[wkharris2001]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

Thanks for the confirmation. So now I'm wondering why they spoke to several agents and a supervisor or two who all didn't realize that they were indeed seated side-by-side and explained the non-sequential lettering of the seats. When someone calls Delta from Australia are they routed to the US or handled by one of the offshore call centers in South Africa or Jamaica?

I don't know where they would be routed to. unless they're talking to a "specialty" department they are probably going to the "general sales and service" que. the first stop for those calls usually goes to montego bay or cape town. unless they are just way too busy, then some of the overflow from those calls come to the specialty departments.

[jimworcs]

In a way, doesn't this reflect just how bad Delta's Customer Service is? Here we have a customer with a simple and legitimate request. They could have been reassured, first time, first call and that customer would have been happy.

Let me ask this question? Does whoever is in charge of Customer Service know what they are doing? Have they never heard of the maxim of take ownership of the problem, and solve it first time?

Really, I think this illustrates very well some of the problems of the airline industry. People passed from pillar to post, repeatedly told to speak to someone else, lied to and given mis-information. It makes travelling a total hassle and compounds the problems. Who exactly is in charge of this at Delta, and how the hell did they get into that position?

[PHXFlyer]

Exactly, Jim. Even though there wasn't an issue and Delta, nor Expedia, were ever "on the hook" for that, there was still a massive service failure because everyone they spoke to at Delta failed to simply pull up a seating diagram and realize that they were indeed seated together. Since the Fuhrmann's initial issue, which never really existed, is now solved they may never return to this forum but I hope they are still reading the thread. At some point please write a letter to Delta to complain about the disservice you received from every single phone agent you spoke with. Name names if you have them but hopefully you jotted down dates and times when you called. Most call centers, now that digital storage is measured in terabytes and relatively cheap, keep audio records of every single call. It wouldn't be too difficult to track down those who spoke with you and give additional training and/or disciplinary action if deemed appropriate.

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Jimworcs wrote…

Who exactly is in charge of this at Delta, and how the hell did they get into that position?

In the context of Jim’s statement the background of Delta’s CEO, Richard H. Anderson, is interesting. Whether Mr. Anderson has a customer-oriented focus might be open to question. His experience suggests he is adept at defending the palace against the angry mob. At one point Anderson was an assistant district attorney in HarrisCounty (Houston), Texas. He went-on to become deputy counsel at Continental Airlines. And, for two years, he was an executive vice-president at a company which has become the poster child of what is wrong with health care in America—United Health Care. To his credit Anderson earns a “mere” 600K a year, with the rest of his compensation tied to Delta stock.

PHXFlyer wrote...

It wouldn't be too difficult to track down those who spoke with you and give additional training and/or disciplinary action if deemed appropriate.

Perhaps there MAY be some occasions when call center staff actually get disciplined. First, if some of Delta's call centers are in Jamaica and South Africa that suggests the staff at those locations work for a contractor, not for Delta. Thus you have the same problem one would encounter with a rude counter agent for, say, SkyWest Air---Delta has limited control, at best. As to the staff that are directly employed by Delta: Until such time as the employment picture improves discipline may be a realistic option. Once jobs become more available discipline will probably be used sparingly. After all, who wants McDonald's wages and benefits when there are better paying jobs elsewhere?

[jimworcs]

Wow we have reached an accord. All we need now is an apology from WK and all will be well with the world

[Max Fuhrmann]

To all those concerned about my family's plight with Delta Airlines. At the end of the day, things turned out well, my wife & child were seated together on seats 56, second last row on the left side, window (good assumption PHXFlyer). This was only established some 12hrs ago when we went to check in online. I can only assume that this was done in the last couple of days and we are both VERY GRATEFUL. We were only told via this chat site the other day that the problem was ressolved but could not confirm this until we were able to checkin online.

I CAN CONFIRM that the original booked seats were completely different, window seats much further up. Then when my wife first spoke to Delta (Sydney office) around a week or so ago she was told that the seat confirmation was not passed on by Expedia so the seats were re-allocated. She was then given two seperate single seats somewhere in the mid section but 4 rows apart. After further negotiations, she was moved to be one row behind our daughter in the mid section.

To Delta Airlines staff, I take my hat off to whoever pushed the right buttons to resolve the anxiety that my wife was facing. You have somewhat restored my faith in your company.

To all sympathizers, I salute you for your understanding, compassion and commonsence.

To all , I say, "build a bridge & get over it" because a little customer service goes a long way in this day and age.

If American Airliners want foreigners money, customer service would have to come in to play because otherwise, why would people take on a further risk of airline attacks than any other foreign airline if they don't get any reassurance and service etc.

Anyway, the Delta flight is due to take off in 3 minutes so I trust that all is well -ends well !

[jimworcs]

To Delta Airlines staff, I take my hat off to whoever pushed the right buttons to resolve the anxiety that my wife was facing. You have somewhat restored my faith in your company.

Not sure Max, based on the information provided on this site, that the information you were being given was accurate. The problem seems to be have been that the lazy liars at Delta were simply not doing their research and were just feeding you bull. The actual seating arrangements, as reported by WK and Justme, were timestamped as being together, even before you were fed all that nonsense by the customer disservice agents.

Not sure if the last 4 lines of your post are intended to be ironic.. I am with you all the way on attacking the falling customer service standards of US based airlines. Frankly, if you could have booked Qantas or some other airline for any part of your journey, I would have done so. However, if by this

why would people take on a further risk of airline attacks than any other foreign airline if they don't get any reassurance and service etc.

you are referring to risks of terrorism, I would say this is not a valid angle of attack. All airlines are potentially at risk for attack and indeed some of the failed attempts prior to 911 involved airlines of other nations. There are plenty of reasons to not choose US based airlines BUT I don't think safety is one of them.