I didn't mean to offend any one by my first post. I'm really just upset with Delta. My first post was probably a little hard to follow because I had just gotten off the phone with them and after four months I couldn't get a straight answer. I was very frustrated.
Thanks you bugswife1 for understanding. When you can only go on vacation when your kids have a brea, you have to make the most of it.

Travel_gal, I'm sorry...... from the first paragraph of your first post, I got the impression that they offered you $22 per person per day to rent ski clothes, and you tried to tell them you needed ski clothes, not equipment, but they didn't understand......... so you didn't take them up on it, and decided it would be better to just buy clothes and straighten it out when you got home? If that is not the case, I apologize... that's how I've been reading it.

Now another question - when you say you submitted receipts, are these receipts for the NEW clothes or are they receipts for the clothes in your lost bag? I would think it would only be the clothes in the lost bag that they'd be reimbursing for, right? That's a confusing part of this whole thing for me..... I assume they're supposed to reimburse you for what you LOST, and they were willing to give you $22 per person per day to RENT clothes to replace them, until they knew if the bag was lost or not. But that they are not responsible for the new clothes you bought, from their perspective.

I really am not and have not been attacking you; I'm sorry if it seemed that way - things don't always come across as I'm sure we mean them to in cyberspace. Good luck!

All this talk of comuunication problems reminds me - several years ago a friend of ours had just come down from India. He went into McDonalds' and placed his order. The lady at the counter asked the obligatory question "for here to go" in the rapid staccatto that fast food employees often use.

Now in India we would say eat in or take out.
So here's our friend asking the lady to repeat what she said. So after she said "for here or to go" for the third time he had a flash of inspiration and told the astonished woman - whatever you suggest Ma'am.

GracieB - thanks!

Indie - cute story!

Hey Bonnie
I wasn't accusing you of attacking me , it was gracieb. When I first reported my bag missing when I got off the plane they said that if they did not find it in 24 hours they would pay me $22.a day per person to rent clothes. They also assured me that they rarely lost baggage and that they would probably find it and "that it would probably be on the next flight to SLC that night" I figured that was correct and I would have my luggage soon. I called that night and again in the morning to see if they had located it. They had no idea where it was. By his time, I was talking to someone in India who was very difficult to understand. Every time I asked a question I was put on hold so they could ask someone else the answer. They didn't have a clue plus they could not understand me and I could not understand them. Anyway, they said they didn't know where the bag was and the I should rent ski clothes. I had no idea where to rent ski clothes. I went into ever store in DeervValley(there are not that many) and no one rented ski clothes. I'm not from utah and I am only familiar with Deer Valley. I even asked the concierge at the hotel about renting ski clothes and they just laughed. I had no choice but to buy new clothes. We had nothing to ski in.
The reciepts were for the new clothes. I don't have the receipts for what was in the bag. We didn't buy that much. Anyway, I don't expect Delta to pay for everything, but they have offered NOTHING. I would gladly take $22.per day per person but they don't want to pay anything. That's my point. Thry lost my bag for 3 months but they don't want to pay ANYTHING. Shouldn't they pay me something? It was lost for 3 months. But no, it was not you who I thought was attacking me. I'm sorry I confused you.

last month they found it and delivered it to me. I really don't want it and I still haven't looked in it.
Did you open your bag?

Well, what you are saying now is a different story. Why did you not explain your story in full from the begining? Hmm!

No I still have not opened my bag. And no I have not changed my story, I just think I'm explaining it a bit better.

I can't believe I just sat here and read all 80-something responses. My body is still on Hawaii time and my mind is trying to catch up.

Back in the dark ages of good customer service, all of my son's shoes were stolen from his checked luggage on Delta enroute to SLC from Tampa. I knew we were in trouble when it came out on the belt with that tell-tale yellow tape like a crime scene. The lock was gone and the suitcase had been neatly unzipped and left that way. Clearly someone at Delta had a shoe fettish.

A Delta rep wrote a $200 check on the spot for the loss. Before I get slammed about the cost, it was the custom-made orthopedic insoles for his shin splints that ran up the tab--the shoes were worth about 50 bucks. Since we'd planned a lot of hiking, we had to spend about $150 to replace the boots so he could enjoy the trip with his leg issue.

The moral of that story is if it's really important, don't check it. I too have been guilty of packing all of our ski stuff in one or two bags for convenience sake. I have three kids and I would have been terribly upset to have those bags lost. Ski stuff is expensive which is why we buy the good stuff and pass it down from kid-to-kid (our oldest never got to have the cute pink parka she always wanted because it was recycled to sons one and two!) as well as the good long underwear, socks etc.

As upset as I would be if Delta lost the stuff, I still think it was reasonable of Delta to request renting the clothing so they could have a chance to look for the bag. It was an unfortunate gamble that travel_girl took and lost when she spent that much to the replace the clothes. It's a tough call because you can get miserably cold on the slopes without your own stuff, teenage boys are TOUGH to fit and it can ruin a skiiing vacation.

The style in which one chooses to travel is not relavent to this issue and I didn't like the mean-spirited attack on travel_girls presumed mode of travel. Civilty is a crucial element on this board which is what keeps it enjoyable in addition to being informative. Bonniebroad--I've been gone for three weeks (a CA/HI trip report is brewing in my head)butI know you couldn't go from a pussy cat to a pit ball in that short time--you're the most polite person here you Southern Belle!

It's not that Delta is trying to drive you nuts, rather that you must resist allowing them to do that to you. You must learn to work the system. Figure out how to prevail and skip up the layers of obstacles.

Count me as another one who has just sifted through 80-something replies! Travel_gal, I'm burning with curiosity as to why you won't open your luggage. If an airline had lost my clothes for as long as they lost yours, I'd have had that bag opened before it even had crossed the threshold. What are you going to do with your bag (if you don't mind me being nosy)?

Jayne, bless your heart! Thank you. I can hardly wait to read your CA/HI trip report so let's get it out of your head soon!

Bonniebroad...and just how did you mean that "bless your heart"? Just kidding.

Jayne, you DID it!!! Another flight successfully under your belt. That's terrific.

Hey there, O.O. Bless your heart, too! Jayne, that's right!!! Another flight under your belt...... had forgotten you weren't looking forward to that part. Way to go! Now, get going on that report!

Message: Jayne11159.. Thanks for your response. Sure,it may be reasonable to ask someone to rent clothes while they look for a bag but I tried that. Delta gave me no info as to how to do that and when we got to the hotel that night we also asked the Concierge if he knew any store that would do that. The hotel said they only knew stores that rented ski equipment. Anyway, we had to go to every store in Deer valley(they are only a few) to buy clothes since it was the end of the season and there were slim pickins' but before we bought anything I asked if they rented clothes. They ALL looked at me like I was nuts. Anyway, I tried. I didn't want to spend my whole vacation looking for a place that rented clothing. It's not that I didn't try. It's really hard to rent items when your on vacation and your not familiar with the area. As I mentioned before, I called Delta several times but i always got someone from India where they have a call center. The people at the call center in India had no idea where to rent clothing in Salt Lake City. I also did not have a car so I was limited to Deer Valley.

But why, why, why won't you open your luggage????

This is ridiculous... I can't believe this topic has amassed over 90 posts in less than two days.

Look, you aren't going to get anywhere by continuing to post on this topic. You say you want advice. Well, I quickly replied with advice that could help you. Or, just write the CEO a letter and overnight it to him and anyone else that you think is important. They are a public company so a little research on the web will yield you plenty of names, addresses, etc. You can also CC the BBB if you want to get their attention. It's not that difficult. If you put as much effort into that as you have in responding to these pointless posts, you could be well on your way to getting this resolved.

Goodness! And I thought I was a cynic, but some of you guys are brutal.
Yes travel_gal, I personally think you should be compensated for something. I wouldn't expect for the entire amount though.
However, I don't get the not opening your bag. There are such things as washing machines and good detergent.
I like the suggestion of writing to the airline's president and head of customer relations (when you write to customer relation, put in letter that you sent similar letter to the president). The local tv/consumer reporter angle is good too.
I guess know you know not to pack everything in one bag (bulky clothes for 4 people in one bag - I'm impressed).

Bonniebroad and 00--
Yep--I went up and down in an airplane 14 times and lived to tell about! The trip report will be out once my post-flight hangover is gone (you didn't expect me to do all that flying without liquid courage did you?!)