Delta – Bad Airline, Bad Customer Service
27 Nov 2009 at 01:32 pm
First, and most important, Do NOT pay for a “choice” seat – even if you have a bad seat, your seat will be no better the one you pay for. I am 6’3 and was stuck in a small seat next to a large man.
Then Delta did the wonderful job of losing my bag; of course, I paid $20 to them so that they would deliver my bag on time. I did not get it until the next morning and was forced to sleep in my clothes.
I wrote them an email in which I told them of both of these issues: here is what I got back.
“Thank you for your e-mail providing additional information regarding
your recent travel. On behalf of Delta Air Lines, I apologize for
letting you down in so many ways.
I am truly sorry for your disappointment with our fee for Coach Choice
seating. Your feedback is valued and we thank you for taking the time
to bring this disappointing experience to our attention.
Moreover, I also recognize the inconvenience you were caused with your
checked baggage. Like you, we certainly wish that instances of
mishandled bags never occurred. Please know I will be sharing your
comments with our Airport Customer Service leadership team for internal
follow up.
Because the checked baggage fee and the coach choice seat charged were
correct, I must respectfully deny your refund request. I am truly sorry
to disappoint you and understand this was not the answer you were
expecting.”
Please note the “correct” at the end of that phrase – first of all it is grammatical incorrect, and second it is just plain incorrect. I was charged for a service I did not receive. They offered me a voucher which I do not want because I will never ever fly Delta again. I told them this, and got a similar response; it seemed like it was coming from an automated system.
Finally I asked
“I paid you to deliver my bag – $20. And you did not deliver my bag until
a day after it was supposed to be delivered. Why am I still being
charged for this? All I want is an answer to this question – if you
point to a section on your web page where you explain why this is your
policy, I will be satisfied. But you ignore all my questions. At this
point, I am not asking for action. I am asking for you to answer these
questions based on the policy of your airline.
Please put me in touch with your supervisor if you cannot answer this
question. At the very least, you can explain why it is your airline’s
policy not to offer refund, or to explain to me how I can contact that
person.”
The response I got was:
“I understand your continued disappointment. We fully understand that
everyone faces unique circumstances and adversities. We have received
numerous requests for waivers and exceptions, and there has been no
simple way to address the various situations. As a result, we
established a consistent policy that ensures that Delta is equitable to
everyone who travels with us. After additional consideration, I regret
we have been unable to resolve this matter to your satisfaction. Again,
we must respectfully deny your request. ”
So basically – if you translate all the double-talk: it is not our policy to explain to unsatisfied customers our policy. They are “equitable” – which means they offer the same lack of resolution to everyone.
I want to take action and like to form a unified front. Please email me if you are interested.
Chris Carter on 27 Dec 2009 at 7:20 pm #
If you paid for the “choice seat” and especially the baggage fee with a credit card, call your credit card company and file a chargeback on them (dispute the charge). You paid for a service they did not provide and that is part of the protection that paying with a credit card provides. I have done it many times when I have had to and have never lost!! Good luck!!
Jim on 15 Jan 2010 at 5:09 pm #
You need to understand the definition of “choice seat.” Choice seat DOES NOT mean more leg room. A choice seat is simply one near the front of the aircraft. This is typically a choice seat because you are one of the first people to get off the plane. It has nothing to do with “more leg room.” All seats get the same amount of leg room unless you happen to be in an Exit Row or behind a bulkhead (wall).
While choice seat can also mean an exit row seat, it does not necessarily mean you will get an exit row seat. Frequent travelers with an airline tend to get first choice on those.
Your expectation of what “choice seat” means. and what it REALLY means were at different. That’s not the airline’s fault. It’s yours.
As for your bag, they delivered it. There’s no guarantee of it arriving the same time you do. If you read the Conditions of Contract document that covers your ticket purchase, you will see that. Again, this is another expectation you formulated that is at odds with the facts. This is not Delta’s fault. It’s yours. Consider it a lesson learned.
ALL airlines have baggage delays. Lots of bags get delayed, every day. The fact that you didn’t prepare for it is your fault. I ALWAYS pack one days’ change of clothes in my carry-on baggage.
To Jim on 16 May 2010 at 7:54 pm #
Jim,
You’re right; I should have read my contract, and I should have assumed that “choice” was meaningless, and that they just wanted to get extra money off of me. There was no way of knowing this, so I simply assumed that Delta wouldn’t call something “choice” if it isn’t somewhat superior.
And I should have assumed when I paid my 25 dollars for my bag that they would probably lose it. I’m glad you are so responsible to pack more clothes. I didn’t, because I naively trusted that they would deliver my bag from point A to point B.
But I had a terrible experience and I complained about it here. I hope that people read this and see the issues I had, all on the same flight, and their flippant attitude toward me in their form emails. Clearly a lot of people don’t like Delta, have had bad experiences, and have written about them. I have never had a similar experience on another airline, yet almost all of my Delta flights are terrible.
But you clearly work for Delta, and what a sad life that must be – I assume that your job duty involves going on web-sites like this and defending the company. Well, your company sucks, and I hated my experience with them. And I voiced it here in all the details.
You’re right; it’s my fault for not expecting my Delta experience to be a bad one. Now I know!