My Delta complaint!!!!
 

I am writing to make a complaint in respect of your Airline, in respect of what I can only describe as the worst customer service experience I have ever encountered.

This experience relates to our inbound journey, starting with flight DL 176 (Orlando - Atlanta) on Friday 24th October '08. As you will be aware from your records the flight was delayed by two and a half hours, due to adverse weather conditions in Atlanta. At the time we were aware that as a result of this we were likely to miss our connecting flight back to Manchester (UK) later that day, flight DL 64.

At this time we were simply wanting to find out some information in respect of this from a Delta Representative. No such Representatives were available, the only alternative being a 30 minute wait in the 'check-in' queue for a second time. Having eventually spoken to someone the first thing tht they told us was that any costs i.e hotels would have to be paid for by ourselves, and were unable to assist us anymore.

As anticipated when we arrived in Atlanta we had missed our flight to Manchester, and had to once again encounter customer services in Terminal E. Hundreds of people were waiting in the queue, with again no Representatives other than those at the desk. It quickly became apparant that Delta's infrastructure is simply not able to cope with problematic situations. These weary travellers many of whom like ourselves were Families with young children, had to wait hours late at night to speak with someone. There were helpline telephones beside this area which I found and utilised, but no-one was advertising this to any of the other travellers. It soon became clear that Delta had re-booked flights for all stranded Passengers, and a Representative working in the line would have eased the situation in the queue and saved outrageous delays.

There were ten people in our Party, although six others had been given a seperate booking / reference. The four people on our booking were given tickets for the following night's flight to Manchester, however the travel arrangements made for the other six people are what I can only describe as unbelievable.

Their revised travel plans consisted of a flight to la Guerda Airport (New York) the following morning, with a subsequent flight to Manchester later that night, not from there but from JFK. Delta Representatives were once again unable / unwilling to give them any details as to the logistics of getting between the Airports, other than to say that because the original delay was due to adverse weather, they would have to fund the transport between Airports themselves. In addition to this no-one was able to say what would happen with everyone's luggage.

In the end we left Atlanta Airport that night with 3 children in our Party, and did not arrive at Our hotel until 2330hrs. Fortunately we had money etc to pay for accomodation / food, however we spoke with a family who did not have this luxury and were forced to spend the night also with children, in Atlanta Airport. The excuse they were given, yes you have guessed it 'adverse weather' means you have to meet all of your expenses.

The Following day the four of us on our booking arrived at the Airport shortly after lunchtime, and were told there was the possibility of a free upgrade to first class due to our bad experience. We were told however that we would have to wait until the gate opened later in the day to have this confirmed. At least we were thinking that the experience of the previous 24hrs would end on a positive.

In the meantime the other Party in New York had made it to JFK, and were so distressed one of the Adults broke down in tears. Again when asking for any assistance came across the 'adverse weather' excuse, which as you can imagine by now was wearing a little thin.

Back in Atlanta the gate had opened, and it was at this point we reached our lowest ebb. Not travelling first class in honesty I can live with, not getting on the flight at all would have been out of the question. By Delta's admission the flight had been over subscribed by 17 people. Now I understand that it is common practice in the Airline business to over subscribe flights, but by 17 people is simply ridiculous.

In the end the Delta Representative held what appeared to be a raffle, to decide the lucky and not so lucky Passengers. In the end we were one of the fortunate ones, however the afore mentioned Family without any money weren't. All of their party adults and children alike were in tears, shame on you Delta.

Our good news of getting on the flight once again suprisingly turned sour when it turned out that none of our Party were sitting together. Now this would not have been a significant problem if all of the party were Adults, however my little boy had just turned four when we were in America. Lost for words when confronted with this news, the Delta Representative cast me aside saying "'I'm far too busy, you'll have to sort it out yourselves on board". Now we weren't talking about a trivial issue here, this was a four year old boy having to sit by himself on a long haul flight. What checks had been carried out on the Passenger sitting next to him, who for all Delta knew or cared, could have been a paedophile. The thought process going into making this decision defies belief.

On the plane we did manage to resolve the situation, but once again that is not the point.

When arranging to holiday to America I was under the impression that Delta had a good reputation. For many people your Airline it is the first impression that people will get of America, and for a Country that brought the concept of customer service to the World you would expect a first class experience. Delta in my view have in no way lived up to these expectations, and in my opinion should be viewed as a national embarrasment.

In truth I don't expect any satisfaction from Delta in respect of this complaint, as I am now ambivalent to the Delta experience. That said whilst I ponder legal action against yourselves, I will give you the opportunity to account for the above. Rest assured however that in any event without a successful resolution, I will be bringing this matter to the attenion of the British media.

Markreynolds, I don’t work for Delta but I have to say your complaint is a very good one. I suggest you file with the Department of Transportation in the U.S. as well.

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm


Some aspects of air travel leave the airlines in a “hands tied” position. I am not trying to defend everything an airline does but you have admit, weather is something nobody can do anything about. It is hard on everyone, even the employees. It is the passenger’s responsibility to realize that flights can be delayed beyond the airline’s control so why should an airline pay for hotels if it is weather? Personally, if I am going to be a long ways from home, I am prepared for the worst with money and food in my carry on. It is not the airline’s responsibility to feed me and shelter in an emergency.

You mentioned, “Hundreds of people were waiting in the queue, with again no Representatives other than those at the desk.” Well where else would they be and where do you think they will be working? The airlines can’t afford to have extra staff sitting around at every airport everyday being paid to just wait for delays. Most flights do run on time.

Their have been times when I do announce to call the 800 number to get in contact with an agent while standing in line. Do you know what happens when I say that?
1.At least half of the crowd doesn’t listen.
2.Another quarter of the crowd then starts yelling at the agents at one time asking different things.
3.Most of the experienced already know to call anyways. The inexperienced still end up waiting in line and changing their plans that were made with the agent on the phone by the time they get to me. And that ends up taking more of our time because I have to go back and fix what the other agent did.
I do agree though that timely announcements need to be made to update passengers. But if the flight is cancelled, what else can be said?


When it comes to the children, their should have been a remark in the record that certain passengers are children. I am not sure why the agents were not aware of that. You might want to mention that. To an inexperienced agent, the remark is not obvious and I am not sure if Delta actually trains their agents or not. I know I wasn’t and that makes it hard trying to learn the hard way. Also, if others in your party are on another ticket, then the agents have no way of knowing that all of you are all together. They are just trying to get you to your destination as soon as possible. I think the cost of transport from Laguardia (LGA) to JFK is less than another night in Atlanta.

I think something needs to be done about overselling flights by 17 people during a time like this. I think it is ridiculous that airlines would even do that! It is not the agents fault but the people at the top who only care about money. I can understand over selling flights since many times people don’t show up unannounced but during times of cancellations, that policy needs to be amendended.

I hope your impression of my country is not too badly tarnished because of a bad travel experience on an airline. Furthermore, I hope you are able to get this situation resolved. Perhaps in the future more regulation will be in effect. Good luck to you.

Assert your rights under EU regulations
 

Try filing this type of claim, first, with a Delta office in the UK. Then, if you do not get results, proceed to complain to European Union authorities, and/or the (UK) CAA.

You, obviously, did not arrive, as originally planned, in Manchester. Under European Union regulations, you MAY be entitled to some cash compensation. In your claim you should make clear two things: (1) The entire return trip was flown on Delta Air Lines. (2) Although you were, originally, booked to transfer in Atlanta, the fare you paid was a "through fare"--Orlando - Manchester (if this is NOT the case, then you may have no protection under E.U. regulations.).

For travel to/from Europe, I've found Lufthansa to be one of the few decent airlines. True, you must transfer in either Frankfurt, or Dusseldorf, however, as you now well know, you avoid a lot of aggravation. Lufthansa has an agreement with another bad US airline--United--to fly passengers to smaller US cities. If you book your entire trip with Lufthansa, rather than United, you have a limited degree of protection against anything United might try to do to you.