Delta screw up-AT XMAS-unbelievable
Dec 4th, 2005, 11:10 AM
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Delta screw up-AT XMAS-unbelievable
Hi,
I'll keep this short. I bought coach tickets on Delta back in Feb for a trip over XMAS from JFK to Malaga. I was to be on DL from JFK to Barcelona and then Iberia from BCN to Malaga. The return was from Malaga to Madrid on Iberia and then Madrid to JFK on Delta. I called to get seat assignments for the Iberia flights the other day and find out that our reservations (3 of us) were cancelled. Delta LIED and said that they had no idea why the seats were cancelled and then said an airline can cancel seats (even though PAID FOR) whenever they want....After hanging up with the DL supervisors I called Iberia. Lo and behold, the TRUTH....Iberia cancelled the reservations because Delta did not call in the ticket numbers to Iberia. This was after having paid for the tickets....
Now the only seats on Iberia for the flights I HAVE TICKETS on are in Business Class and Delta is telling me TOUGH...They are not going to pay for those seats and its MY problem. They want me to cancel the whole reservation....We have an Apartment rented in Malaga and are in penalty now.
After I found out they lied to me I called Delta back and then they said they would call Iberia on Monday and see what they could do....
I am literally sick over this and my whole weekend I have done nothing but worry. At best this will cost me an additional $500 per person.
I cannot believe they did such a mess of this and are handling this so badly. Anyone with any helpful suggestions? Even if this costs me money to sue in small claims court, I will. That aviation attorney was right. He sues CO for overbooking and not letting he and his daughter board and he WON....
Thanks for reading.
I'll keep this short. I bought coach tickets on Delta back in Feb for a trip over XMAS from JFK to Malaga. I was to be on DL from JFK to Barcelona and then Iberia from BCN to Malaga. The return was from Malaga to Madrid on Iberia and then Madrid to JFK on Delta. I called to get seat assignments for the Iberia flights the other day and find out that our reservations (3 of us) were cancelled. Delta LIED and said that they had no idea why the seats were cancelled and then said an airline can cancel seats (even though PAID FOR) whenever they want....After hanging up with the DL supervisors I called Iberia. Lo and behold, the TRUTH....Iberia cancelled the reservations because Delta did not call in the ticket numbers to Iberia. This was after having paid for the tickets....
Now the only seats on Iberia for the flights I HAVE TICKETS on are in Business Class and Delta is telling me TOUGH...They are not going to pay for those seats and its MY problem. They want me to cancel the whole reservation....We have an Apartment rented in Malaga and are in penalty now.
After I found out they lied to me I called Delta back and then they said they would call Iberia on Monday and see what they could do....
I am literally sick over this and my whole weekend I have done nothing but worry. At best this will cost me an additional $500 per person.
I cannot believe they did such a mess of this and are handling this so badly. Anyone with any helpful suggestions? Even if this costs me money to sue in small claims court, I will. That aviation attorney was right. He sues CO for overbooking and not letting he and his daughter board and he WON....
Thanks for reading.
Dec 4th, 2005, 12:35 PM
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While you are waiting for them to contact you, look for tickets on other airlines. Its possible that you will find that another airline can accomodate you, perhaps even at a lower fare. If you find other tickets, buy them and take Delta's offer of a full refund. Incidentally, me experience is that even if you have bought non-refundable tickets, they will give you a refund if they cannot deliver what they sold you, or something very close to it (like a flight that arrives an hour or two later).
If you cannot find tickets on another airline, and Delta continues to offer only a refund, remain calm and ask to talk to a supervisor. Point out that in reliance on their promise, you made a deposit on lodgings which you will lose if they don't perform, and that you want to be compensated for that, also, but you would prefer that they deliver what they sold you. Possibly they could accomodate you on the prior or next day, which might be a satisfactory resolution, if you think so.
If you cannot find tickets on another airline, and Delta continues to offer only a refund, remain calm and ask to talk to a supervisor. Point out that in reliance on their promise, you made a deposit on lodgings which you will lose if they don't perform, and that you want to be compensated for that, also, but you would prefer that they deliver what they sold you. Possibly they could accomodate you on the prior or next day, which might be a satisfactory resolution, if you think so.
Dec 4th, 2005, 01:33 PM
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BTW, stop saying DL is "lying". Somebody screwed up, and let them fix it. Be firm and emphasize your rights, but it won't help to accuse a particular agent. Do whatever you want afterwards, but right now you NEED DL to book you on the flight to Malaga one-way or another.
Dec 4th, 2005, 02:50 PM
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Do you have writt4n evidence that you ever had a confirmed reservation?
Even with an electronic ticket, you can ask for and get a written account that becomes your passenger recipt. It will say "OK" or something like that for confirmed legs of the itinerary.
Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm
Even with an electronic ticket, you can ask for and get a written account that becomes your passenger recipt. It will say "OK" or something like that for confirmed legs of the itinerary.
Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm
Dec 5th, 2005, 12:07 PM
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Hi,
I bought my tickets from Delta directly, via phone and have the tickets (hard copies, not etickets) in my hand. I also have the invoice and itinerary from them and of course my CC statement. Tickets to Malaga are now over $1300. per person, which is more then double what my tickets cost me in Feb so a refund and repurchase is not an option.
The reason I say they "lied" is because the DL res agent and supervisor said they did not know why Iberia cancelled the flights. When I called Iberia they told me what they had told Delta, the Iberia flights were cancelled because Delta did not call in the ticket numbers. Iberia told me this is what they told the Delta supervisor, yet the Delta supervisor chose to tell me she had no idea why they were cancelled.
I finally made contact with a great supervisor who is working on it and has assured me she will get us to Malaga, she's not sure how, but she will do it.
Hopefully this will be resolved shortly. All I can say is that I was glad I checked on seats otherwise we would have ended up in Barcelona, presented our tickets to Iberia and would have been told our seats were cancelled. That would not have been good.
Happy Holidays
I bought my tickets from Delta directly, via phone and have the tickets (hard copies, not etickets) in my hand. I also have the invoice and itinerary from them and of course my CC statement. Tickets to Malaga are now over $1300. per person, which is more then double what my tickets cost me in Feb so a refund and repurchase is not an option.
The reason I say they "lied" is because the DL res agent and supervisor said they did not know why Iberia cancelled the flights. When I called Iberia they told me what they had told Delta, the Iberia flights were cancelled because Delta did not call in the ticket numbers. Iberia told me this is what they told the Delta supervisor, yet the Delta supervisor chose to tell me she had no idea why they were cancelled.
I finally made contact with a great supervisor who is working on it and has assured me she will get us to Malaga, she's not sure how, but she will do it.
Hopefully this will be resolved shortly. All I can say is that I was glad I checked on seats otherwise we would have ended up in Barcelona, presented our tickets to Iberia and would have been told our seats were cancelled. That would not have been good.
Happy Holidays
Dec 15th, 2005, 04:50 PM
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Sorry about your difficulties. But remember, maybe Delta DID call in the ticket numbers, but someone at Iberia overlooked this somehow. In which case nobody is lying, although someone, at least, is mistaken. Either way, others are right - you need Delta's cooperation to help you out. Bon voyage (I hope.)
Dec 22nd, 2005, 12:12 PM
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I can certainly feel your fustration..I mean that sincerely. Last year my husband flew (alone, I missed all the fun!) to visit family in Italy. His flight to Alanta was delayed due to bad weather and so he missed his flight to Paris. At this point it's no one fault if mother nature intervenes (however I did call Delta early the morning he left to try and get him on an earlier flight to Atlanta and was assured that he had plenty of time and that Delta would HANDLE everything..sure!) but the desk personal at Gulfport could have been a little more helpful. She had what my grand kids would call a 'TUDE' and instead of telling us (him) that some assistance finding a place to stay - if not monetary - would be available in Atlanta she said 'You're on your own!'
There were no more flights out of Atanta that evening (of course!) and after fifteen calls to local hotels he finally found a room for the night. Thank goodness, he is getting up there in age (shhh) and I don't think he could've sat in an airport chair overnight. He called me from the hotel and said 'there IS a bright spot to all this, Delta is giving me a first class seat on tomorrows flight..the only seat(s) available!' Well, he got to the airport the next day and ooops, that seat is gone (they saw that someone had attempted to assign it to him but UNFORTUNATELY they didn't complete the task and it had been reassigned) so they put him on another airlines flight..coach of course. He got on that flight and there was mechanical problems and they had to get off and wait a couple of hours till another plane was found. This delay caused him to miss his Paris connection to Genoa and involved another long wait.
He called me at his point and said that under no circumstances would he ever fly again . After we hung up I thought Hmmm, I hope that doesn't exclude his trip home!
I hope the op will post after the holidays with the outcome to his/ her dilemma. Here's hoping they are in Malaga right now!!
I don't even know why I'm relating our year-old fiasco except that perhaps someone reading this will have a choice of airlines and exclude Delta!! By the way I wrote to them and received a coupon for something off a future flight...I guess they overlooked the 'never again' statement!
There were no more flights out of Atanta that evening (of course!) and after fifteen calls to local hotels he finally found a room for the night. Thank goodness, he is getting up there in age (shhh) and I don't think he could've sat in an airport chair overnight. He called me from the hotel and said 'there IS a bright spot to all this, Delta is giving me a first class seat on tomorrows flight..the only seat(s) available!' Well, he got to the airport the next day and ooops, that seat is gone (they saw that someone had attempted to assign it to him but UNFORTUNATELY they didn't complete the task and it had been reassigned) so they put him on another airlines flight..coach of course. He got on that flight and there was mechanical problems and they had to get off and wait a couple of hours till another plane was found. This delay caused him to miss his Paris connection to Genoa and involved another long wait.
He called me at his point and said that under no circumstances would he ever fly again . After we hung up I thought Hmmm, I hope that doesn't exclude his trip home!
I hope the op will post after the holidays with the outcome to his/ her dilemma. Here's hoping they are in Malaga right now!!
I don't even know why I'm relating our year-old fiasco except that perhaps someone reading this will have a choice of airlines and exclude Delta!! By the way I wrote to them and received a coupon for something off a future flight...I guess they overlooked the 'never again' statement!
Dec 22nd, 2005, 01:20 PM
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esd,
Perhaps the reason the personnel at the originating airport didn't tell your husband that Delta would help with airports is because NO airline is obligated to help with hotels, meal, etc. when a delay or cancellation is due to weather. It's too bad he had such a horrible time but it sounds like he chose to continue on to Atlanta knowing he might miss the connecting flight. As for the first class seat (actually business because DL doesn't have first class, it's business elite), I am astounded that an agent would even attempt to put a coach passenger in a seat that sells for probably five or six times more than he paid. That would have been a true present.
The bottom line is Delta fulfilled their contract by getting your husband to his destination. I doubt it would have worked any differently with any other airline.
Perhaps the reason the personnel at the originating airport didn't tell your husband that Delta would help with airports is because NO airline is obligated to help with hotels, meal, etc. when a delay or cancellation is due to weather. It's too bad he had such a horrible time but it sounds like he chose to continue on to Atlanta knowing he might miss the connecting flight. As for the first class seat (actually business because DL doesn't have first class, it's business elite), I am astounded that an agent would even attempt to put a coach passenger in a seat that sells for probably five or six times more than he paid. That would have been a true present.
The bottom line is Delta fulfilled their contract by getting your husband to his destination. I doubt it would have worked any differently with any other airline.
Dec 22nd, 2005, 05:22 PM
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jlillberto
About 5 years ago our flight was cancelled due to bad weather and we were given first class [business?..it was in the front..I do know that much] seats for a flight the next morning. I believe it was on US Air. So..don't give up hope ..it can happen! This was a domestic flight and maybe that is more common????
About 5 years ago our flight was cancelled due to bad weather and we were given first class [business?..it was in the front..I do know that much] seats for a flight the next morning. I believe it was on US Air. So..don't give up hope ..it can happen! This was a domestic flight and maybe that is more common????
