[anilpillai]

Here's an ordeal my sister and her family had to go through - and why I or them or our friends will do our very best to avoid this pos airline.

I would like to tell you why my family and friends and myself will never fly Delta airlines again. Its the baseball rule, 3 strikes and you’re out.

We live in Detroit, MI, we have family in India and we visit them every year.

1st Strike – We were flying back from India by Kuwait Airways and our port of entry was New York. On Jan 1st 2006, we landed in JFK airport, NY, and were supposed to catch a Delta flight to Detroit. We approached Delta ticket agent and found that all Delta flights are cancelled due to their staff strike. So our only alternative is to catch Continental flight from La Guardia to Detroit. So in the bitter cold, my husband hauls 4 heavy suitcases to the curb side, while I am holding our then 10 month old son waiting outside for the shuttle bus to take us to La Guardia. The bus is 20 mts late and the bus driver is very rude. Tired and so beaten by jetlag, we could barely keep our eyes open to stay awake to get off at our stop. It was a journey we wanted to forget.

2nd Strike.- Jan 15th, 2007. We were flying to India, we have to catch Delta from Detroit to JFK at 4.30pm and then from there fly Emirates to India that same evening at 10.00 pm. We reach Delta terminal in DTW to find that our flight is cancelled, the ticket agent coolly tells us to catch next day’s flight to NY. A continental airlines ticket agent comes to our rescue (and to the inept Delta ticket agent’s) and puts us on Continental flight to La Guardia, which arrives few hours late. It takes us an hour and $150 for us to reach JFK to barely making it to our Emirates flight. The stress we experienced during this time is indescribable. (wondering whether we will make it in time or not ). Luckily for us, our then 20 month old son weathered another Delta roughing up.

3rd Strike - Feb 22nd, 2008. We against the best of our judgement purchased our Emirates tickets with a connecting flight from DTW to JFK by Delta. We were told by our travel agent that Delta is Emirates only flying partner in the U.S.(which we found out later that its not true).
Our flight plan was to board Delta at 4.30 from DTW to JFK, board Emirates at 10.00 pm that evening from JFK to Dubai and then from Dubai to Trivandrum(our final destination).
We reached the airport well ahead of the 3 hours required and then found that the ticket agent who checked in our luggage couldn’t assign us seats for the Delta flight from DTW to JFK. We then proceeded to our gate and then found that Delta has overbooked this flight. There were seven of us who were catching International connecting flights who got bumped up. Instead of giving preference to people who have connecting flights from JFK to international destinations, they gave preference to domestic travelers. The ticket agent vainly tries to issue free vouchers, but who would want to give up their seats. There was panic among all seven of us who got bumped up. The ticket agent (a woman by name Diane) mockingly tells my husband “you will never make it to NY tonite to catch your connection”. After couple of hours she assures us we can make it to Dubai by a Delta flight from Atlanta. For that we have to board a DTW to Atlanta flight which is already couple of hours late. The ticket agents at both gates were so rude, that even writing this letter is stressing me out again. Then we ran(with our 3 year old son) to catch the DTW to Atlanta flight, the ticket agent Diane runs up from behind and gives us our tickets for Atlanta to Dubai flight. She tells us everything is taken care of.

When we finally took off from DTW, I checked the flight time for our connection from Atlanta and it was at 8.15 pm. The DTW flight to Atlanta is delayed and it will only get to Atlanta by 8.10 pm. I informed the stewardess of the situation, I was in tears. I was even wondering whether we will even get to India. We finally arrived in Atlanta and found that the Atlanta to Dubai flight had left already. The ticket agent in Detroit didn’t do nothing to have our connection delayed. I couldn’t believe I was dealing with an airlines in U.S.A. It felt like I was dealing with the bureaucracy in a third world country.

We then approached the Delta Information desk in Atlanta airport, which is surrounded by crowds stranded like us. After 2 hours of waiting, we are told that our next flight to Dubai is only next evening at 8.15 pm. So now our 12 day vacation is cut short by 1 day. Finally they tell us our Atlanta to Dubai and Dubai to Muscat and Muscat to Trivandrum(our final destination) legs are confirmed. Just so you know, we chose Emirates, so we will only have two legs of journey, NY to Dubai, Dubai to Trivandrum). But those plans are down the drain now.

Delta now gave us vouchers for food and accommodation. At 11.00 pm. we waited another 30 mts outside in the cold to catch a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel. Our 3 year old son is now experiencing the ultimate Delta experience. !!!!. He couldn’t take it anymore, he was tired and was crying. We checked out of the hotel next day at noon, and reached the Atlanta airport. We had a ticket agent check for our luggage, who informs us the luggage is in Atlanta and will be put in the same flight we are boarding in the evening. Of course we are told all the legs of our journey are confirmed.

After an agonizing 10 hour wait at the airport, we finally boarded the Atlanta to Dubai flight. After a 16 hour plane ride, we got off at Dubai, proceeded to Oman Airways ticket counter to get our boarding passes for the next 2 legs. To our shock, the Oman Airways ticket agent informs us that our last leg was never confirmed as it showed a full flight. They cannot get us on the Dubai to Muscat flight, because the Muscat to Trivandrum is not confirmed. The ticket agent now gets his supervisor and they work for a brisk ½ an hour and then gets us our last leg confirmed. I saw more sincerity and dedication from that ticket agent than I saw in all of Delta’s ticket agents. It became really clear to us that the Delta ticket agents in Detroit and Atlanta, out of their sheer irresponsibility and insensitivity were merely tossing us on a flight to our next destination, without even wondering at our plight of being stranded in another country. The Oman Air ticket agent said although his system said our luggage are in our flights, he was not 100% positive about that. A Delta ticket agent then reassured its in our flights. We had no choice but to believe her.

So after another 7 hours of plane ride, we arrive in Trivandrum(our final destination) and then to our further shock, finds that all three of our checked in luggages didn’t arrive in that flight.
We filed a missing luggage complaint with Oman Air. Finally they tracked it down in JFK NY. Delta instead of putting our luggage in DTW to Atlanta flight, put that in DTW to JFK flight, and left it at JFK NY. This is the ultimate action of inefficiency in my mind. Any airlines in a developing country handle its customer care better than this. So now Oman Air coordinated with Emirates and got us our luggage on the 3rd day.

I cannot put on paper enough of all the agony, despair, anger and stress that overwhelmed us on those three days of travel and the next 3 days of wait for our luggage. And all through this time, I didn’t receive a word of apology from Delta. I was told by Oman Air and Emirates staff about how sorry they were for our bad experience. The Delta ticket agent at Detroit shoved $1200 flight vouchers in my hand when we were running to catch the DTW to Atlanta flight. Needless to say, I am not planning on using it. I will not forgive or forget what Delta airlines and its staff did to us. They were inefficient, insensitive and lacked basic courtesy.

So like they say in baseball, 3 strikes and you’re out, Delta. Our family, friends and colleagues at work who heard of our experience will never ever use your services. They are too afraid to fly your airlines. Maybe you should learn a lesson or two from Oman Airways and Emirates. They may not be American, but they show the American spirit to serve with pride, dedication and sensitivity towards their customers in great splendor.

[hagertmb]

Sigh.
Is there anything left to say ?
Surely the American airline companies must be competing to see who can offer the worst service, no ? How could it be any worse ?
I've had terrible experiences with ALL of them. At this very moment I'm entering my 40th minute on hold with U.S. Airways, simply trying to redeem a voucher, in order to attend a funeral, that was given to me last May because they cancelled a flight that caused me to miss a meeting (and of course I had to eat the cost of the hotel room, car rental, etc.).

Really, it's surprising when one DOESN'T feel like a character in a Kafka novel when dealing with one of our airlines. They offer unbelievably bad service!

And, of course, they are able to continue offering bad service because ... they know the others are just as bad and really, WE HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO. So let's all just bend over and offer ourselves up to the airlines.

Really ... what can be done ?

[rsmorn]

We had a similar experience with Delta earlier this month. We were bumped from our flight because Delta was unable to process everyone on the flight in time and they were oversold. The best they could do was get us on another flight three days later.

I have written to both of my Senators, Schumer/Clinton-NY. Schumer is calling for an air traveler bill of rights, but they are focused on access to food, water and bathrooms when stranded on a plane on the tarmack. This needs to be much broader legislation defining rights to compensation when flights are oversold or bags are lost. Airlines must be held accountable and not allowed to get away with bad service. This issue does have the attention of Congress, now is the time to act. If everyone begins writing to Congress they will get something done! Despite their incompetence!

[dutchy996]

I have recently had experience of terrible customer service and being bumped and dumped by Delta. What concerns me is that airlines seem to be able to treat people like they don't care and they have no recompense. I was promised hotel accommodation and it never came to fruition, I paid for it, had a lot of stress on my journey that I can't even tell you because I refuse to stress further. I'm a Brit and have been left with an awful experience of American travel. With all your legal moguls out there, how can the airlines get away with not being responsible for their actions, I find it amazing that whatever they put you through, they can just politely say, we will not give you any compensation but will continue to try and improve. HA.. I think you are right, everyone who's had problems should write to get your Bill of Rights that if an airline doesn't meet your contracted ticket in any way, then they should have to pay up for that inneficiency. They'd soon get their act together. I also think that anything other the weather is not outside their control. mine was maintenance, how can that not be in their control or their fault, it's basic standard practice. Disgraceful..... I don't know how they continue to get away with it.
I think you've been patient, I've had one strike, and Delta are out. I flew 1st class to ensure a pleasant travel experience and it's left me emotionally damaged. Well done Delta... you can keep your Vouchers cos I won't fly Delta again.