[Shinseidoka]

First of all, I work in a customer service capacity (though not for an airline), at a major international airport. If I even so much as said 1 impolite thing to a customer, I'd be fired! I am therefore, very aware that customers in a round about way, pay my wages!!! (although I am also very aware that many customers can be unreasonably rude as well..

I had to unfortunately go through MSP ( Minneapolis_ to attempt to get to London England, on a budy pass (via a friend who used to work for Delta). I knew very well that I would have to travel standby. I had no problems whatsover at my city of origin. Unfortunately I got stuck in MSP for 2 days with apparently no chance on getting to England all week. I therefore decided to return to my city or origin.

Being rather hard of hearing and NOT seeing a standby monitor at my return flight gate, as I had been assured by Delta staff there would be , on flight info mailed to me and verbally, i approached the gate personnel and advised them that I was the standby passenger ( I knew I was the only standby passenger as advised by my Delta budy minutes prior).

The gate personnel were extremely rude and patronizing, asking me if I wasn't aware of the rules. Their tone of voice and look was very nasty. I politely said, of course, i knew the rules but advised them that if they were to make a PA announcement I would likely not hear it, which why I approached the gate counter. The first agent then said that she'd give me my boarding pass in a few minutes, as she was aware I was the only standby passenger (!!!) and she said she had to do some arrival procedures for the flight. She didn't return for approx 20 min. I got the same treatment from another gate staff who arrived about 20 min after my first enquiry.

This 2nd gate staff was worse than the first. She just looked at me and said: "well, we may refuse you boarding anyway'. That's all she said, so of course, I wanted to know why. She then stared at me and in a sarcastic tone said: "Well, because of weight restrictions". I was insensed. She didn't say more! So of course at this point, I was on the verge of loosing my patience and asked to explain further. I had to basically beg her to explain further. That is when she explained that our flight was a small commuter plane and that all hand luggage would have to be weighed as well, and if there was too much weight, no further people would be allowed on verge.

You know, I understand that rule. But there is a way of saying things. If I had been in her shoes, I would NEVER have told a standby passenger they may be refused boarding. I would have said something along the lines of: Maam (or mrs. whatever or Sir. etc..) We may not be able to board you if the weights exceeds, etc. etc...

I was extremely tired at this point, after having had to deal with 2 days being stuck in that airport with no sleep and expensive food! So I just mumbled to myself, I need to get back home.

Side note- I was in tears, because this trip was meant to be a reward from my buddy for having had to go through cancer surgery. And I was tired and disappointed. But I NEVER was rude to the any staff by the remote stretch of anyone's imagination!

In any case, after my unfortunate interchange with the gate staff. I went and sat down again, patiently waiting to be called for my boarding pass. I then noticed that everyone else in the gate area had boarded and one of the staff closed the door to the jetway! Then they both pointed rudely at me, signaling me with their finger to come over to the gate counter. which I did.

Then they both went on and on on how they were going to refuse me boarding anyway, because they said I was rude to them..What???? Then they said that they were revoking my friend's travel and buddy pass privileges and nastily pointing at me they said: "and YOU will be the one who is going to tell him"..As shocked as I was, I politely said, yes, I will advise him But I also said, I apologized if they thought I had been rude them (because I had not been). Then they litterally thew my boarding pass at me! At this point, I decided my priority was getting on that plane back home not telling them what I thought of their horrible behaviour. So I basically ran down the jetway with my carry on. I was the only person allowed the carry on!!!!!!!! Go figure!

I was in tears at this point and when I sat down in my seat, 2 of the flight attendants came up to me, very worried and concerned wanting to know what happened. They were horrified. There were both very sweet and nice and managed to make me feel better by talking to me. They they gave me their names and their supervisor's name (they in fact were flying for Delta but were not Delta employees (the gate 'ladies' were) I subsequently phoned their supervisor to say how nice they were and their supervisor said she would reward them

I did also complain in writing to customer service and even to Delta's president but without going into details, I got nowhere and won't bother you with the details. All I wanted was an apology. i never even got that!

when I returned to my home town, my buddy sent me a note saying that his buddy pass privileges and travel privileges were never suspended! So here I was, verbablly abused and threatened by Delta staff in MSP just so they could get their jollies!

The person who saved the say on this horrible morning wasn't even a Delta employee! It was a cleaning lady whom I had met on my first night after getting stuck and I ran into her at my departure gate. She was also working at a cafe near my gate and brought me breakfast! I thought the gesture was so sweet and unexpected, I wrote the airport authority in MSP and her employer and they subsequently gave her a customer service award.

The Delta staff in my home town are super nice and helpful, so I can't say I would never fly Delta. But I will certainly never ever again fly through Minneapolis on Delta, for fear I would run into those 2 nasties and loose my cool! But if I did, I would be lowering myself to their garbage level and I wouldn't want to do that.

I suppose the best lesson i learned from this experience, is to actually expect the worst and be nicely surprised when you actually get good service.

Meanwhile, my buddy who used to work for Delta quit! Thankfully!

[jimworcs]

The most shocking line in this posting is that you have nice Delta employees in your home town.... Where do you live? Delta and nice dont go together

[Shinseidoka]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

The most shocking line in this posting is that you have nice Delta employees in your home town.... Where do you live? Delta and nice dont go together

I work in YVR - Vancouver International Airport. In fact, I run into those nice Delta staff at YVR on a daily basis and they even make a point of coming over to say hi with a genuine smile!