[joegilmore]

Aloha!

I am (now was) a Delta Silver and Sky Club member with 135,000 miles in the bank from several years of traveling. I just recently got "bait and switched" on a ticket and as of today, not resolved nor does it seem that it will be. It has been clear to me that Delta CS has been going downhill over the last several years and they are a far cry from where they were when I joined. The flight staff is still first rate though. My issue could/should have been corrected immediately, but I don't think that CS (now) has the latitude to do what they should be able (used to be able) to do. Delta used to be the best of the elite programs, hands down! Now, Continental One-Pass, blows medallion away. Especially at the first level. For example, Flights to Hawaii from LAX are complementary elite upgradable on Continental AND first level One-Pass is able to use the priority security lines. I was OK waiting for Delta to catch up, but that changed today after being mired in the swamp Delta calls customer service these days. Needless to say, when the company refuses to pay attention to their customers, you find another company. I am now building my elite status with Continental after this last flight on Delta. What's sad is that I really talked the Delta program up.

My issue is that a friend in a different country bought me a ticket to come visit as a present. Their country has some pretty bizarre currency controls, so the declined her payment. This puts the ticket on hold for 3 days until it can be fixed. Within the 3 days, she fixed the issue and the Delta rep there swapped my 'Q' fare HNL-LAX and LAX-HNL legs for 'U' fare. Let me explain what this means for a Delta Freq flyer... It means that since Delta doesn't include Hawaii in the comp upgrade program, I can not even use miles now to upgrade that leg. As you will see in the first response from Delta, it was because the reservationist wanted to save my friend $124. I'm OK with everything so far...I figured I'd check out why the bait and switch and at worst, they'd say, "Oh, sorry, we were trying to help, would you like to pay the $124 to restore your ticket to it's original state?" . All I got was pretty much, "This is what it is and why. You need to call these numbers and pay for a reissue." I did and was told that it would cost me an additional $1000. I was like, Seriously??? Why don't you make sure your agents understand your millage programs before recommending a change to someone's ticket? My friend flies American and I've been trying to get her to move to Delta for the past year. Not any more. Here is the entire story:



Me:

Message: A friend bought this ticket for me on 6/24 and initially the HNL-LAX and LAX-HNL were listed as 'Q' fares on my itineraries. There was a problem with her card and she went back personally to the Delta office in [witheld] today and corrected the issue. I have two concerns. 1) I would like to have the two legs mentioned put back to their 'Q' fair as listed in this reservation on 6/24-6/27 and I would like to have listed in the system that "the passenger (me) will not have the card in his possession" (as it belongs to and is with her). I would also like to see if I could upgrade the HNL-LAX and LAX-HNL with my miles, once the 'Q' fare is put back like it was when the reservation was made. I don't think that Delta changed the fares intentionally (bait and switch), I think the reservationist in [country omitted] may have made an error in typing when my friend went back to correct the payment information. Please help and advise. Flight Information DELTA CONFIRMATION #: GUUE99 Bkng Meals/ Day Date Flight Status Class City Time Other Cabin --- -----



Response from Delta:

From: Contact Delta [mailto:ContactUs.Delta@delta.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 7:37 AM
To: the-cne@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: OCSD-Delta.com Booking-delta.com Flight Reservations-Fares & Pricing (KMM9095536V56641L0KM)

Dear Mr. Gilmore,

Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your comments.

While your reservation was originally made on June 23, 2011, the ticket was not purchased until June 27, 2011. The original fare quote for the itinerary that was booked on June 23, 2011 was for $1979.50 in U.S.
Dollars. Our fares are not guaranteed until the ticket is actually issued and may end up being either higher or lower than the original fare quote depending on the availability at the time the ticket is purchased.

At the time Ms. [name witheld] provided her credit card and the ticket was issued, a lower fare was available and we issued the ticket at the lower fare XXXXXXXXX which is the equivalent of $1854.82 in U.S. Dollars.
Ms. [witheld] did not indicate at the time of ticket issue that you were interested in using your SkyMiles to upgrade any portion of the itinerary. Likewise, your reservation had not been posted with any remarks that you wished to use an upgradable fare. Because of your Silver Medallion SkyMiles status you are eligible for complementary upgrades, subject to space availability, for the segments between Los Angeles, Atlanta, [City Omitted], Atlanta and Los Angeles.

If you wish to try to secure confirmed upgraded space for any portion of your journey, your ticket will need to be recalculated and an additional collection paid for the higher fare required for an upgradable ticket.
We would need, at that time, to also check the availability of space in the first or business class cabin. You may call our international reservations telephone number 1-800-241-4141 and ask to be transferred to our Reissue Department and we will be glad to assist you. This cannot be accomplished via e-mail.

Please note that your reservation has already been documented that Ms.
[Name witheld] has gone to our [Omited] office and presented her credit card and personal identification. You will, therefore, not be required to present the credit card used for the initial ticket issue when you go to the airport.

We appreciate your business and trust your future flights will be enjoyable. We hope you will continue to make Delta your airline of choice.

Sincerely,

Judith Carslile
Online Customer Support Supervisor
http://www.delta.com




Me:

I called Delta and my option is $1000 additional.

My response to Judith
(Remember, all I was expecting was, "Pony up the $124 and all's good. Sorry, we were just trying to help.")



Thank you for the reply. I am very disappointed that 1) the lowest fare was not presented just 3 days earlier, that seems in violation of Delta's lowest fare guarantee. 2) That the confirmation # is the same, so "what" was confirmed? This leaves a very bad impression. For me, this is just the old "bait and switch" or taking advantage of someone that doesn't know Delta's frequent flyer program well, as in Ms. [Witheld].
While I've tried to convert her from American, she's comfortable with how they do business and treat their customers. I on the other hand, have promoted Delta vigorously to my friends in Hawaii and now for the last time. I will be moving to Continental. I will also be moving my Sky club membership once the year is up. I am HIGHLY disappointed in Delta.
This is the first time I have ever seen a lower fare just magically come up 12 days out since Delta implemented its lowest price guarantee. I hope what happened here makes sense to you.

Joe Gilmore

Granted, I didn't do the best job explaining the issue here!




Next response from Delta (notice that you do not deal with one person and their chain of supervision which induces high frustration, in itself!)

From: Contact Delta [mailto:ContactUs.Delta@delta.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 9:02 PM
To: the-cne@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: OCSD-Delta.com Booking-delta.com Flight Reservations-Fares & Pricing (KMM9121038V25606L0KM)

Dear Mr.Gilmore,

Thank you for contacting Delta Air Lines; your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your additional comments concerning our recent exchange of e-mails. We try to be responsive when any problem is brought to our attention, and we regret you are disappointed with our reply.

We appreciate your loyalty and support. Though at times the frustrations of the travel world might lead to feeling overlooked and unappreciated, please let me assure you we are very grateful for you -- we know our survival as an airline depends on those loyal customers who make it a point to fly with us. We recognize the best (and worst) publicity for Delta are the comments from our passengers to the people they interact with. Thank you for sharing your positive experiences, and for giving us the opportunity to respond when your travel doesn't go as it should.

Again, thank you for writing. We appreciate your selection of Delta and will always welcome the opportunity to be of service.

Sincerely,

Drake Rogers
Online Customer Support Desk
http://www.delta.com




I'm still trying to figure out what the above actually means!!!!! I have more questions AFTER receiving that! "Are you done?" "F@#! me?" What is the meaningful content??



So I replied, guessing that they don't really care anymore:




Aloha Drake!

Thanks for the kind response. I have enjoyed my time with Delta, but it is clear that Delta has lost its way in customer service. First the ASA issue, then the military bags issue, and now mine, the bait and switch. When all that it would have taken to rectify the situation would have been for customer service to say, "Oh sorry, would you like to pay the additional $124 and we'll restore your reservation to what we originally said it was." But instead, the company is now focused on....well, I 'm not really sure. Since the last email, I have joined Continental's one-pass program after learning that they do comp upgrades on Hawaii flights AND their first level elite get to use the priority security line. I remember when Delta used to be the best. Whether ATL new about it or not, LAX and SFO used to do Space Available upgrades for people who lived in Hawaii. That was what Delta used to be. No doubt about it, I am gone to Continental after this flight. Thank you for what you used to be and I hope that you find your way again. Customer service isn't that difficult, if its handled correctly. Things at Delta have been going downhill for several years now. If you see it within your purview, I would ask that on my way out, you restore my reservation and bill me the $124 if you feel the need. At least we can part on a good note. Again, I sincerely hope that Delta can find its way back.

Mahalo,
Joe Gilmore



And that's where we are....

Holy crap! I've wasted at least $400 of my time and at least the same of their time, when all that needed to happen was, "Geez, were really sorry sir, if we could restore your original reservation for the [$124, $124 worth of miles, whatever!!], would that solve the issue for you?" 5 minutes and done. All happy....win-win. It's hard to believe a company that size just can't get CS right. I will post anything else that arises. If no follow up, there was no additional response.

[stonecold_1981]

Hmm. So let me make sure I understand:
1. Your friend reserved (and tried to purchase) the ticket on 6/23 for $1980 (Q-Fare). However, due to issues (not related with Delta), she purchased the ticket on 6/27 for $1855 (U Fare). Although the delay was not caused by your friend, it was not caused by Delta either.
2. At no point during the reservation did she mention that you wanted to upgrade the flight (i.e. book an upgradeable class/fare)
3. When you understood that the ticket was a U-fare, you called Delta they quoted additional $1000 for a Q or any available upgradeable fare

Based on the above, I don't think Delta's at fault here. It is widely known that fares fluctuate all the time (at times multiple times in a day). While conventional wisdom holds that fares go up as you get closer to the travel date, it's not always true. In certain instances, the airline may drop the fares for excess capacity (this is what appears to have happened here). As far as the lowest fare guarantee is concerned, you should know that it applies for fares for a particular class/itinerary/date/time. This is the reason why the guarantee is applied for a single day (meaning, if you bought a ticket today and found a lower fare -on any site- today, you will be refunded the difference).

I have to agree though, Delta's second response makes no sense. They need to craft up clear, direct responses and cut the BS out.

BTW - I'm not an airline employee, hate most of the US airlines, and not a Delta supporter (in fact fly with united/star alliance most of the time). I feel Delta is the worst big airline in the US but in this case, i see no foul play

[joegilmore]

Aloha!

Yeah, perhaps I wasn't clear. The friend went online and purchased the ticket which included the 'Q' fare and paid for it at the time and the gvt put a hold on her funds (which they typically do there). When she went to Delta to correct the issue, the Delta person either didn't understand Delta's own rules on upgrades from Hawaii tickets, didn't look at my Delta profile (I ALWAYS upgrade this leg), and thought that it might be better to save $124. Where Delta IS at fault, is in their customer service department on the follow up, when contacted. Good customer service is not about being right, it's about finding a way to keep the customer happy. In this case, had they just offered to change the reservation to what it was and bill me $124, it would have been a wash. This is why I am so mad at them. It was an easy fix, wouldn't even have cost them the equivalent of a meal or free drink voucher (that they used to pass out like candy! ) and none of my postings throughout the Internet would have been posted. I know that this issue has already cost them 2 Silver elites, and so far 4 people that I know here in Hawaii have opted out of flying Delta because of my situation. My goal now is to "change" Delta's customer service and I'm willing to cost them 2,000 potential sales by promoting my issue. It's not the problem with the ticket, it's the attitude towards customers "after" a problem. I can fix that for them. My goal of 2000 tickets not bought is roughly $2,000,000 in revenue. It's not a lot, but it's doable, especially here in Hawaii. One ticket at a time. ....and they'll tell two friends and so on... and so on....

[joegilmore]

Also, since I have plenty of free time, I may do a couple of days of sign/t-shirt "picketing" at HNL! Flippant customer service attitude will not stand!