Judy24

OK, maybe my reading comprehension skills are rusty, but I just skimmed these posts, and I don't see anywhere where it says that travelgal actually got a single penny from Delta thus far.

I agree she has practically no chance of getting $2500. But if the written policy is $125 reimbursement per ticket passenger, and assuming there were 4 in her case, shouldn't she have already received a check for $500? Did I miss this part?

Let's face it, whether or not she's ever looked inside her returned suitcase is completely beside the point. Fishy or not, it doesn't change the fact that she was without her suitcase during the entire course of her trip and needs some compensation for that ($500, not $2500). I thought the gist of what travelgal was saying was that if Delta would give her the $500, she may or may not be able to get AE to cough up some more money. But whether or not that will happen, I got the impression that Delta had given her $0 at this point. If that's the case, that's unacceptable.

Now, everyone can please tell me where I'm misreading this.

gracieb

I agree completely, Judy24. Thus my too lengthy post about my positive experiences with Delta Customer Service. It is completely unlike Delta NOT to promptly take care of a situation. That's why I first said something smells fishy. The more I read, the stranger the tale. My guess is that she has been verbally pushing for as much of the $2500 she spent from Delta (before going to Amex to try to recover the remainder).

It it's at Loss Prevention now, how in the world does she expect any resolution if she won't even open the bag to check if all the contents are there?

If you were a customer service manager, how would you handle this one?

Another point to consider - only 1 bag was lost (that held the entire ski wardrobe for a family of 4). That bag was in one person's name. Actually, according to Delta's written documentation, she is only owed $125 for one bag checked by one person.

z

<They told me they would give each of use $22. to rent clothes. I kept telling them thess were ski clothes not ski equipment but it never sank in. I figured I'd straighten it out when I got home.>

It seems she did not accept this offer, hopping for more.

Also nobody here says she should not receive $125x4= $500.00

Like someone else said Delta owns her something but not a whole amount she spent for clothes. After all she got her clothes.

travel_gal, donate your clothes to non-profit organization and you will get a nice tax break.

z

Gracieb, I missed that. You right, Delta owes her $125.00
I read your post after mine got posted

Judy24

gracieb points out "Another point to consider - only 1 bag was lost (that held the entire ski wardrobe for a family of 4). That bag was in one person's name. Actually, according to Delta's written documentation, she is only owed $125 for one bag checked by one person."

Very good point. I hadn't picked up on that (see what I mean when I say my comprehension skills are rusty???) and it would be interesting to see how that's interpreted. She did say it was per "ticketed passenger" so who knows how that will work.

But the point I was trying to make is that whatever the dollar amount ends up being ($125, $500, whatever) she should have received SOMETHING by this time, and that would allow her to follow through with AE. What reason does Delta give for doing nothing?

Shea

It's really funny & sad that any of you cannot put yourself in someone else's shoes. I can see a travel_gals point. For all of you folks - she is not asking for $2,500. She is asking for a fair compensation which the airlines surely owes her whether it's $250 or $1,000. Sure she can use those ski clothes again but the next trip West may be a year or two away. She has an extra set of ski clothes she doen't need due to the airlines losing her baggage & trust me the airlines do lose bags. That is a well known fact. I know if I lost baggage on a trip & required more than what I had on my back I would want some compensation from the airlines. The simple fact is that I would have to buy things with my money that I never had any intention to purchase. Lastly, believe it or not, but Delta does hire some people who are not very responsive to customers - just because it has never happened to you doesn't mean it never happens. You people are a sad lot.

bonniebroad

Gracieb, good "get".... the one bag, one $125 reimbursement.

Now, something like your ski clothes that you are just lost without on your first day of vacation? (You were wearing the jackets, right?) We're talking pants or suits/tops/socks, underwear here? Things that I can't function without, right away, I carry on. If it's something vacation-ruining if it's lost........ If you trust these items to checked luggage, you can find yourself in the situation you did. I think we all have to accept responsibility for our decisions, sometimes unwise, in this regard............... because you hear lost luggage stories EVERYDAY!

z

She sounds like my sister. Give me all or I won't rest until you do. I bet Delta try to offer whatever their rules allows but travelgal said that's not good enough. Just like in the begining
" They told me they would give each of use $22. to rent clothes. I kept telling them thess were ski clothes not ski equipment but it never sank in." Did she accept $88.00 for rental?

gracieb

I am now. If we are figuring the $125 per bag lost, only 1 bag was lost.

I agree she declined the $22 per person for clothes rental. I'm not sure if that was per person per day for the trip. In any case, she didn't accept that offer.

I think she checked the website or other documentation and saw the baggage limit was $2500 and spent that much. Isn't it a bit strange that she spent exactly that amount? My guess is she thought Delta would accept "replacement" value.

Delta "cheerfully" handled Dan's situation and gave him money to buy new clothes while his bags were still misplaced (but on their way) in SF.

I am surprised that a resolution wasn't found easily and within days while she was still on her trip. My guess is she refused their offers because she felt she was entitled to more (and had already spent $2500 the first morning) Remember, she didn't have time to shop any spring sales - they had to get out to the slopes.

Someone, please give me $625 to buy my next ski wardrobe - without coat! I deserve it!

mikemo

Unlike the US court system, this "ain't" a lottery.
More than a few need real world expectations.
M

z

"I figured I'd straighten it out when I got home."
Your bag got lost on your arrival at your vacation destination and you decided to wait until you get home?

gracieb

I agree Shea. I would expect Delta to compensate in some way. It just appears (the best we can figure out) that travel-gal refused their compensation offers and took matters in her own hands.

I agree with Bonniebroad. Has anyone ever gone to a ski vacation and put ALL their warm clothes in just one bag. Has any family every packed ALL their ski clothes in one bag. The entire ski wardrobe for a family of 4 in one bag?!?!?! And if they did, would they NOT have SOME warm articles of clothing to wear until Delta delivered their delayed bag?

Remember, she went out the next morning and bought an entire new ski wardrobe for 4 having no idea if the lost bag would arrive in 3 hours or 3 days (or 3 months). Would you spend $2500 in one fell swoop like that? Hmmm...

And to spend $2500 on the 6 articles of clothing she said she bought per person is WAY more than I've ever paid for.

And, yes, I have bought ski clothes in Breckenridge on spring break.

The pieces of the puzzle just don't fit. Don't know why. It's been a puzzle since last night.

obxgirl

travel_gal quotes Delta in her 7/27 9:33 pm post:

"If your bag is expected more than 24 hours after flight arrival Delta will authorize up to usd 25 per day for neccessities after the first 24 hours up to a maximum of usd 125 per ticketed customer."

I would interpret that to mean each ticketed passenger would get the $25/day allowance. Lots of couples travel with only one bag...would you expect them to split the $25?

And regardless of whether it's $1 or $10,000, Delta should have made payment or provided status for failing to in under 90 days.

Come on people, no need to vilify travel_gal with speculation about her motives. She's doing a pretty good job on her own.

gracieb

Okay, I'm going to pretend I'm Delta Customer Service.

Person # 1 - I'm the person in Bombay who doesn't speak English. I offer $22 per person for clothes rental but the lady keeps telling me that she didn't lose gear, she lost CLOTHES! We have communication problems. I document that she refuses the offer for rental compensation.

Person # 2- It's my job to compensate for lost bags. This part is undocumented but there is a possibility that an offer for the $125 delayed bag was refused as well. Or, it may be Delta's policy to continue to look for the lost bags before they compensate.

Person # 3 - I'm the hero! NOT! I find the lady's bag misplaced in a store room but she is not happy and does not want her clothes back.

Anonymous Persons #4 to ???? - Lucky ones that answered lady's phone calls.

Person #5+ - Loss Prevention Manager - I need to confirm that the bag arrived safely with all contents in place so financial resolution can be made, but lady won't open up bag because (ick!) who knows where it's been for 3 months. I think I'll just tell her I'm on vacation and deal with this later.

Hmmm... Hopefully Delta will find a way to cut a check for $125 soon so Amex can have fun and games. TAG - you're it!

bonniebroad

Good point, obxgirl, about the per person rather than per bag, it seems. I believe you're right. I think what's confusing us all is that, apparently, travel_gal didn't try to work it out with Delta until AFTER she got home, from her statement above - "I figured I'd straighten it out when I got home." And went out and spent $2500 for ski clothing for four people..... I have skiers in my family who like GOOD ski stuff, but they don't spend nearly that much. And Gracie makes a good point; her bags could have arrived three hours after she spent that! And she would still have had two sets of ski clothes now. I think Delta owes her something.......... but probably not what she'd like to have.

gracieb

My final thought, obxgirl. I have always known Delta to take good and prompt care of situations - at least for me and those I know that travel Delta regularly out of Atlanta.

I agree that it is very strange that there has been no resolution several months later. That led me to the impression that there is/was more to the story. Most of what I've said and written is speculation on my part as I attempted to decipher travel-gal's post. My speculations may be somewhat right, partially right or not at all right.

Again, I am going to bow out...and TRY to keep my mouth (or would that be my fingers?) quiet.

Without more information, anything else I would add would continue to be speculation.

obxgirl

gracieb, I agree with you about Delta. I've had good experience with them and responsive customer service when glitches have occurred. Depite the histrionics, this clearly isn't true for travel_gal.

The $25/day allowance isn't to compensate for a lost bag but is for necessities needed while waiting for the late bag to show up. If that's Delta's policy, as a minimum they owe her that (or a status) regardless of whether the bag was recovered.

Finally, I agree with you to be done now with this squishy story. If further facts emerge, let's get together and vote her off the island.

Judy24

Thank you obxgirl for stating so concisely what I've been trying to say in my long-winded way!

As I mentioned previously, although it was a good catch about their having only one bag, the policy did state it was per ticketed passenger, so the compensation amount could really be open to interpretation.

And again, it's not even the amount so much as the fact that so far she's received NOTHING. That's just not right.

And finally, I just have to say that after rereading some of these posts, I'm uncomfortable with some of the underlying hostility I'm detecting. I'm not quite sure why some posters are treating this as some type of devious plot or conspiracy, but there seems to be a lot anger directed against travelgal's perceived financial status. What was the point of trotting out her preference for expensive hotels together with other personal information? How was that relevant to this issue? I can only assume someone went to the trouble of researching her other postings. Seems a lttle like a lynch mob mentality. Why keep harping on the fact that she spent $2500. Maybe that's her lifestyle? Just because you might choose to handle things differently doesn't make her wrong. I guess if you're wealthy and lose your bags you're not entitled to compensation? What is the point of making a big deal that she packed in one bag? Why is that soooo suspicious? Why is it anyone's business? Again, that's not to say she should get everything back, but she is entitled to SOME compensation, and the only mystery I can see is why she hasn't received anything yet.

(I told ya I was long-winded.)

gracieb

Second big laugh of the day (squishy story!). Thanks obxgirl and ncgirl!!!

Dan

There's a story in USA Today's travel section (Today in the Sky article) about Delta considering an extra fee if you want to talk to a customer service agent in the U.S. rather than India! Now THAT is bad service and I'm hoping the higher-ups at Delta aren't really that dumb.

Having said that, the "outsourcing" employees I've dealt with in India (my bank, airlines and Dell) have all been pretty helpful and no better or worse than the folks I get here in the U.S. They are a bit "scripted," however, and don't do as well when presented with a unique problem. It's possible that they really didn't understand what "ski clothes" or "ski gear" means.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/today/sky.htm