stranded in Zurich due to over sold flight
 

On January 02, 2014, on the return leg of a trip, Delta left 5 of us stranded in the airport in Zurich when Delta arbitrarily bumped 5 of us off the overbooked DL67 from Zurich (ZRH) to Atlanta (ATL).

We were denied compensation or any assistance, and left stranded in Zurich airport with 3 kids, including a sick child.

Even though Delta had my mobile number, Delta made no effort to call us, but unilaterally changed our booking during the night prior to the morning of the flight. After we incurred the cost of travel to Zurich the day before in order to catch the flight.

Delta claimed we were bumped due to weather because our connection, DL886, from ATL to LGR was cancelled. However 10 hours after we were bumped, Delta was still selling seats on DL886 from ATL to LGR. If the flight DL886 was cancelled due to weather, then why was Delta still selling seats on the flight 6 hours after we were at the airport, and 10 hours after Delta bumped us, claiming flight DL886 was cancelled. Why continue to sell seats on a cancelled flight?

We also checked the flight status and there was no indication that the connecting flight was cancelled.

We offered to stay in Atlanta, at our own expense, were rejected because DL67 had been overbooked. Our offers to take a different route via Amsterdam and Detroit were reject by Delta.

Given that there are dozens of options to get from ATL to BGR, especially when compared to options out of ZHR, we offered to stay in Atlanta, at our own expense, until the weather issue at LGR was cleared up, or until an alternate route could be found, but Delta would hear none of these viable options. Why? Because they had overbooked and sold the seats we had booked months ago, to other passengers!

The fact that DL67 (from Zurich (ZRH) to Atlanta (ATL)) was over sold was confirmed to us by other passengers who had been asked to volunteer to give up their seats and were offered compensation because the flight was over sold. Yet we were arbitrarily bumped, stranded in Zurich, and offered no assistance or compensation.

It’s not like we booked through some third party. We booked our flights directly with Delta.

We’re still stranded in Zurich with no assistance from Delta who has closed it’s ticket counter earlier than they advertise on their web site.

Minimum check in time at Zurich is 2 hours. Provided you checked in on time, they cannot deny boarding to you without compensation. Go to delta.com and search "contract of carriage" in the search box. You will find all the details regarding voluntary and involuntary denied boarding.

From the website:

Amount of Involuntary Denied Boarding CompensationIf all conditions for compensation are met, then Delta shall pay compensation to passengers involuntarily
denied boarding in an amount to be calculated as follows:
1. Where Delta arranges Qualifying Alternative Transportation
If Delta arranges Qualifying Alternative Transporta
tion, then Delta will pay denied boarding compensation in
an amount equal to 200% of the fare (including any surcharges and air transportation taxes) to the
passenger's next stopover, or if none, to
his/her final destination, but not more than USD 650.00. Qualifying
Alternative Transportation means comparable air tran
sportation, or other transportation used by the
passenger, at no extra cost to the passenger, that at t
he time such arrangements are made, is scheduled to
arrive at the passenger's next stopover, or, if none, final
destination within two hours after the planned arrival
time of the passenger's original flight or flights.
2. Where Delta cannot arrange
Qualifying Alternative Transportation
If Delta cannot arrange Qualifying Alternative Tr
ansportation, then Delta will pay denied boarding
compensation in an amount equal to 400% of the fare
(including any surcharges and air transportation taxes)
to the passenger's next stopover, or if none, to his/
her final destination, but not more than USD 1300.00.

Delta denied boarding
 

Thanks Azstar. we were at the Delta check in counter 2 hours and 35 minutes before the departure time.

Delta claims that we were rebooked due to weather because our connecting flight from ATL to LGR was cancelled, but they were still selling seats on the ATL to LGR connecting flights 10 hours after they changed our flight and 6 hours after they denied us boarding. At the time they denied us barding the flights from ATL to LGR were not cancelled.

Other passengers said the flight was over booked, and even the Delta ticket agent said there were 2 seats available after the 5 of us were denied boarding.

Are there lawyers that deal with these type of cases?