| rbrad |
Aug 4, 2010 3:51 PM |
Family vacation ends in Delta hell
On July 12th 2010 my family was traveling together home (SDF) from our vacation in Cozumel, Mexico when our flight (DL # 2357) was delayed and then canceled at ATL. Most of us were re-scheduled on another direct flight the next morning (DL #5548) one 16 year old girl was put on a separate schedule through CVG (DL0476) then on to SDF (DL6311). I spent at least an hour on the Medallion member’s customer service phone and in the ticketing line at ATL to get this CHILD put on the same schedule as the rest of the family. All that effort was wasted because that flight was also canceled (fight DL5548 on 13 July 2010). Our rescheduled itinerary had us booked on a flight to MSP then on to our final destination of SDF with a scheduled arrival of 6:12pm on the 13th some 20 hours after our original schedule. The weather at MSP had major storms predicted so we were fearful of further delays and cancellations therefore we rented a car to drive 7 hours back to Louisville. That day I called back to Delta Medallion member’s customer support line to report that we would not be on the flight and to ask that that portion of the itinerary be refunded due to the cancellations.
On Thursday July 29th I called back in to check the status of my refund and the customer service agent had no record of the refund request. She said she would file the request and I should wait two weeks and call back. I did not wait. I called back the next day and spoke with a Mrs. Frazier who also said there was no record of a refund request. At that time she processed my request and authorized a refund at that time. Thank you Mrs. Frazier, I hope you dont get in trouble for giving this refund that Delta was trying hard to avoid paying. If I had continued to wait as the other agent instructed it would have been more than 30 days and I am sure no longer eligible for a refund.
Delta is playing games with its customers and I do not appreciate it. This is especially disturbing for customers that have a proven track record of loyalty to your brand. No effort was made from Delta officials to comfort or compensate my family for the major string of inconveniences with which my family was forced to endure. I, my wife and two of our children each missed a day of work due to this incident. I have had to spend several hours on the phone to check, double check and check again the status of my refund; apparently because Delta was attempting to “slow play” me in hopes of avoiding issuing a refund at all. I am sure that a majority of the customers would not have been as persistent as I and therefore would have gone un-refunded. Is this Delta’s standard business practice?
Just a reminder Delta: your business relies on customers, and the more stories like this one that are told, the more customers will choose to fly on other airlines. This kind of customer service will have a negative effect on Delta’s business. We do have a choice of airlines to pick from for business and leisure travel.
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