My Letter To Delta Airlines – Ruined Vacation

This is a copy of my recent customer service request submission I sent to Delta Airlines following what I call the biggest travel disaster of my life.  Thanks Delta, you tried to ruin my vacation.

Delta Airlines

PO Box 20980

Atlanta, GA 30320-2980

RE: 2 Cancelled Flights, 4 Different Gates, 2 Different Airlines, 2 Different Airports, Luggage to another airport in the same city, all to get to NYC 13 hours late.

To Whom It May Concern:

I have never, in all my life, had such a miserable traveling experience as I did December 9, 2009.

My wife agrees with me, that in her entire life, she too has never had such a miserable traveling experience as she did on December 9, 2009.

I’ll describe what I have shared with friends, family, and coworkers as the most ridiculous, aggravating, unhelpful, rude, and idiotic string of air travel incidents that I’ve ever heard of – and they all agree that they’ve never heard anything like it either.  What I’m about to detail resembles something in a movie where “if it can go wrong, it absolutely does” – Murphy’s Law lived out in a Birmingham, AL Delta Airlines terminal.

The Beginning

My wife and I booked 2 tickets, both direct flights, to New York City in July through Cheap Tickets.  I’ll spare you the drama we experienced with that third party and focus simply on the ineptitude of what Delta Airlines did wrong and everything it cost me.  Fast-forward to December 8 when I log on to www.delta.com only to find my original flight – Delta 6360 from Birmingham to LaGuardia – is no longer leaving Birmingham on December 9 at 11:15 am with a NYC-LaGuardia 2:55 arrival.  In fact, that flight doesn’t even exist.  I do a search by my name and Confirmation Number (PBPSCC) only to find that my flight has been moved to 8:30am.  I find this out at 10:30pm on December 8, meaning I had to make additional arrangements to get to the airport 3 hours earlier than expected, all without any contact from Delta whatsoever.  Had I showed up at 10:00, would you have simply said “too bad” to me and my wife?  After paying in excess of $800 for both tickets, I would hope that if changes occur to the itinerary, I could at least get some sort of notice.  When checking in, I was told my phone number had been entered with a “001” at the beginning and your phone call system interpreted that as an international call and consequently did not notify me that my flight had changed.  I have yet to even begin to describe the real issues involved with this debacle.

When we checked in to the Delta ticket counter, we checked 2 bags at $15/each (9006DL474363 and 9006dl474358 were our ticket numbers).  We were told that our flight was slightly delayed and had a 9:30am take off.  I’m a very understanding person, I agree mistakes happen, I know weather can affect things too.  My wife and I were directed to a terminal, we passed through security, and went to the appropriate gate.  We were then informed by the staff at the gate at our first terminal that we would need to now move to a different gate.  Again, being understanding and anxious to get to NYC, my wife and I quickly moved to the different gate and sat down.  We were then informed that we were going to be “guinea pigs for a new ticket scanning system” something I actually looked forward to seeing as I work in IT.  In that same notice, we were informed by the gate staff that our flight was going to be delayed further because Delta did not have a plane for us to board and was flying a plane down from Cincinnati.

“Just how on Earth did you have a flight, cancel it, not notify people, then put them on another flight ONLY TO NOT HAVE A PLANE?!?!!?!?”

Those were my thoughts.

The Waiting Game Begins

So we wait for our plane to arrive.  And wait.  And about 11:00 we’re told our plane is here and we should be boarding soon.  So we wait some more.  And about 12:00 we hand our boarding passes to gate staff, they simply tear them, and hand them back to us.  There was no scanning or checking of any boarding passes whatsoever.  Anyone and everyone that wanted to board that plane, did.  My congratulations to you on breaking an innumerable number of TSA and Homeland Security protocols with your “new ticket scanning system.”

So we board what my wife calls “the smallest and most rickety plane I’ve ever seen.”  We’re shoehorned into this thing like peas in a pod.

You see, we found out that a number of people waiting for our re-re-rescheduled 8:30 flight were a part of a 6:30am flight.  Combining 2 flights into 1 to save money?  Good idea, but it could not have been handled any worse.  After all 50 of us board this crop-duster of a plane, we’re informed by a member of the gate staff that “5 checked bags have been taken off so the plane is balanced.  I don’t know whose they are, but in order to get this plane off the ground, we had to take 5 checked bags off to get all the carry on checked bags loaded.  Your bags will be routed though a connecting flight in Atlanta and they will arrive in LaGuardia tonight.”

How considerate.  First you cancel my flight, you don’t inform me, you move me to another gate, you don’t have a plane, you shoehorn us into this suitcase of a plane, and now I’ve got a reasonable chance that my bags will arrive hours after I do.  Again, how considerate of you.

To get to NYC at this point, I dare say not one single person on that flight minded thanks in whole to the joyous attitude everyone in Delta’s gate staff had in telling us our flight was delayed, delayed, delayed, and – you guessed it – delayed.  We never, ever, not once received even the first inkling of consideration for our frustrations and troubles.  And people wonder why and how airlines keep going in and out of bankruptcy?  Incidents like these are far too common and they affect far too many people.

But in order to FINALLY get to NYC, we all agree that the bags (to whomever they might belong) can arrive later.  We all just want this plane to finally get off the ground.

Close, But No Takeoff

We leave the terminal, we taxi out to the runway, and the captain informs us that we’re experiencing a break issue and that the right side breaks are getting too hot.  I imagine it has something to do with the fact that there are 50 people flying to NYC from BHM who are probably carrying plenty of coats and clothes to stay warm on their vacations.  Suffice it to say, the plane we were on simply was not nearly big enough to accommodate the number of people and bags.

So we taxi back to the terminal. We are informed that there is a second plane sitting at a different gate and Delta will move all the luggage to the new plane and we can all board it quickly.

Just where in the hell has this plane been?  We had to wait, and wait, and wait for a plane and miraculously you have 2 all of a sudden?  You have your OCC (Operations Control Center) that works with flights that are delayed that have people on them, but what about flights that are delayed where boarding hasn’t happened yet?  My suggestion would be to create a system to better support these types of issues.

Moving on with my story, we un-board the plane and take a seat at, you guessed it, another gate.  We watch them move our baggage from one plane to the next, the crew leaves the plane, gets on the next plane, and we wait. Only to be told we need to move to ANOTHER GATE!  Count with me here, one, two, three, four gates and zero flights.  How inefficient can you get?

Yet More Waiting!!!!!!!!!

We’re then told, after yet more waiting, that the second plane has a mechanical malfunction and the service technicians are going to take the needed part off the first broken plane and put it on the second broken plane.  Talk about losing the confidence of your customers!  How many malfunctions is that in 2 planes?  Two.  That’s 100% failure rate.

So we wait.  And wait some more.  In between all this waiting my wife and I spend about $25 on food in the airport restaurant for lunch, yet after this round of waiting, we were given a whopping $7 food voucher good for any food item in the airport.  Seven dollars?  That will buy 2 packs of chewing gum, not lunch in an airport.  Combining both vouchers might have covered half of our lunch bill, which is money we had to spend because Delta could not get plane to an airport, and then when you did, couldn’t get one that works.  Remember the 2 failures in 2 planes ratio?

After another 45 minutes of waiting, we were informed we were entitled to a $100 travel voucher with Delta.  Do you honestly think that $100 voucher that is causing me to miss the lunch reservation I had in NYC makes me a satisfied customer?  I was anything but.

They Don’t Care – At All – Thanks!

Throughout this entire ordeal, I tried to be understanding.   About 12:45 pm, over an hour after I should have ARRIVED in NYC, I’m a bit irritated.  But what had me and everyone on the flight fuming was the unhelpful and unsympathetic attitudes of EVERY SINGLE Delta associate.  Nobody cared, in fact, they were all snickering and laughing at our inconvenience.  What everyone would have preferred would be someone trying to work towards a solution (fix the plane, give us relevant information, find connecting flights, find flights with other carriers, etc but just get us moving).

Instead, we got rude attitudes, short tempers, snappy comebacks, and their laughter at our tiring situation.  Talk about alienating your customers!

And yet there is more waiting.

And yet even more waiting.  I began to think my hind end would take on the texture of pleather.

All the while, we are given no reasons other than “they’re trying to fix the plane.”  At 4:30 the call was made to cancel the flight.  Yes, that’s exactly 8 hours after scheduled take-off, innumerable delays, gate changes, no plane scheduled for a flight, eventual plane boarding, then plane de-boarding, worthless vouchers, inconsiderate attitudes, and now the flight has been altogether cancelled.  I’ve been in an airport terminal for nine hours now, my patience has long since left.

Never mind the facts I had lunch and dinner reservations scheduled for my vacation, I got a $7 food and $100 travel voucher in return.  Never mind the fact I had orchestra seating for the final night the Rockettes were in New York for Christmas.  Never mind the fact my wife has been crying for 3 hours because of the attitudes of everyone and the complete disaster this vacation has started on.  Now, I’ve got to find some other way to get to New York and there’s a reasonable chance my luggage is going to arrive in my destination city hours before I do.

No Direct Flight For You!  You Must Connect!

So I find a Continental flight from BHM to Houston, and from Houston to Newark – which is NOT what I purchased in a direct flight to NYC.  It’s not even my original destination, but it’s going to have to be at this point.

I go to Delta’s special services counter in BHM airport and discover, sure enough BOTH of my checked bags are headed to LaGuardia set to arrive at 11:00pm.  My flight from Houston to Newark arrived at 1:00am the DAY AFTER I WAS SCHEDULE TO ARRIVE IN NEW YORK!!!  The baggage claim office closes at LaGuardia at 12:30 so thank God I had the means to get my bags because both of my coats were in my bag and it was 23 degrees in New York!  That means I’m going to finally start my vacation a full day late and 100% of what I’ve had scheduled and ordered and purchased my first day there is 100% ruined.

You can clearly see my frustration.

I’d like to take a moment ask you why in the world you have some of the people working for your organization that are decision makers?  I was met at your special services counter by the most bullish, rude, insensitive, unhelpful individual I’ve ever met in my entire life.  That is no exaggeration either.  I was so overwhelmed by her attitude and virtual yelling at me that I can’t remember her name (Sharon or Sandra I believe).  She was not working the counter, but was called up to speak with me about my bags being at the right airport while I’m going to the wrong one. Before I could even explain my situation, she hammered on me so much so that people waiting in line took notice and tried to console me when she walked away.  Just where on earth does she get the authority to yell and try to humiliate a paying customer?  Just where does she get the right to talk to anyone that way?  It’s ultimately, because of her remarks and attitude and badgering that I will never, ever fly your airline again.  I work for a publishing company that flies representatives all over America daily, and I let the travel scheduling department know of this entire fiasco. I expressed to them that if they want our associates to avoid these types of insensitive people, we should schedule our flights with other airlines.  Again, I know mistakes happen and things happen outside your control, but you do control your people and who represents your company and if I ever had someone working for or with me that acted in a manner as Sharon/Sandra, I would immediately terminate them.  She was extremely rude and badgering and belittling in her comments, attitude, words, and tone in dealing with a customer.  I do not care to ever see or hear from her under any circumstances whatsoever.

I called ahead and had a friend of mine pick my bags up at LaGuardia – since I couldn’t get them because I’m going to Newark and am arriving after LaGuardia’s baggage claim office closes, had him drive to Newark to pick us up, paid the tolls to get us back into the city from New Jersey, and paid him the tolls to get out of New York and some gas money to come get us and pick up our luggage.  We missed lunch and dinner in New York, missed seeing the Rockettes as a part of our vacation, and had to pay in total about $100 in additional food costs while waiting and connecting flights, lost n full day of our vacation, and paid New Jersey toll fees all because of this disaster of a flight.

What I am requesting – since no one at BHM airport would offer me any assistance or sympathy other than calling customer service, emailing customer service, or writing customer service:

Compensation for my wasted Rockettes tickets – $141.01 – receipt enclosed.

Compensation for my travel expenses – $100 (food, drinks, snacks while we both waited and had a connecting flight – expenses I paid though not a part of my original ticket purchase/plan – as well as the tolls to get out of New York, in to Newark, then back to New York.).

Compensation having a connecting flight from a direct flight – $200 total – $100/traveler (there were a number of announcements at other gates that people can give up their seats for $ to fly later, since we had to fly 13 hours later, I believe I’m entitled to appropriate compensation).

Compensation for my checked luggage fees – $60 (2 bags sent to LaGuardia, we went to Newark, plus return flight baggage fees).

Compensation for a lost day of vacation – $550 (the sum total cost of paid-time-off for both me and my wife as we both work, used an earned vacation day, and had our first day of NYC vacation planned, and subsequently ruined because of your airline.  We arrived in Newark some 13 hours behind schedule, that’s more than a full work day of vacation time in terms of hours).

TOTAL DUE: $1051.01

I look forward to hearing from someone immediately.  I know your website says someone will contact me within 60 days.  I also reviewed your Delta Customer Commitment page and I find a number of things you’ve committed to that were not represented whatsoever in the experiences of both me and my wife.

I’ve also taken the liberty to post this request in its entirety on my blog, which is visited by plenty of IT professionals, so my colleagues can be forewarned as to what they may experience with your airline.

Respectfully,

Kyle Jernigan

delta airlines ruined my vacation