- Report: #295216
Complaint Review: Delta Airlines - Atlanta Georgia
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Author Confirmed
Why?
Delta Airlines
P.O. Box 20598 Atlanta, 30320-2598 Georgia, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-221-1212
Web:
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Delta Airlines Delta Airline behavior Atlanta Georgia
To: Customer Service, Delta Airlines
From: Delta Screwed
Re: Employee lies, canceled flights, and reimbursement of lost time
Round 1
Beginning, December 22nd, 2007, your company canceled flight 4279 out of Milwaukee to Atlanta, GA. They then went ahead and rebooked me on 1693 for the 24th of December without my permission and without notification. If my wife had NOT checked this flight information from work I would have went to the airport as scheduled.
Upon arriving at Atlanta, I was treated to a rude counter agent at the departing flight's (Delta 6006) gate. After copping a large attitude when I interrupted her discussion of Christmas preparations with her co-workers, she was unable to make assurances that the flight would leave on time. As is always the case, from my experiences with Delta, a "missing crew member" was the issue. After being told, "you can't curse at me, sir", I asked to speak to a supervisor since I had not cursed at the employee. She proceeded to explain "well, your tone was like cursing", I ignored her and waited for the supervisor.
At 1:01pm, C.J. Clarke arrived to discuss the situation. She indicated that it was NOT a missing crew member (guess the first employee didn't receive the memo that missing crew member is no longer the excuse of the day for Delta) but the flight was delayed from it's previous destination. I explained the behavior problems of the first employee who was gone at that time so if you need to talk to the first employee, C.J. should be able to help. Delayed flight did finally leave, arriving late in Asheville, NC.
Current tally:
2 days + 3 hours wasted
Round 2
Flight out of Asheville, NC had no issues, arrived in Cincinnati on time. I proceeded to the concourse C holding pen where I listened intently to the "missing crew member" excuses flying around for various other flights. Newark was particularly interesting since they had the "missing crew member" excuse announced multiple times over a 2 hour period.
At 9:00pm, Rebecca (only part of her name tag she'd let me see), announced that, wait for it...., there was a "missing crew member" for the Cincinnati to Milwaukee flight (5258 for those playing along at home). I asked for the name of that missing crew member from Rebecca but she'd only hint that it was a "he". One thing I'm demanding of Delta is a personal apology letter from this "missing crew member". I don't want the standard Delta issued "We are sorry you feel disappointed..." form letters. I want an apology from this particular crew member for wasting my time. I want Delta to admit their errors.
At 9:05pm, as I predicted to the gentleman next to me, Rebecca announced the flight was delayed until 9:30pm, at 9:10pm without an announcement it was then changed to 9:35pm departure. I put my Nostradamus hat on and informed the gentleman next to me that Delta was, again, going to play the cancelation game and to prepare to walk to the gate desk to get alternate accommodations. Sure enough, shortly after the flight was canceled with the only other flight available THE NEXT DAY after 2:00pm. Funny how when I got back last night there was a 9:15am and a 1:00pm flight available. Bald faced lies from your employees again. Since I've flown this airline before, I had every flight tracked to the Milwaukee area and asked to be put on those, here's the synopsis.
Madison: Actually left on time
Appleton: Weight issue
Green Bay: Sorry, left
Chicago: Only one seat left (when I boarded this flight, there were 5+ seats left)
I asked to be seated on the Chicago flight so I could beat the storm that would allow Delta to use more "missing crew member" and "weather related" excuses to strand me in Cincinnati for 3 more days. When asked about the luggage, Rebecca assured me that it would be sent to my "address of record". After a sprint from concourse C to concourse A, I made it within 1 hour of my destination. My wife needed to take off work to drive down to Chicago O'Hare to pick me up. I proceeded to ticketing counter to see a ghost town. I called 800-221-1212 and received the "Delta doesn't care about customers, our hours to get anything done are 7am - 7pm Eastern time" message. I then called the 800-335-8241 number that the previous number told me to call.
The call to 800-335-8241 lasted 20 minutes of which I was put on hold a total of 6 times before talking to a supervisor. The initial call screener, Kevin Wright, told me that all I'll get is a 100 dollar voucher and possibly a discount to Avis or Hertz. He then started the "talk to the supervisor" game. After the put on hold to talk to the supervisor game, I was finally given the Corporate Address to allow you folks to blow me off after several more hours of documentation and letter writing.
Kevin finally put me with Tracey Anderson in the Tampa, Florida office. She reiterated that they could only do a 100 dollar voucher but the baggage services folks could go up to 400 dollars. (Let me take a bit of time to let you know that 100 OR 400 dollars is a slap in the face to me).
Since Tracey basically blew me off and flipped back to page one on her corporate flowchart, I went down to Baggage Services to see Erica Cassill. She proceeded to tell me that there is NO RECORD that I ever talked to Kevin or Tracey and the best they could do is 100 dollar voucher, not the 400 dollars that Tracey indicated. (Again, 100 or 400 dollars = slap in the face)
It was at this time that I had the pleasure of meeting Timothy R Purnell who informed me it is not my right to know the name of the person I was dealing with and who, out of the goodness of his heart, would let me actually have his name. Mr. Purnell took a very belligerent stance and put me immediately in a defensive position. Terrible customer service from this chap. Absolutely terrible!!!
Mr. Purnell told me that unless directed by somebody at the 800-335-8241 number, they could do nothing. When pressed he admitted that they could only do 100 dollars, when pressed about the 400 dollars that Tracy stated they could do, he indicated that his 20 years of service was far superior to anybody at the 800 number. He also stated that Delta NEVER helps with rental cars. However, during my first leg, I was transferred informed by C.J. that she could help with rental car cost. Who is correct and which one of these two folks will issue me the apology?
I made it back home at 12:30am on the 28th of December. Of the time frame from December 22nd through December 27th, I was only able to use 3 days out of the 5 days for vacation. The rest was spent dealing with Delta.
Current tally:
2 days + 3 hours + 2 hours (wife) + 3 hours (husband) + 3 cell phone battery charges
Round 3
This morning (December 28th) I spent many hours on the phone. What I've come to realize is Delta handles issues like these by making it nearly impossible to receive satisfaction. Between dealing with Deidrean and her supervisor Evelynn in Augusta, GA at the 800-221-1212 number I spent an hour trying to get my luggage. I was told I need to go back to MKE to get the luggage that had not arrived. This in a blizzard. Without going to the airport, there is nothing they can do. Delta is incapable of doing ANYTHING over the phone.
I went through the whole scenario above with Evelyn and she flat out said there is nothing I can do and I should send letters to corporate office to be blown off.
Summary
You know, after all this crap I typed out above, I've lost all interest in dealing with you folks ever again. I think the way this is going to proceed is I will NEVER travel with you again. Ever. Take your vouchers and stick 'em. I will be sending a copy of this letter to the BBB, the DOT, and airline consumer protection. I will also be passing this off to any person I see with a Delta ticket cover or any person I know to be thinking of traveling Delta.
If you truly want to remedy this situation, I expect a full ticket refund. 100% refund, no vouchers, 100% on my credit card. I want personal apologies from all parties involved. The "missing crew members" and the customer reps that lied. If any of these are able to be complied with, I will begin my word of mouth campaign against Delta. This is not a threat, this is a promise. I, as a business person, know how damaging word of mouth can be.
With much anger,
Delta Screwed
cc: Department of Transportation
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Better Business Bureau
R
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Delta Air Lines
From: Delta Screwed
Re: Employee lies, canceled flights, and reimbursement of lost time
Round 1
Beginning, December 22nd, 2007, your company canceled flight 4279 out of Milwaukee to Atlanta, GA. They then went ahead and rebooked me on 1693 for the 24th of December without my permission and without notification. If my wife had NOT checked this flight information from work I would have went to the airport as scheduled.
Upon arriving at Atlanta, I was treated to a rude counter agent at the departing flight's (Delta 6006) gate. After copping a large attitude when I interrupted her discussion of Christmas preparations with her co-workers, she was unable to make assurances that the flight would leave on time. As is always the case, from my experiences with Delta, a "missing crew member" was the issue. After being told, "you can't curse at me, sir", I asked to speak to a supervisor since I had not cursed at the employee. She proceeded to explain "well, your tone was like cursing", I ignored her and waited for the supervisor.
At 1:01pm, C.J. Clarke arrived to discuss the situation. She indicated that it was NOT a missing crew member (guess the first employee didn't receive the memo that missing crew member is no longer the excuse of the day for Delta) but the flight was delayed from it's previous destination. I explained the behavior problems of the first employee who was gone at that time so if you need to talk to the first employee, C.J. should be able to help. Delayed flight did finally leave, arriving late in Asheville, NC.
Current tally:
2 days + 3 hours wasted
Round 2
Flight out of Asheville, NC had no issues, arrived in Cincinnati on time. I proceeded to the concourse C holding pen where I listened intently to the "missing crew member" excuses flying around for various other flights. Newark was particularly interesting since they had the "missing crew member" excuse announced multiple times over a 2 hour period.
At 9:00pm, Rebecca (only part of her name tag she'd let me see), announced that, wait for it...., there was a "missing crew member" for the Cincinnati to Milwaukee flight (5258 for those playing along at home). I asked for the name of that missing crew member from Rebecca but she'd only hint that it was a "he". One thing I'm demanding of Delta is a personal apology letter from this "missing crew member". I don't want the standard Delta issued "We are sorry you feel disappointed..." form letters. I want an apology from this particular crew member for wasting my time. I want Delta to admit their errors.
At 9:05pm, as I predicted to the gentleman next to me, Rebecca announced the flight was delayed until 9:30pm, at 9:10pm without an announcement it was then changed to 9:35pm departure. I put my Nostradamus hat on and informed the gentleman next to me that Delta was, again, going to play the cancelation game and to prepare to walk to the gate desk to get alternate accommodations. Sure enough, shortly after the flight was canceled with the only other flight available THE NEXT DAY after 2:00pm. Funny how when I got back last night there was a 9:15am and a 1:00pm flight available. Bald faced lies from your employees again. Since I've flown this airline before, I had every flight tracked to the Milwaukee area and asked to be put on those, here's the synopsis.
Madison: Actually left on time
Appleton: Weight issue
Green Bay: Sorry, left
Chicago: Only one seat left (when I boarded this flight, there were 5+ seats left)
I asked to be seated on the Chicago flight so I could beat the storm that would allow Delta to use more "missing crew member" and "weather related" excuses to strand me in Cincinnati for 3 more days. When asked about the luggage, Rebecca assured me that it would be sent to my "address of record". After a sprint from concourse C to concourse A, I made it within 1 hour of my destination. My wife needed to take off work to drive down to Chicago O'Hare to pick me up. I proceeded to ticketing counter to see a ghost town. I called 800-221-1212 and received the "Delta doesn't care about customers, our hours to get anything done are 7am - 7pm Eastern time" message. I then called the 800-335-8241 number that the previous number told me to call.
The call to 800-335-8241 lasted 20 minutes of which I was put on hold a total of 6 times before talking to a supervisor. The initial call screener, Kevin Wright, told me that all I'll get is a 100 dollar voucher and possibly a discount to Avis or Hertz. He then started the "talk to the supervisor" game. After the put on hold to talk to the supervisor game, I was finally given the Corporate Address to allow you folks to blow me off after several more hours of documentation and letter writing.
Kevin finally put me with Tracey Anderson in the Tampa, Florida office. She reiterated that they could only do a 100 dollar voucher but the baggage services folks could go up to 400 dollars. (Let me take a bit of time to let you know that 100 OR 400 dollars is a slap in the face to me).
Since Tracey basically blew me off and flipped back to page one on her corporate flowchart, I went down to Baggage Services to see Erica Cassill. She proceeded to tell me that there is NO RECORD that I ever talked to Kevin or Tracey and the best they could do is 100 dollar voucher, not the 400 dollars that Tracey indicated. (Again, 100 or 400 dollars = slap in the face)
It was at this time that I had the pleasure of meeting Timothy R Purnell who informed me it is not my right to know the name of the person I was dealing with and who, out of the goodness of his heart, would let me actually have his name. Mr. Purnell took a very belligerent stance and put me immediately in a defensive position. Terrible customer service from this chap. Absolutely terrible!!!
Mr. Purnell told me that unless directed by somebody at the 800-335-8241 number, they could do nothing. When pressed he admitted that they could only do 100 dollars, when pressed about the 400 dollars that Tracy stated they could do, he indicated that his 20 years of service was far superior to anybody at the 800 number. He also stated that Delta NEVER helps with rental cars. However, during my first leg, I was transferred informed by C.J. that she could help with rental car cost. Who is correct and which one of these two folks will issue me the apology?
I made it back home at 12:30am on the 28th of December. Of the time frame from December 22nd through December 27th, I was only able to use 3 days out of the 5 days for vacation. The rest was spent dealing with Delta.
Current tally:
2 days + 3 hours + 2 hours (wife) + 3 hours (husband) + 3 cell phone battery charges
Round 3
This morning (December 28th) I spent many hours on the phone. What I've come to realize is Delta handles issues like these by making it nearly impossible to receive satisfaction. Between dealing with Deidrean and her supervisor Evelynn in Augusta, GA at the 800-221-1212 number I spent an hour trying to get my luggage. I was told I need to go back to MKE to get the luggage that had not arrived. This in a blizzard. Without going to the airport, there is nothing they can do. Delta is incapable of doing ANYTHING over the phone.
I went through the whole scenario above with Evelyn and she flat out said there is nothing I can do and I should send letters to corporate office to be blown off.
Summary
You know, after all this crap I typed out above, I've lost all interest in dealing with you folks ever again. I think the way this is going to proceed is I will NEVER travel with you again. Ever. Take your vouchers and stick 'em. I will be sending a copy of this letter to the BBB, the DOT, and airline consumer protection. I will also be passing this off to any person I see with a Delta ticket cover or any person I know to be thinking of traveling Delta.
If you truly want to remedy this situation, I expect a full ticket refund. 100% refund, no vouchers, 100% on my credit card. I want personal apologies from all parties involved. The "missing crew members" and the customer reps that lied. If any of these are able to be complied with, I will begin my word of mouth campaign against Delta. This is not a threat, this is a promise. I, as a business person, know how damaging word of mouth can be.
With much anger,
Delta Screwed
cc: Department of Transportation
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Better Business Bureau
R
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Delta Air Lines
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Brian
Wadsworth,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Winter wonderland and the holidays
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, February 22, 2008
With all due respect, I understand how frustrating being stranded by an airline can be. It has happened to me in the past, and will, barring the end of human error, weather or mechanical malfunction, happen again. From the diatribe that you have posted, I have gathered that you feel personally attacked by the airline's employees and its operation. First, let me address the missing crew member complaint that you had mentioned on numerous occassions. When a flight is late, the crew is late too. If there are a lot of late flights, due to weather, VIP TFR's, Traffic Management Programs, etc., there will be a lot of outbound flights delayed. These crew members, pilots, first officers and flight attendants, aren't showing up late to work, they are delayed getting to where their next flight is departing. It is not their fault. From the flight numbers that you had mentioned, you were most likely flying on Delta Connection flights. Allow me to say that the people are grossly underpaid, over worked and have to deal with people like you. I can't blame a gate agent for getting short. Delta doesn't make the weather, they don't control the airways or approaches, they do what they can. Secondly, in regards to your "weather related" excuses, allow me to digress for a moment on the issue of weather and aviation. According to 14 CFR ... All aircraft are prohibited from making a landing if visual confirmation of the runway is unattainable at decision height (missed approach point); unless that aircraft and its crew are certified and equipped to execute a Category III / ILS approach, assuming the airport is equipped. I will say that CVG and ATL are both equipped for them, however I cannot comment on the other airports that you had mentioned. I will further inform you that only a small percentage of airline aircraft are equipped for this, and only a few crews are certified for it. So let me ask you a simple question, once you are up in the air, wouldn't you like to know that you can land? Sometimes, due to inclement weather at your destination, your flight can be held, to allow conditions to improve. We all know how upset you would be if your flight were diverted for a "weather related" excuse. Third, your insolence in this letter, is neither constructive or endearing. We all face the pain and agony of airline travel. But I do have some constructive advice for you. If you have to get there, DRIVE. But then again, you could be delayed, and the people you are going to see could assume that you are just using some "weather related" excuse. I mean its a blizzard out here. Come on be a man, drive through it. Who cares if it's safe? Fourth, they don't have to refund your money, and they won't. Nobody lied to you, they may have been misinformed, they certainly aren't out to get you. You completed your journey, albeit delayed. They satisfied the contract of carriage that is associated with a domestic flight. As a summation, you need to grow up. Airlines are ran by people. The planes are flown by people, they are maintained by people. We as humans cannot control the weather. We can't control the actions of another. Sometimes, when problems happen the best thing to do is shrug them off. Delta Airlines in no way ripped you off. They may have not met your standards of satisfaction, but there was no malice. You were travelling at an incredibly busy time, in bad weather. Honestly what did you expect to happen? I can personally assure you that no matter what airline you were on, with the routing that you had, it would have happenned.
Ryan
Altamonte Springs,Florida,
U.S.A.
Not going to get anywhere with threats...
#3Consumer Suggestion
Wed, January 23, 2008
If you want this resolved, Delta is not going to if you say you are never going to fly them again. What incentive is there for them to respond? Second, your request for a full refund is excessive. You still received SOME sort of product and you are only entitled to a little, if any, compensation from Delta in the eyes of the law. This is what would happen in a court.
