upperwestside

My husband and I were bumped from a Delta flight leaving from JFK in February, and were issued what we thought were two vouchers for $400, which is what they were offering. They were both in my husband's name, but the agent assured us that we could both use them. Last week, we went to the ticket office to use them, and wouldn't you know, the agent at JFK actually issued us one voucher, and one receipt. The woman at the ticket office checked the vouchers issued 10 before and 10 after my husband's, and none were in mine or his name. She then told us she could do nothing for us, but to write customer service.

So, nearly three weeks ago, I sent a letter explaining everything, with photocopies of all of our tickets and boarding passes (the original ticket and the new boarding passes we were issued to our rescheduled flight), demonstrating that if my husband was bumped and got the $400 voucher, then clearly I should have gotten one too, and since they would have been issued sequentially and there is no record of mine, the agent at JFK (we were even able to include her "code" so they could look through her records) messed up and I am owed the $400 voucher.

I have gotten no response, and have e-mailed the same letter, with scanned attachments of the tickets/boarding passes twice over the past two days, and still nothing. I am determined to e-mail them every day until I get a response, but am beginning to lose hope. What else can I do? Have you ever heard of this happening before? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

travelduo

Hi I experienced similar situation w/United and was not given vouchers but when I wrote a letter explaining situation, I did get vouchers and was able to use for anyone! I have a friend who's husband flies commercial and she said NEVER give up. I'd give them a little more time and it may prove worth it. In the same breath, don't let it go or give up! Good luck!

djkbooks

Unfortunately, you should have ensured that actually you received two vouchers. One for each ticketed name. The airlines are brilliantly adept at fooling you. They gloss over things such as "your traveling party".

When going to the ticket office at JFK, I would have asked for a supervisor, then a manager, at the ticket office.

I would definitely NOT have accepted one voucher and one receipt. Either they just don't know what they're doing, or they're deliberately trying to get you to accept much less. Sometimes, once you accept whatever "someone told me", you're stuck, big time.

I, personally, would never, ever, accept "she could do nothing for us", but, rather, ask for someone who CAN assist us with those promises we assumed, based up THEIR representation of same.

At this point, however, your best bet is to get on the phone and persist up the heirarchy, until you are able to prevail. Sending a stack of documentation, sadly, where it will like sit somewhere for days, weeks, even months, will not likely produce favorable results - anytime soon.

When they issue those "bumped vouchers", you may THINK you're being taken care of for the future, but just read all the fine print!

Even so, travel forums, such as this one, are not without influence. Well, some, anyway. Once in a while.

To combine two vouchers into one is, of course, curious, all depending upon the "printed" stipulations versus those told to you by whoever at the time.

All in all, when the "vouchers" you believe you received, based upon their representation of same at the time, and you encounter great difficulty redeeming them - well this is something all of us are interested in.

Just keep calling, until you are able to prevail. Offer to FAX everything you have to that specific individual. This will no doubt be a time consuming endeavor.

But, please, oh please, report back.

AAFrequentFlyer

Just a quick question, are you sure it was suppose to be $400 each? Maybe it was suppose to be $200 each and the agent put it on one voucher and that's why the agent advised you that you could use the voucher for either or both or whatever.

If I'm wrong, ignore my post and good luck!

upperwestside

I'm positive it was for $400 each (it was international) - otherwise, we wouldn't have done it! I am just so angry about this! Partially at myself - the whole reason she said she put "both" vouchers in my husband's name is that she knew men of my husband's ethnicity "liked to be in charge" - what a load of crap! But since they both appeared to be vouchers, I didn't argue. Thinking that she did this on purpose makes me even more furious! I will be persistent, and report back!

BeachBoi

uws.....Hang in there.....I would say do not call...you will go thru the phone maze from hell each time you do,IMHO.....I do not think you were "cheated", although I think the comment about your DH's ethnicity is well foul at best.If you were bumped then the flight was full and GAs can get into a frenzy easily.Give it some time.Most of the airlines get mounds of correspondence and with minimal staff handling that, it will take time.Best of luck!

nytraveler

Are you using the standard channels or the frequent flyer. As long as you're in the FF program it doesn;t really matter how many miles you have - you're entitled to use the FF phone numbers. And in my experience the agents on those lines are much more helpful/cooperative than the regular ones (better pay? better training? they pick the best for this?). I would try this route before simply repeating a batch of emails - if nothing else they can give you the name of the department head for customer relations.

alliegator

The ticketing agent is probably a dumb a$$. Similar things happened to me when I volunteered to get bumped on a Delta flight. The fine print on the voucher said I could use the voucher to buy ANYONE a ticket. So I went to the airport with my friend to buy us both tickets & of course I got a ticket agent in lala land who said I couldnt buy a ticket for my friend because we didnt have the same last name. I showed her the fine print and everything and she got snotty and said that was too bad.

I called Delta while in the airport and told another agent what was going on and she told me the other lady was crazy and to find a supervisor at the ticket counter. He processed it right away.

The moral of the story...if you get a crummy agent, speak to someone else who is in the know. I have found since 9/11 that the people they are hiring arent trained well or just dont want to be burdened. There is NO customer service these days!!!

upperwestside

UPDATE
I got an e-mail from Delta today saying they had received my e-mails and letter, and that a reply was sent out to me on 7/15, so I should be getting it soon. I am not hopeful - I feel like they would have said it was good news if it was (meaning that I would be receiving a voucher). I'll keep my hopes up, but I think this means defeat, which is SO annoying (and I will not give up if that is their reply, since my argument is clearly valid, and I have proof to back it up). I will post when I get the letter.

Sidepockets

And you wonder why Delta may file for bankruptcy. I have AE Delta Platinum Card and they send companion ticket. (Short) you call special 800#, thay give you price for 1 ticket (with blackout dates) which is over twice what you can buy 2 tickets with no black out dates, or in our case book thru Louisville, Ky. and get 3 tickets.

Gretchen

Companion fare vouchers can be a really good deal but you have to pick the time right.

GoTravel

upperwestside, according to the airlines Contract Of Carriage, LEGALLY, Delta Airlines must compensate you for a bump.

If you do not get your vouchers, I would go to the airport ($800 in vouchers is worth it to me to make the trek to a ticket counter) and ask for Delta's Contract Of Carriage.

Do you live in NYC? There is a Delta ticket counter in Grand Central that would save you a trip to the airport.

Lastly, also post this quandry on FlyerTalk.com. Many many airline employees frequent that forum. Those people are serious travelers.

rkkwan

About the companion ticket from the Delta AE Platinum card...

Whether it makes sense depends on where you're flying. For example, within zone 5 & 6, two can travel for $238. That covers a huge area from California to the Dakotas. It's a good deal if you fly out that way.

And within zone 1, 2 & 3, two can fly for $278. That includes the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast. Again good deal.

But if you need to fly from 1-4 to 5/6, then it's $399, and it's not a good deal.

You have to use the coupon intelligently...

upperwestside

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!
In the mail today, I received a lovely and apologetic letter from Delta with a new $400 voucher. I am SO happy - not that this was anything I didn't deserve, because I clearly did, but that I got decent customer service from a major corporation. So, this goes to show that a polite but firm letter with the proper documentation (SAVE YOUR BOARDING PASSES!) can get you what you deserve! Thanks for all the help and advice.