Delta is the biggest ripoff air carrier around! I had a flight from Buffalo, NY to Ontario, CA and arrived 35 minutes to my departure. I left for the airport 3 hours before my flight was to depart, but was stuck at the Canadian/US Border crossing due to a drug bust and gun smugling ring. All of which can be verified by Delta with the Border agents and Canadian press, they could care less.
According to Delta's information, we were required to be at the airport 30 minutes to departure and proceeded to the ticket counter. There was no one there, so we went to the sky cap. After he got done with his customers, he told us that we had to go to the ticket counter to check in. I let him know that there was no one there to help us and he instructed us to go back inside.
We waited several minutes for the ticket agent to come out, but he did not. A few minutes latter, the sky cap came in and asked if we'd been assisted and I said no, there is no one here. He went to the back and got the ticket agent out to help us. We explained that our flight was going to depart at 1:37 PM and he was rude and told us that our seats had already been sold and to "Let's get this straight right now, your not going to make that flight!". I asked why not? His response was that I arrived 25 minutes to departure and I told him NO! I arrived 35 minutes to departure, but you were not here to check us in! He said, to bad that's not my problem! What?
He proceeded to tell us that it would cost us an additional $574 to get home and I refused. I asked again why am I being charged more because you weren't doing your job? He said again, that's not my problem. We asked to speak with a manager and 20 minutes later, we got a gate agent who handed us a note and said to call Delta direct.
After numerious phone calls to Delta trying to get an answer of why we were going to be charged more for their employee not doing his job, we got the same response. That's not our problem! Well whose is it? Certainly not mine! We were told at that time we had three choices, stay in Buffalo, find another carrier or pay Delta the increased fair. No other airline had seats for us, so we were stuck with paying Delta to get home.
I filed a complaint with the BBB and here is a copy of that report.
I have been ripped off by Delta Airlines and no one their is paying any attention to me. I booked a flight on Delta for a round trip from Ontario to Buffalo for two. On the way to the airport on 8/13/05, we were delayed at the Canadian/US boarder for 2 1/2 hours due to a drug bust/gun smuggling ring that was taking place. This can be verified with the US boarder agents or local Canadian papers. We arrived at the airport 35 minutes
to departure for our 1:37 flight (#773 from Buffalo) and went to the sky cap to check in. We waited for him to finish with the customers in front of us and he told us he could not check us in, we'd have to go to the counter. We proceeded to the counter and there was no one there to assist us. The sky cap came in a few minutes later and asked if we'd been assisted and we said no. He went to the back and got Thomas Bauer out to do his job. Mr. Bauer indicated that we 'arrived' 25 minutes to
departure and our seats had been sold. We 'arrived' 35 minutes to departure, but had to 'wait' for Mr. Bauer to get his fat butt out of the back to help us. He said we could not get on our flight and proceeded to be rude and tell us it will cost us $574 each to get home. We asked to speak with a manager and waited 20 minutes for her to come out and the only thing she gave us was a phone # for Delta 'Customer Care'. I called and spoke with a person who tried to help us out. She looked at all the routes to get us home and tried to get us booked on a $25 same day confirmed ticket. She was unable to do so because
she could not get us from Atl to Ontario. She advised she had seats to Orange County and the cost was $386.51 each. I asked to speak w/a mgr since I didn't think it was fair that we had to pay for something we had no control over. I spk w/Lisa and her advise to me was to stay in Buffalo, find a new airline or pay Delta, that was it! We feel Delta has purposely defrauded us of $773.02 because we had to get home and had no other options.
SETTLEMENT: Refund
SETTLEMENT EXPLANATION:
I feel that we should be refunded the amount we had to pay to get home $773.02. We could have easily gotten on our original flight if Thomas Bauer was understanding and made it happen. He was more interested in being rude and forcing us to pay additional money to get home. We had no control over the US/Canadian boarder delay, no control over Mr. Bauer in the back office instead of out front to assist Delta Customers and we made it to the airport 35 mins to departure. Why are we penilized?
Here is Delta's response to my BBB complaint
Dear Mr. Bates:
The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Atlanta has recently forwarded your letter to us for review and reply. I am sorry to learn from your report of the difficulties you encountered when you were advised you were too late to check-in for Flight 773 on August 13.
We realize your time is valuable, and operating on schedule is equally important to Delta. To avoid delays, we have the "fifteen-minute" rule which requires passengers to be at their boarding gate at least this far ahead of scheduled departure. Please note that customers are still required to complete baggage check-in thirty minutes prior to scheduled departure. Your reservations were in good order at all times, but your seat was given to another passenger shortly after the fifteen-minute deadline.
We realize that the way our people respond to our customers is what will ultimately determine how our customers will feel about us. Knowing this, it was very disturbing to hear about how poorly we handled your situation. Please accept my sincerest apology and rest assured that we will make every effort to ensure that things are handled differently in the future.
Mr. Bates, we know this was a frustrating experience and regret that you were inconvenienced. However, since your completed your travel and the additional fees we collected are correct, we must respectfully decline your request for a refund.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We value your business and hope you will accept our apologies. Please give us an opportunity to regain your confidence.
Sincerely,
Leigh B. Attaway
Manager
Customer Care
Do they answer my fundamental question of why I was charged for their employee not doing his job? NO!
I reopened the BBB complaint and sent emails to the CEO, EVP and Ms. Belinda Stubblefield at Delta Airlines and asked again the same question as to why we were charged more for their employee not doing his job. This isn't rocket science were talking about, it's a simple question to answer if Delta knew it wasn't trying to rip us off.
Here is their response
Dear Mr. Daniels:
Thank you for your communications to Mr. Gerald Grinstein, Mr. Lee Macenczak, and Ms. Belinda Stubblefield. They have asked that I respond on their behalf.
They regret the situation you and Mr. Bates encountered has had such an impact. As requested, they have again reviewed the matter and can add nothing to what has already been stated in the letter you received from our customer care manager, Ms. Leigh Attaway. While they regret your continued disappointment, they must once again decline your request for a refund.
Mr. Daniels, thank you again for allowing us to offer our final comments regarding this issue. Any additional correspondence received regarding this issue will be placed in your file.
Sincerely,
Greg Ingram
Executive Assistant
Delta Air Lines
Now you have both responses from Delta, do you see anywhere that they answered my question? NO NO NO NO NO!
Why can't they answer the simple question I posed to them? BECAUSE THEY RIPPED US OFF!
Do not fly Delta airlines and I would recommend you send this to as many people as you can.
As for the Atlanta BBB, that place is a joke! I filed a dispute with them and asked a simple question. Delta is a paying customer of the Atlanta BBB, their rating is satisfactory and they've had 655 complaints in the last 3 years and 289 in the last 12 months! All of which the Atlanta BBB has classified as resolved because Delta is a paying customer and they respond to every complaint, regardless of what they actually say.
DO NOT RELY ON THE BBB FOR AN ACCURATE RATING ON PAYING BUSINESS'! If you pay them their fee and respond to every complaint, you will get a satisfactory rating regardless of what the company said! This is absurd!
Todd
Upland, California
U.S.A.
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