Bumped & Dumped on Honeymoon in Atlanta
 

On June 30, 2009 my daughter and new son-in-law were bumped off Flight 561 which was scheduled to leave Atlanta for St. Lucia. They found three other couples who also were bumped from the same flight. One unfortunate couple had been bumped TWICE.

Put up for the night in a below-standard Atlanta area hotel in a "rough" neighborhood and given $7.00 each for dinner and breakfast.

I wrote a politely-but-firmly worded letter to "Ms. Daiquiri Gleaves" at Delta, but have received no response in four weeks.

Interestingly, the re-booking agent at Atlanta airport commented that this particular flight was frequently overbooked.

Has anyone else been bumped from this particular flight? And does "Daiquiri Gleaves" really exist?

I hope in addition to the hotel and and meal vouchers they received denied boarding compensation. Because an overnight stay was involved it should have been close to what they paid for the round-trip ticket up to a maximum of $800.

Daiquiri Gleaves is a real person and works in DL's Atlanta headquarters. Correspondence addressed to her is usually answered by one of her staff and you shouldn't expect more than a "cut and paste"reply.

The only thing offered was sympathy from the rebooking agent (She was very courteous and professional), one night's hotel stay, $7.00 each for meals, and booking on the next day's departure. No compensation offered or given beyond the meal vouchers. My wife and I paid for the honeymoon (in addition to the wedding!), and the tickets totalled over $2,000 roundtrip. Thank you for the feedback.

You should write to the DOT and complain. The airline should have advised you of your rights and you were entitled to cash compensation. The Delta experience is all too common. Phx is right in telling you that you are likely to get a cut and paste reply, which will read like your complaint was never read in the first place. However, he is wrong to say that you should not expect more than that... the airlines are training us to expect nothing... we need to show them that we expect far more than that. Best way to do that is DOT and bad publicity. Local news might like a "honeymoon couple stranded by heartless airline".. .I would give it a go.

I stated that on the assumption that they had received proper involuntary denied boarding compensation. If they had received a check in addition to the hotel and meal voucher then an apology is all they would be due and all they should expect. Since it has now come to light that IDB compensation was not given, they should definitely expect more than a form letter.

To the OP: did their trip begin in Atlanta or was Atlanta their connecting point? I ask because that will come into play when calculating their compensation. The IDB amount wil be based on the value of the Atlanta to St. Lucia only. You should reference the purchase confirmation you received from Delta to calculate that amount. There will be a section headed by the word "Fare Details" followed by the fare calculation. I will post a copy of one of mine for clarity:
Fare Details: PHX DL X/SLC DL HOU352.56MN00RAXN DL X/SLC DL PHX352.56MN00RAXN
USD705.12END ZP PHXSLCIAHSLC XF PHX4.5SLC4.5IAH3SLC4.5

If you post the information from yours here I can help you to "guesstimate" the dollar amount you should expect from Delta.

Since this is all a second hand account, I think the first question should be: what do you mean exactly when you say they were "bumped" from the flight? I ask only because many have used the term improperly of what the true definition is. I agree with PHX, first determine if this was a connection flight that they missed and were put "standby", but the following flight was oversold. That would explain why the other couples were "bumped twice", they might have missed their flights and were also on standby from previous flights. From my perspective that's how it sounds. but I can be wrong.

I know many will say "but they got a hotel", but if they were cool about everything and didn't put up a fuss, especially if they are connecting passengers, the airlines will give a hotel. I've been put up, as I was told "it was not busy and they had the rooms". Was this their honeymoon? That would more or less be the reason they were given a room as well. Finally, as much as i know about flights being overbooked, again i agree with phx there should have been an offer made, plus they would have to sign a letter. If they did not sign anything and were given no compensation, you may wanna question your son and daughter further about the experience before approaching Delta about compensation, just to be certain of everything you know? You can also contact the DOT and file a complaint, but again be sure the case is about an overbooked flight and denied boarding because of it or else its just wasted time.

Just curious........why is dad speaking for the son? There may certainly be a complaint here but why is the customer not doing the first-hand communication with the airline?

Troy,
He's a newlywed!! I am sure he is busy ;)

Ah yes..........I've forgotten. My mistake. Carry on.

I may be mistaken but it sounds like dad paid for the tickets. Hopefully we'll get more details as to wether this was truly a "bump" situation or if they merely missed their connecting flight in Atlanta. If the missed connection was due to a mechanical issue and not weather/ATC delay they should probably try for some form of additional compensation for the missed day St. Lucia.

I understand dad paid for the tickets. He is not the customer. Bottom line and when push comes to shove......if I'm at the airport as a supervisor (and I was) a non customer comes up to me to complain, I walk away. He/she has no complaint. Whether or not he/she paid for tickets, they are not the customer. I got enough complaints from the travelers, I don't need the general public giving me grief too.

I think I posted before about some parent that was complaining on behalf of their military offspring. If the customer has a complaint, why don't they complain instead of a parent? I could go on and on but I better not.

I'm going to agree with the Judge about the parents complaining, just because they bought the ticket. The issue is, it's like that old game telephone. You are not getting the details first hand. Usually there is something that either was not relayed, or they got mixed up or missed.

For the original poster, I will tell you that the hotels in the area of the Atlanta airport are not in that bad a neighborhood. I'm not saying it's the best of Atlanta, but not the worst either. If you think those are bad, look at the neighborhood of Chicago (midway airport) or Miami. Also, what is "below standard"?

Actually, let's just cut to the chase - what hotel were they put in?

The facts are the newlyweds got to the connecting gate before scheduled departure. Airline gone. Put up in Atlanta Hotel with $7.00 each for meals. Three other couples at the gate were there when the jet pushed off (early). The flight was full. Overbooked.

The Wellsley. I am not familiar with the hotel.

I beg to differ with The Judge (???). I paid for the tickets and I AM the customer. The kids were the passengers. We all three were customers.

I would pursue this via the DOT. Make sure you make the following points:

1. The incoming flight landed on time
2. The outgoing flight took off on time
3. Delta had bumped other passengers off the flight
4. On the day, Delta employees accepted responsibility and did not blame the weather. Your evidence for this is that they put you in a hotel and gave you a meal voucher.

Despite all this evidence, they failed to give you compensation in accordance with your rights and you are complaining. See what happens..

Wellesley sounds like a flea pit. 2 out of 5 on Trip Advisor. 18 reviews, 82% of which are negative....

Actually they were not at the gate until 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time:

If you aren't at the gate prior to the cutoff time (15 minutes for domestic but St. Lucia is most likely considered international) then you forfeit any right to denied boarding compensation.

PHX..
That is my point... the flights were not weather delayed.. they landed and took off within minutes of their scheduled time. Delta were unable to process the flights in such a way that the passengers were able to disembark in time to catch the flight. The delay was an entirely ground delay and I was encouraging the passenger to complain to the DOT as I have doubts as to whether you could argue this was a weather delay. I am unsure how the ground delay would be classified.

WT.......I feel for you and your daughter and son-in-law. There MAY be a complaint here. What I said before and I stand by it, if I'm at the airport and you walk over to me and start to make a complaint while the actual passengers are not there, I will tell you to have a nice day. They are the ones who were inconvenienced. You may find that out when you hear from the airline. I'm sure it never happens but what is to stop someone from writing a letter to an airline saying they same things you are saying looking for a handout?

Just for the record, if we recieve a complaint from someone on behalf of the passenger, we still treat it as a complaint.

IF the kids are entitled to denied boarding compensation, Delta should be able to determine that if Mr. T. wrote a complaint on their behalf provided he gave the passenger's name and all relevant flight information. Just because someone else writes on behalf of the actual passengers does not absolve a carrier of its obligations.

Thank you for the clarification, abutterfinger25. I, too, work in a service industry (financial services), and I agree with The Judge that I work only with the client unless they have given me specific authorization otherwise. On the other hand, if the parent or offspring of a client contacted me with a complaint I would immediately contact the client directly to get to the facts. that's why they call it a "service industry".