My Biggest Complaint About Delta Airlines SkyMiles Transfers

When Delta announced their merger with Northwest Airlines, they announced they would link the SkyMiles and World Perks accounts. I waited for them to send me the information on how to do this, and received it on May 13. It said that I could link my accounts and delay the expiration of my 47,810 miles. When I went online to do this, I was informed that my miles had expired on April 30, and that had I linked the accounts sooner, they wouldn’t have expired. I wrote to Delta and explained that they had waited until my miles expired to tell me that I could extend expiration by linking my accounts, and that had they informed me earlier, I would have linked the accounts earlier. I got an email back from Honey D at Delta’s Medallion Desk telling me that my expiration date would be extended and that I should check my account in the next 7 - 10 days. When the miles weren’t restored, I contacted Delta by email again, and was informed that to restore my miles, I would need to pay $50 plus tax. I sent a total of 4 emails to Delta, and each time asked for someone to either restore my miles, or call me to get the matter resolved. I got two emails telling me to pay $50, and a third from Karen A at the Online support Desk saying my miles would be restored. Finally, I called Delta and after spending 35 minutes on the phone, was told my only option was to pay the $50.

I understand that merging two airlines and two frequent flyer programs is difficult, but Delta shouldn’t hold me responsible for not linking my accounts before they gave me the information on how to do it. They also should stand behind the word of two of their employees who agreed to restore my miles.