[phazelton]

Hello fellow forum members,

I'd appreciate your help with a fairly disheartening recent experience I've had with Delta. On June 22nd, I was flying from Maputo, Mozambique to San Francisco, California on a Delta-issued ticket: LAM Airlines from Maputo to Johannesburg, then onwards on Delta to Atlanta and San Francisco. My problems began when I experienced difficulty in checking in for my LAM flight in Maputo. The LAM agents claimed their carrier had no ticketing arrangement with Delta, and therefore could not issue me a boarding pass. I then called Delta International Reservations Support in Salt Lake City and attempted to get a LAM agent to speak with the Delta agent over the phone. However, the LAM agents were all busy, the Delta agent put me on hold, and I hung up the expensive international call to turn my attention back to persuading the LAM agents to issue me a boarding pass. Finally, shortly before departure time, the LAM station agent took pity on me and issued me what he claimed was a non-revenue standby seat on the plane, and I managed to make the flight just in the nick of time.

Unfortunately upon landing on-time in Johannesburg, I was informed by the Delta ground staff that my confirmed seat on the flight to Atlanta had been cancelled less than two hours earlier, and that I had been reissued a new ticket itinerary for the following day. At the same time, the ground staff informed me that the flight to Atlanta that evening was oversold, and there was no way they could add me back on. I later discovered after several hours on the phone with Delta customer care in Cincinnati that night, that the Delta agent in Salt Lake City had mistakenly thought I would not make my flight in Maputo, and had canceled my onward seats, effectively involuntarily denying me boarding on the oversold flight that evening.

While waiting for 24 hours in Johannesburg, I befriended the three fellow passengers who had been "officially" involuntarily denied boarding on the Atlanta flight, but who unlike me, all were offered hotel and food accommodation in Johannesburg, as well as $650 in monetary compensation. Now it's a week later, and after writing numerous messages and placing several calls to Delta corporate customer care in Atlanta, I have succeeded in receiving a $300 travel voucher and reimbursement for my $125 in hotel expenses in Johannesburg. However, after escalating my calls several levels within corporate customer care, I was informed by an agent that the Atlanta flight that evening was "not oversold," there was no involuntary denied boarding compensation issued to anyone on that flight, and therefore none can be issued to me.

I've since reported a complaint to the DOT and to the Better Business Bureau, and sent an email on Wednesday to the CEO's office asking for $1300 in involuntary denied boarding compensation, which is the amount listed in Rule 87 of Delta's international Contract of Carriage, when no qualifying alternative transportation is provided, as was the case for me in being stranded for 24 hours in Johannesburg. I also stated in my email to the CEO that if I don't receive this compensation by July 22d (one month after the incident), that I will file a claim in Small Claims Court to recover the full amount.

Any advice from my savvy fellow Delta travelers? Does this seem worth continuing? I should also note that I have the names for the three fellow passengers who were involuntarily denied boarding, as well as the ticket number and check receipt for one of them, which reads: "Involuntary DBC, Flight #DL 201, Date Jun 12, From JNB to ATL, DL."