
Lines and our Delta Connection carrier, ExpressJet Airlines, I sincerely
apologize for the inconvenience you experienced due to the delay of our
flight, alternative flight arrangement and no gesture of amendment.

I understand the frustration you experienced when your plans were
disrupted due to the delay of our Flight 1998 for mechanical reasons out
of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM). I regret
interruption of this flight caused you to miss your connecting flight.
Further, I recognize that your alternate flight arrangements were
unsatisfactory as you were rebooked for the flight that arrived several
hours later than your original schedule. I realize you missed your
son’s birthday party. Be assured our goal is to route our passengers to
their destination in a timely manner and with the least disruption
possible. Your comments regarding the handling of your disrupted travel
have received close attention. I am truly sorry your travel was
adversely affected. Feedback like you have provided will help us to
improve our overall customer experience. Be assured your comments will
be shared with our Airport Customer Service leadership team for internal
follow up.

Additionally, I realize you did not receive a Credit Voucher. Moreover,
while I cannot honor your request for two flight vouchers, as a tangible
gesture of apology for the trouble caused due to the delay of our
flight, I have issued an Electronic Transportation Credit Voucher (eTCV)
in the amount of $50.00, in addition to the voucher issued at the
airport (0060641849102). Please note the voucher number and associated
Terms and Conditions will be arriving in a separate email within 24
hours. I encourage you to add Delta Air Lines to your receiver list so
the voucher document is not misdirected to your spam folder. Please
keep the voucher number and the Terms and Conditions since the number is
required for redemption. It is also important to mention that there is
no Direct Ticketing fee for reservations confirmed online at delta.com.

Mr. Williamson, thank you again for writing regarding our flight
irregularity and your compensation request. As a valued SkyMiles
member, your support is important to Delta, our Connection Carriers,
Delta SkyTeam partners, and we look forward to your continued patronage.

Sincerely,

Selastin P. Xavier
Coordinator, Corporate Customer Care
Delta Air Lines