Delta Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

a bag was left on board with all my medicines and other stuff in a purple sort of beach bag with black handles. the date was around Feb 16th. it was delta airlines and I was on row23f I think

We thought Delta was slowly improving, but a recent trip that resulted in a back injury made us question our optimism. And Customer Service only made things worse - far, far worse.

The reason for this posting is to highlight several mis-truths and unacceptable actions Delta took, hoping someone outside their normal Customer Service channel sees it and at least tries to make substantive changes. Unfortunately, I am not sure if there is anything surprisingly new here.

This is a long story and I will try to keep it as simple as possible, so please dont flame me for leaving out some details. My wife and I were flying home from ORD on a Friday morning, and the Delta text communication system was not performing well. Each of us received 9 texts about flight and connection gate changes.

We finally boarded with more than enough time to make our now 50-minute DTW connection, but as soon as the plane door closed, the pilot informed us of a mechanical issue. We sat at the gate for about an hour while the Delta App showed us still booked on our original connection. The defective switch got replaced, and we were finally on our way.

When we got close to landing at DTW, the flight attendant came over to warn us not to dawdle when we landed and to check the Delta App immediately upon arrival. Then she informed us that if we missed our connection, Delta would try to get us on the next available flight (8 hours later at best) but since this was a weather delay there were no guarantees and we might be on our own for lodging, etc.

It was not clear how a 60-minute mechanical delay could possibly be considered a weather problem, but she verified it again as Deltas position. Now we were extra stressed.

As soon as we landed, we checked the Delta app, and it showed us still booked on our original connection - now boarding in a different concourse because the gate changed yet again. Feeling like we had no other reasonable option, we ran non-stop as fast as we could (we are regular runners) with our carry-on bags, from Concourse A, through the flashy tunnel (not the best audio / visual experience when stressed and out of breath), and to our gate in Concourse B. The gate agent apparently didnt hear our calling out or see us waving as we ran up, and we missed the boarding door closing by about 20 seconds.

This was not a remotely reasonable connection for humans, but the systems algorithm determined it was and routed us that way.

Most frequent fliers have many frustrating stories like this, but by running with my bag to make an unknowingly improbable connection, I hurt my back badly. 30 Days of very painful spasms were followed by another 2 months (as of today) of persistent neck and back pain with constantly interrupted sleep. To make matters worse, we got trapped in Customer Service Hades which started at DTW. I will spare you the finer details of delayed re-booking updates or having to argue repeatedly with Airport CS to get meal vouchers for our new 8-hour layover (reference Delta Customer Service Plan Point 12), but nobody at the Delta gate, lounge, or DTW CS terminal desk made us feel like they cared.

There was one very nice CS agent on the 800 travelers # who advised us to call the regular CS 800 # first thing on Monday and try to get compensation.

I tried calling the Customer Service 800 # for about a week after, but could reach nothing but an old-fashioned busy signal (I did not know they still existed) and finally a recording directing me to use the online complaint system. My use of the word injury got their attention, and they called me within a day, but the process from then on was far less than helpful or truthful.

CS Agent #1 offered me a $300 voucher (thats all we can do) for my experience and told me 5 times that he was the only person I could talk to because we do not have a complaint escalation process. When I asked a 6th time, he finally confessed there was a process, and he agreed to escalate my complaint. Except, unbeknownst to me, my complaint was closed out without escalation or resolution.

So much for Customer Service Plan Point 11: will send a substantive response When I finally realized that nobody would be contacting me, I filed a new complaint, and 46 days after my initial filing, I was called by a Customer Service Manager. Progress, finally!

In a moment of candor, she admitted that CS Agent #1 should not have said the things he said nor canceled my claim, but then she slipped into the same CS script. A $300 voucher is all Delta can offer (like its an immutable law of physics) followed by another 4 rounds of there is no escalation process beyond me. Really?

What if I contact Ed Bastian? Then it will come right back to me and this is all we can do.

After round 5 of asking the same escalation question in different ways (there is a disturbing pattern of denials, here), she finally admitted there is a CS level above her but they cant address complaints. Huh??? So, just to clarify, I asked, all injury claims to Delta are only worth $300?

And that was finally the right question. She proceeded to tell me that if I had followed the proper injury claim process, I might be entitled to more, but she could not, or maybe would not, answer why they never told me there was a process, much less how to follow it. Oh, and it was now too late to follow it on Day 46.

She finished our call by explaining that despite my dissatisfaction and protests, she was closing out my complaint because this was all we can do, but it was my right to pursue my grievances through social media because there are no other escalation channels within Delta. Hence, this post

PS Our next Delta trip was no less frustrating.