[cmachelle]

The first time I decided to fly Delta Airlines in May 2010 my experience was not a pleasant one due to flight delays my husband and I missed our 10-year anniversary festivities by the time we arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada. I expressed my concerns and disappointment via the customer feedback email I received after my trip, but unfortunately a Delta representative never contacted me or never apologized. Fast forward six years later and I decided to let bygones be bygones and booked a trip via Delta again to San Antonio, Texas for my niece’s BMT graduation at Lackland, AFB.
I was traveling with my two sisters (Doreane Ward and Jessica Rice) and my sister’s boyfriend (Jerome Pinckney) who is deaf and was flying for the first time. The flight from Charleston, SC to Detroit, MI on 03/23/2016 went smoothly and we were scheduled to fly to San Antonio via a connecting flight. Per the boarding pass, the plane starting boarding at 7:36 pm and the departure time was 8:06 pm and because we decided to get something to eat prior to the flight proved to be detrimental. We arrived at the gate at 8:00 pm to find the 8:06 pm departure flight was long gone and on its way to San Antonio without us. There were a few things we could not understand, first of all, why did the plane depart before it’s actual departure time? Why while we were on the plane in Charleston prior to take off we were actually waiting on individuals to board? Why upon leaving San Antonio and heading to Atlanta, GA we waited about 15 minutes for passengers to board who were also late? How do you determine which passengers are priority? Why would a plane leave earlier than the actual departure time?
Not only were we completely heartbroken but our disappointment grew even more when we learned that missing our flight was going to cause a spiral of unpleasant events beyond our control. We were thrown for a loop when we learned missing our flight meant “changing” our flight per Delta and it would cost $200 per person to make the change. Not only were we told there would be a $200 change fee, but we also had to purchase another ticket to fly to San Antonio that would cost each individual approximately $700 - $900 per person. I am not a frequent flyer, but I would have never thought missing a flight would cause us to buy another ticket which ended up costing each of us $500 but only because your Customer Service Representative, Valentine empathized with our situation and waived a portion of the fee. To add more disappointment to our situation, we were told there were no other flights leaving for San Antonio, which caused us to spend the night at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and realizing that we would be missing the first leg of my niece’s USAF BMT graduation was even more devastating. Only two individuals in our group were able to secure a flight the next morning and unfortunately, my sister along with her deaf boyfriend were unable to get seats together (she was his interpreter and they had to travel together) on the same flight until 3:00 pm later that day.
I spoke with several of your employees and either some of your employees are not aware of your policy or believe that you need to revisit or amend your policy. The Delta agent that waived the fee, both of the flight attendants (Jeanine and Beth) on the rebooked flight to San Antonio as well as every employee we asked that we encountered during our travel. They were able to empathize with us because most of them were in a similar situation and were just placed on the next available flight at no additional out of pocket cost. But each and every one of your employees encouraged us to contact Delta directly because they could not believe that this is your policy and we must have been misinformed.
Because of our missed connection flight, we missed day one of my niece’s BMT Graduation, we ended up having to sleep in an airport, we still don’t understand why the plane departed five minutes earlier than scheduled and the extra cost put a great financial strain on all of our pockets. We had no alternative but to purchase another ticket or we would have been stuck in Detroit indefinitely. Your policy leaves no wiggle room for your customers it’s a do or die situation and the customer is forced to buy another ticket. Delta “gets you there”, just make sure you don’t miss your flight…Delta “is ready when you are”, just make sure you are ahead of their schedule…Delta “good goes around” after our fiasco with this trip, we have yet to see the good in your company. I never received a response from Delta back in 2010 and my hopes of getting a response back in this situation remain the same.

Disgruntled Passenger
Carolyn Rice-Chambers
Sky Miles #9269174521