Comments on: Delta Airlines

By: ray wimbrow

ray wimbrow — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:16:19 +0000

I have a delta complaint as well I fly every year from norfolk va. to liberia costa rica to go surfing. I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR EIGHT YEARS NOW . I went to delta .com to check prices on shipping my boards and read $175.00 demestic/ $300.00 nondemestic. I was not sure if this ment each way or round trip so i called ee. I talke to some women who of corse had to go check and said that a round trip fee so i went on line and bought two tickets. About a month latter a friend decided to go along with us went on line to buy his ticket and asked about the fee and he was told that the cost was $300.00 each way ($600.00 to fly surfboards) . I called delta right away and told them what had happened and got told sorry we can’t help you. I told them i would like to cancel my ticket and they said no refund. I than told them i had insur. and they said that has nothing to do with us ,so i call the insur. and they said they could not help me unless i got hurt or sick right before the flight “unbelivable”. So i am stuck with the flight and can’t get my surfboards to costa rica with me. I am not going to pay $600.00 for each board to fly . My surfboards are 6′2″ tall 2.5″ thick and 20″ wide they want $600.00 to fly them and i am 6′2″ tall and weight 220lbs and only payed $499.00 to fly. The worst thing is that gulf clubs are free !!! They weigh more and are wider and thicker. All other airlines like NW/SW/AMERICAN all charge $135.00 transatlantic and $150.00 tranpacific why is delta so high? I wrote in on several emails and got the same answer as all the other people here write corp. I WILL NEVER FLY DELTA AGAIN!! I can’t belive that they can get away with this and what makes it worse is a friend going to costa with his boards did’nt find out until he got to the airport with several boards and refused to pay that much to ship them. The rep. from delta said pay or the boards don’t go so he got mad and started to argue with the rep. and they banned him from ever flying delta again and made him take another flight with a diff. airline which cost him more money and a 12hour layover. He is now sewing delta because he is on there no fly list (he says he will never fly delta again anyway but he dos’nt want the hass. at the airport) and his father has more money than god so hopefully he win!! DON’T FLY DELTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIT THEM WERE IT HEARTS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

By: N. L. Thomson

N. L. Thomson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:32:12 +0000

I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have found somewhere to vent my frustration. Here is my story with Delta: Earlier this year while in Russia we realized that the flight we were scheduled to be on did not permit enough transfer time - since we actually did have to change airports - even though we had originally been assurred byb the Delta ticket agent when purchasing the tickey that we would not have to. Well, there we were in Russia, speaking with an Aero Flot agent (through a translator) to get our connecting flight changed. They insisted on charging us $200 each. I insisted on speaking with a Delta agent - since Delta had booked this connection with their partner airline. The agent on the phone said that since Aero Flot was insisting they charge the $200 and I was at their mercy, needing to fly out the next morning, to go ahead and pay the charge; but it was Delta’s fault, I would be refunded the $200 ticket charge. Well, guess what folks? Yes, you are correct. NO REFUND AND NO CUSTOMER SERVICE! It’s been 3 months now since I have been faxing and calling and begging them to take care of this; while being assured that it would be! It’s pathetic to me that they would not follow through on their word and make it so difficult for me. My husband and I have been Silver Medallion status over the years, while also booking flights for numerous other people - since I coordinate travel for my church. I woudl estimate that over the past ten years I have personally booked around $100,000 in flights to Moscow and they refues to refund a charge that was incurred because of wrong information they give me!! It’s just NUTS!! Given a choice I will personally no longer fly with Delta nor book anyone else on Delta. I am also cancelling my Sky Miles American Express card. I DO NOT WANT ANYMORE SKY MILES SINCE THAT WOULD ENTAIL FLYING WITH DELTA!

By: Hilary

Hilary — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:35:59 +0000

My family have recently experienced Delta at their very worst. This is the Email I sent onto Delta - their response was probably a template email, tweaked slightly!

My husband booked flights via KLM for travel on 10th July starting in
Bristol (UK) via Amsterdam (NDL)to Atlanta and then onto Sarasota,
Florida. Due to bad weather in Atlanta that afternoon we were diverted
to Charlotte, arriving later (by about 2 hours) than expected at
Atlanta. We got through customs, retrieved our bags for transfer to the Sarasota flight then ran like idiots through what is a HUGE airport to reach our departure gate, only to be told the flight had been delayed. All very understandable given the weather. THEN Delta decided to cancel that (and many more) flights. My husband is a platinum card holder with KLM (linked to Delta via Skyteam) as he travels extensively with his business, but these cancellations resulted in the most appalling situation we have ever encountered, we were refused admission to the Delta Lounge by a very rude lady, who only seemed to want to let in people that were Delta customers! Around 12 Delta flights were cancelled and at your ‘helpdesk’ you had THREE people trying to handle what must have been over 1500 very annoyed and messed about customers. Whilst we appreciate that the staff there were under a huge amount of pressure, which explains their general attitude, what cannot be excused was the lack of management visibility to try to calm down a very stressful time for all, elderly/disabled passengers were distressed and worried but they were not given any priority, basically it was every man/woman for themselves and it was quite franklychaos.

We eventually escaped the hell that is Atlanta airport the following
morning, not on a flight to Sarasota (where out baggage had travelled
without us!) but to Tampa, where we had to hire a car to drive to
Sarasota and collect our luggage. Not great when you’ve been on the go for about 36 hours.

I am sure flight cancellations are something that happens every day, but Delta seemed to have no processes in place to handle people faced with this type of dilemma, it took us 5 HOURS to get our tickets issued for the Tampa flight because the guy who supposedly ’sorted the details’ made a complete and utter mess of it which took another person 75 minutes to correct. Do only a select few of your staff undergo training? Customer service like yours is going to guarantee that you will reduce the likelihood of people booking with Delta ever again! I can assure you that we will never willing get on a Delta flight again.

Also I would like to point out that we had booked BUSINESS CLASS
tickets, but the flight we took from Tampa was only as standard class. No apology for that was forthcoming.

Although I will personally never get on a Delta flight again, perhaps
you could benefit from the following advice (if you want to get repeat
business and prevent customers leaving you in droves)

1. Train your staff properly
2. Train staff how to be polite & treat people with respect (whatever
their nationality)
3. Get more people on hand to handle mass flight cancellations, & get some upper management on the floor to help out!
4. Give Elderly/Disabled passengers some priority (they had none)I had to help one elderly lady to a chair as she was about to faint!
5. Train your staff that ’skyteam’ extends outside of the USA

Last but not least I would like to report that we came across one polite Delta staff member - a lady by the name of Ruby who was able to reassure us on the morning of the 11th July that our bags were waiting our arrival at our destination of Sarasota.

Delta Response

Thank you for your e-mail describing the inconvenience you and your
husband experienced due to flight irregularities when traveling with
Delta and our SkyTeam partner KLM.

Your time is valuable, and operating on schedule is equally important to us. When a flight is delayed or canceled due to weather, as was the case with your flight, it is being done for the safety of all passengers. The decision to cancel or delay a flight due to weather is not usually made until the day of the flight; however, we occasionally cancel some flights proactively when we become aware of an upcoming weather problem. This gives us a better opportunity to contact our customers and arrange alternate flights.

Our airport representatives should always do all possible to make sure your traveling experience is pleasant. It doesn?t sound like you
received the benefit of the cheerful, friendly service we strive to
offer, and we regret this situation made your trip less enjoyable.

Our goal is to provide the safest and most pleasant experience possible for our customers. Your report regarding the airport facility is
disappointing.We regret your reservation was changed from first class to coach. We do all possible to avoid this situation but it is sometimes necessary due to aircraft availability or other operational matters.

Again, thank you for writing. Please accept our apology for the
circumstances you described. Your comments are appreciated since this is one of the best ways we have of knowing which areas need additional attention. We hope you will continue to make Delta your airline of choice.

My Reply:

Thank you for your reply, although I note you fail to really answer the question I posed with regards to Delta’s staff training procedures, or offer any form of compensation for our terrible journey, which lost us a day of our holiday.

Whilst we were stuck in Atlanta, many American citizens told us that Delta have an appalling name where it comes to service, frankly I see little else in your email but platitudes and I feel confident that Delta will continue to offer customers poor service. Delta staff in Atlanta are far from ‘cheerful & friendly’ - in fact the majority were ineffective, downright rude and/or dismissive. I am afraid that following our experience Delta will never again receive my custom, and I know that as a Platinum card holder with KLM, my husband will be making his displeasure at Delta’s inefficiency known when he next travels with KLM on business.

As you can see from my title, I am a service manager - so I do ‘know’ a little about offering services to customers, its my job..

By: Robbie

Robbie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:05:46 +0000

Over the weekend I flew from Orange County, CA to Jacksonville, FL with a stop in Atlanta, GA both ways. Every flight was delayed. On my flight home my seatbelt was broken. I told the stewardess twice and she ignored me. Yeah, I know, who needs a seatbelt on a plane, but I include it in the story as another example of Delta as a company. I wish the story ended here, but…I’m sitting at the gate reading a book and they make the calls for zone 1, 2, 3. As the last passenger gets his boarding pass scanned I stand up, put my book in my backpack, and walk over to the Delta agent. This was less than one minute after the last passener scanned his boarding pass. As I walked up to the agent, she turned around and closed the door to the boarding ramp. I said I was on the plane and she told me to go to customer service. I told her it was my connecting flight and my luggage was on the plane and she ignored me. They I told her she was making a mistake and I had a boarding pass to which she told me to go to customer service and walked away. This was seconds after the last passenger had walked through the door! The passengers were still standing in line on the boarding ramp and she wouldn’t let me on the plane. I went to Delta customer service and stood in a line trying to get a Delta rep to take notice that I had a boarding pass and my luggage was on the plane. When I got to the front of the line I picked up the “curtesy” phone and the Delta rep said the computer showed that I was on the plane. I told her that if I was on the plane we wouldn’t be speaking. She told me to go to the counter and get a ticket for the next flight. At the counter the rep said I had to pay $50 for the ticket. The rep next to her asked me what time my plane left and I told him it was still there but they won’t let me on the plane and that I was at the gate for two hours and the Delta gate rep closed the door in front of me to which he said “It sounds like you were late.” Unbelievable.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:27:45 +0000

I have flown Delta Airlines many times, never had a bad experiance. Flying to Aruba in January, thru Atlanta. Have a connection time of 30 minutes. Atlanta may be a busy airport, but very good, but then that my opinion..

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:33:03 +0000

Delta is terrible because last time I went I was going to Atlanta and I only had 5 minutes to get on the plane.So I get over to the entry to get on the plane.But then I hear on the intercome that the plane was moved to the other side of the airport.So I go running over and i just make it on time.It was a horrible experience

By: John Clay

John Clay — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:27:31 +0000

My experience were the same as the above person with unaccompanied minor. I was not aware of the $100 EACH WAY surcharge until getting to the ticket counter (after the round trip ticket was paid in full). I wrote a complaint to Delta who’s boilerplate response was that it was standard operating policy to decline waiver of this fee. Although I informed Delta at time of purchase of the minor and they took down all contact information about who would meet her at the dest airport, no mention was ever made of an additional charge upping the ticket price by over 60%. Nothing on the itenerary even mentioned this charge. Delta took no responsibility for their poor communication and SOPs. I will always look to alternative airlines and not fly Delta in my future travels.

By: David Burke

David Burke — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:38:51 +0000

I had a cancelled flight with Delta, due to some drizzle in NYC. I waited around for another 6 hours, until the wee hours of the morning to finally get a flight to the NYC vicinity. Now I have take a half day off of work to retrieve my luggage from a different airport. What a pain in the … WE have no flyers bill of rights! We need to send our complaints and letters to our senate and congressional representatives. We need a passengers bill of rights. So easily we forget those people on the jetblue flight left on the tarmac for 12 or so hours. The lobbists don’t want us to get any rights. We need the airlines to be accountable and penalized for bad behavior.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:01:34 +0000

I am writing this at the moment my sister is standing at the ticket counter at the Atlanta, Georgia airport. She is being treated rudely when she is checking in the most important thing to us. My son, an unaccompanied minor. He to at this moment should be the most important thing to Delta, but he is not. Instead a ticket agent is arguing over a hundred dollars.
Let me explain, we purchased his ticket putting our faith in your airline on March 5th. At that time your airline had my faith and loyalty. The reservation went smoothly and I was advised of the $50.00 fee each way. I called on April 11th to re-verify his reservation since he was leaving on April 12th and I was a nervous mother whose seven year old son has never flown before let alone all by himself.
With everything documented I transferred my child to you. Only to be advised on day of departure that your fees had gone up and were now doubled to $100.00 each way. Surprise, surprise! I immediately called customer service and demanded a supervisor. If this was true and the effective date was April 1st, why was I not notified? Why that was not disclosed when I called to confirm on the 11th? How could we be penalized when we paid in full for the airfare prior to the change?
After a huge and embarrassing ordeal at the gate, I was advised that it would be honored and notated in his reservation, which brings us here, my nervous child witnessing my sister being told he would not be boarding to come home to his mother unless another $100.00 was paid. The counter agent who checked him in would not even give my sister the common decency to read the notations, yet argued. She demanded she review his reservation. She finally did, and did we get an apology? No, she got his ticket slammed on the counter.
After this horrible experience we will no longer be using your services. I am sitting now anxiously waiting to take back my precious cargo. If your agents are this rude, unhelpful, and incompetent enough not to read; then how could we have faith. Delta you have lost the humanity side which would include empathy to your customers.

Sincerely
Kelly Breen
Irihbreen@gmail.com

His flights:
Sat 12APR DELTA 887 OK U LV HARTFORD 620P V **
AR ATLANTA 856P COACH

Sat 19APR DELTA 1416 OK U LV ATLANTA 710A V **
AR HARTFORD 932A COACH

By: CHARLENE GUNNELL

CHARLENE GUNNELL — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:04:36 +0000

this ie the worst experience i have ever had they were rude there scales are not right i will not fly again