On 01/2009 my family and I were returning home to Houston on an overnight flight from Guayaquil with a connection in Atlanta after enjoying a wonderful trip to the Galapagos islands.
Unfortunately, we were not ready for the surprises that were to come. The first shock hit us in Guayaquil when a Delta checking official announced that one of my kids had to pay $250 US in cash because his reservation in the Delta computer showed the wrong date (a day early apparently) although he had in his hand the paper ticket with the correct date. Regardless of our absolute surprise and demands to talk to a supervisor, the official insisted that he was the manager at that moment and either we paid the extra fee or our son would not get in the plane… to which my husband, a very seasoned Brit traveler, decided to pay.
We took off at around 10:30 pm and were relieved to be in the air on our way to Atlanta. Suddenly we were informed by the flight attendants that due to a problem with the catering company, the plane did not have food, any water, hot tea, or coffee, and that they could only offer Sprite for dinner (nothing for breakfast). We could hardly believe the low quality of service after paying over US$ 800 per person and be expected to fly for almost 7 hours.
Unfortunately the nightmare was not over; after making connection in Atlanta and arriving in Houston, we discovered that out of 6 suitcases, only one had made it to IAH . We quickly proceeded to the Delta counter and got a ticket for the missing luggage and the assurance of a speedy home delivery. We finally got home at around 8:00 am, and around noon we started to call the telephone number for missing luggage in order to confirm the time of delivery… however, the luggage never showed up and no one answered the Delta phone. Finally at around 6:00 pm we decide to drive back to the airport (2 hours) and were shocked (but fortunate) to find our luggage thrown on the floor in a hall close to the exit doors.
If this was not enough to deter us from flying Delta ever again, what got us really fuming was the response we got from our letter to the Delta customer care department apologizing and “assuring us that our experience was not typical of the normal high standard of service of Delta” and rewarding us with a 50 Delta dollars credit voucher, which of course would not even cover the extra charge of $250 they made on our credit card.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess its kind of late now, but when customer service fails, I always send a letter to the CEO of a company. Make it polite and keep it to a simple statement of the facts. I've never failed to get results.
The one airline incident that comes to mind goes abck to the 70's. I was flying from Houston to Lima, Peru. My suitcase went astray and was gone for almost 6 months. Braniff wouldn't pay up so I sent off my letter to the CEO and had my check, along with a letter of apology, in a week. Later the suitcase showed up. It had been in Guam – go figure – and everything was mildewed. Braniff was very insistent (obnoxiously so) about getting their money back over a period of a couple of months, so I sent another letter off to the CEO and the harassment stopped instantly.
I thought you said the guy in Guayaquil demanded cash, then later you said there was a $250 charge on your credit card. If it was on your credit card, you could have notified your credit card company and asked them to intervene to have the charge reversed. As an experienced traveler, I assume your husband is a bit of a man of the world, and he would have known this.
But if you can't even keep your story straight about whether it was cash or credit, all I can say is,
Hmmmmm……
G…..another thing is, if they had the paper ticket in hand AND it had the correct date then it would mean the computer system had the same date and time, as the ticket is printed from the booking
also flights of their length are required to have water and other necessities and would not be allowed to take off, FAA regulations and why would they only carry sprite? no other coca cola products?
I won't fly Delta simply for the fact that I hate having to fly via Atlanta.
I got tired of America West too, for having to fly via Phoenix.
Give me a non-stop direct flight any day. 🙂
I abhor Delta for all the reasons stated……. If people state an airline is dispicable then I have no problem believing them.