I have had the experience from hell with Delta Airlines this past week. I bought a ticket for my unaccompanied minor with the express understanding that I could cancel within 24 hours (I didn’t want to buy it but was practically bullied into doing so in order to keep the “low fare”, read laughable here). I did have to cancel because the dates were not appropriate for my son’s aunt to pick him up on the other end of the journey. I was told no problem when I canceled but have not received the refund credit on my credit card. To add insult to injury, I cannot get a live person on their customer service phone number…I wade through the automated system only to be hung up on after at least a 5 minute wait listening to recorded messages. Where has the personalized customer service gone with the airlines? Air travelers beware…the days of being pampered on a plane are so far gone younger travelers can’t even fathom how far the bar has been lowered.
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It would have been easier if you had checked the dates for your son’s flight and made the confirmations before you booked.
YOU made the mistake and now you want to blame the company for not being accomodating, Go figure!!!
Most airlines have a 30-60 day return policy. They’ll refund your fare, just have to wait.
shalandra on June 24th, 2009 at 3:06 pm | Link
We have experienced the same issue with automated voice response hell. The customer service agent punishes you by putting you on hold. If you don’t demonstrate the proper attitude, they put you back on hold. The won’t give you their name and they don’t stand up for what they say.
Clearly, the airline was more interested in the sale than service. The customer is not without fault, but a 30-60 day return policy is ridiculous. That is them profiting from float. The refund should occur within a week at most.
John on June 26th, 2009 at 5:27 pm | Link
I recently bought a ticket for my 13 year old son. As I made the transaction on Delta’s website, I did not see anything about the unaccompanied minor charge. So, we go to see our son off and Delta forces us $100 each way to allow my son to fly. Since my ticket was non-refundable, they would not allow me to change my mind. It cost us $530 for my son to take a 2 hour flight. I went back on their website to go through the motions of buying another ticket–just in case I missed it–and I did not see anything that indicated there would be an extra fee or that the rules were different for children. This makes me extremely mad and I think Delta is doing themselves a huge disservice by tricking customers like this. I see it as a very underhanded move and felt like they robbed me. I don’t have a problem with them charging fees if they make it well known when I’m pricing the flight. By burying this policy deep into a bunch of small print on different pages than the one I purchased the flight through, they are being deceptive. Not only will I never do business with Delta again, but neither will my wife or 4 kids, and I will tell everyone I know. Delta needs to remember the CLV (customer lifetime value) concept. They make have tricked me out of $200 this time, but it cost them a previously loyal customer–for life! And I’m sure my family and friends will here about this one for the next 50 years.
To kick it all off, they stopped two young girls from flying on that same flight. Their dad had checked them in online and dropped them off at the airport. The girls made it all the way to the gate before the ticket agent told the girls they could not fly. The girls were scared and crying…and I’m sure their mom who was waiting for them in SLC was extremely upset. In effect, they stranded two young girls in a hugely populated airport by themselves. I can empathize with the dad dropping them off because security these days is very difficult to get through if you don’t have a ticket. And kids can make it to a terminal by themselves. I did it since I was 5 years old. But I know that if anyone ever prevented me from getting on a plane…and we didn’t have cell phones back then…I would have been extremely scared for hours. Bad form Delta. Keep up these antics and it will only be matter of time before you file bankruptcy again. If that’s how you treat customers…it’s no wonder.
Todd Ransom on August 5th, 2009 at 8:21 pm | Link