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Delta - Miscellaneous Problems

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"K" of Plantation FL (10/30/04):
My spouse and I were not allowed to board our scheduled flight from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach becuase I would not turn over my camera or film. I tried to explain there was no film because it is a digital camera.I was told that photos are not allowed in airports. I remained seated and explained that they were not taking my camera.

My spouse, professor of law and member of the American Law Institute, stood up, all 4'11" of her, and asked about due process. My spouse and I were taken into a side room by police and security because the pilot said we were a potential threat. There is no law against taking photographs in an airport. I produced a business card with my photographic website. Meanwhile, the flight boarded, and the airline failed to give us a connection to Myrtle Beach.

I missed my sisters wedding, I spent 12 hours in the Atlanta airport, and flew back home to Florida.

Lindsay of Big Bear City CA (11/4/03):
I was supposed to depart from the Ontario, CA airport on Oct. 25, 2003. When I got there, the Delta Airlines line stretched all the way back to the door. We found out that the airport had been closed due to the wildfires in California, which is completely understandable - they have no control over that. What was really irritating was that no other airline had a line at all. The other airlines had the decency to notify their customers ahead of time.

I called reservations while standing in line and I re-booked on a flight leaving from the Los Angeles Airport. Delta refused to provide transportation for the hundreds of passengers the airline had left stranded in Ontario. Luckily my husband wasn't too far away yet! So we finally got to the airport and on our way ... 4 hours later than expected.

The return flight was even worse. My flight left on November 2, 2003 returning to Ontario airport early in the morning. My 16-month-old daughter and I settled into our seats for the flight. The flight took off as scheduled, but almost immediately began jerking around. The pilot came on the intercom and told us they were having problems with the airplane's nose gear retracting and they were trying to fix it. They tried a while longer and then announced we were returning to our departure airport. After a very bumpy emergency landing they got us to the gate and told us they were switching us to another flight that was about to leave.

At this point I'm already not going to make my connecting flight. So, we got on the new flight and the plane began backing up and suddenly stopped. This pilot announced that there was a problem with THIS plane also and the mechanics would have to take a look at it. About 30 minutes later I decided to call reservations because I was getting NO help from the flight attendants or any information from anyone. We got off the plane and they booked me on an American Airlines plane to get home.

My American Airlines flight was to leave out of another terminal that was quite a distance away. The Delta Airlines worker said she would send a van to pick me up. I waited and waited and they never came. So I went inside to ask another employee of Delta to send the van. Still nothing. I ended up having to get a cab to take me there or I would have missed my flight.

My luggage went to California on the Delta flight, and to this day I am still waiting for my luggage to be delivered.

Kihong of Cambridge MA (5/25/03):
The problem is about a mechanical delay of a Delta Air Line connection flight on April 23, 2003, from Boston Logan airport to JFK airport, New York. The problematic flight was included as a connection portion of a round-trip ticket from Boston to Seoul, Korea, which I purchased from Asiana Airlines. The purpose of my trip was to arrive just-in-time for my brother-in-law's wedding ceremony.

The Delta flight portion was scheduled to depart on 8:50pm, April 23, 2003 from Boston and arrive at JFK, NY at 10:06pm. The Asiana flight was scheduled to depart at 11:50pm from JFK towards Seoul, Korea. The Delta flight departed about 15 minutes behind the schedule(9:05pm), because one of their flight attendants arrived late. Shortly after departing (about 15 minutes) we experienced a mechanical deficit and returned back to Boston after flying for 1 hour (The plane landed around 10:10pm back in Boston).

We re-boarded on a substitute flight around 10:20pm and departed around 10:50pm. We finally arrived at JFK around 11:35pm. At the time I got at the Asiana Airlines agency, Asiana agents had already closed and left the check-in counter, and consequently, I missed my connection flight (Asiana OZ 221).

As a result, I had to accommodate myself at the airport and purchase a return flight to Boston the next morning on my own expenditure. I have claimed my damages with Delta Air Lines customer care services, including the cost for the original round-trip ticket that I purchased from Asiana Airlines. Delta has declined my request to reimburse the original air ticket and told me to contact directly Asiana Airlines for considerations.

My damages include the entire round-trip ticket: $1058.29, which has become devalued, since I was unable to use it on the scheduled day. Indirect cost of purchased goods that had to be returned because they were unable to be delivered by me (shipping and handling fee of the order ($6.96) and return ($10.7) of four books purchased). Loss of time for the flight and preparation of claims ($360 :$10/hours).

Swati of Cambridge MA (8/11/03):
I booked an airline ticket on Priceline to travel from Washington to Paris on the 18th of June. I did not have a paper ticket at the time of boarding, so I was not allowed to board the aircraft, but was instead asked to buy a delta ticket for $2,400.

The front desk delta person said I was entitled to a full refund if I were to mail her the Priceline paper ticket and even filled out the refund form for me. I traveled to Paris and extended my stay by a day (the delta person at the de Gaulle airport said that I would still be eligible for a refund as I had paid my full flight fare for $2,400.)

Now Delta says they will not be paying me my refund. They have been giving many different reasons from day one (today is day 14 of my crusade). They say that since I did not travel on the same flight, same day I am not eligible (this is totally reverse of what the front desk persons at Washington and Paris told us - they said that i was eligible for a full refund).

As a student, this trip to Paris has totally wiped out my savings ($3,200 for a ticket to Paris!) and the Delta people seem to be poorly informed - the customer care seems to be speaking a different language from the front desk and the refunds department is in its own world). I am quite sick of this business, but I don't know what to do.

Going to consumer court is expensive and (I head back to school in September), and takes too much time. Also Delta is making me an offer of refund for a portion of the refund, and I am wondering if I should accept it or I should continue fighting.

Anthony of Bronx NY (7/30/03):
Due to the gross negligence of a Delta employee whose name I failed to get but spoke with by telephone, I missed a very important flight. Not only did this person misrecord my information, but he misled me completely, leaving me stranded at LaGuardia airport with little recourse but to return home when I should have been boarding a flight to Tampa.

On the morning of July 14, 2003, my taxicab was involved in a fender bender, which caused me to miss my 11:45 am flight from LGA to TPA. I returned home and immediately called Delta to see what options were available to me as far as rescheduling, rebooking, etc for the following day. I was told that I could rebook without penalty if I could provide some documentation of the accident such as a doctor's note. As the collision was not serious, and as I walked away from it unscathed, I saw no doctor (upon arriving at the airport, I was informed that the telephone clerk recorded that I HAD seen a doctor, and had simply come away from an ER that I never went to, without proper documentation).

The car in which I was riding was a taxi, thus no accident report would be mine to present to Delta. I was told by this nameless and misguided Delta employee, that unless I wanted to pay a penalty fee and rebooking fee totaling nearly $200 more than the ticket cost me to begin with, my only option was to arrive early at the airport the following day and attempt to fly as a "Standby", thereby incurring a charge of only $25.00.

I foolishly believed him, and the following day, attempted to do this. I arrived on July 15, 2003 at the Delta ticket counter only to be told that "Standby" flights had been discontinued this past March. “I don’t know” is the only explanation I was offered when I asked why someone would tell me to attempt to fly standby, knowing that this option had been eliminated more than three months ago.

I did not understand why the RETURN ticket should also be void, since I had not in effect, missed my return flight. If my return flight date is in the future and has not yet come to pass, how could I have missed it, thereby devaluing the ticket?

I think it is inexcusable that Delta would place employees on the telephone who obviously do not know their job. At NO time was I informed of any midnight deadline. At NO time was it fully explained to me why my RETURN ticket was valueless. The woman who relayed this information to me seemed quite distracted and bored, and made no subtle gesture of rolling her eyes when I politely requested a bit of clarification on the issue.

I have been a faithful Delta customer for several years; however, I cannot continue to patronize a business that practices deceit and misrepresentation as a rule of engagement. It is absolutely absurd that I should have been expected to pay for my ticket TWICE over again, all because the people with the knowledge that I needed in order to make an informed contingency decision either chose not to share it, or misrepresented it to me. In either case, this experience has left a loyal customer resigned to NEVER flying Delta again, and I thought that someone should know.

I sent this to Delta and it was never answered or even acknowledged.

Ryan of Springfield IL (3/18/03):
I arrived at the St. Thomas VI airport from Atlanta, exited the aircraft, then disscovered I had left my wallet onboard. I then turned around to get it but was stopped by an officer. I explained I needed to get back on the plane to get my wallet. He pointed to a woman that works for Delta, then she radios to someone else. Then that someone else sends me to some one else.

Finally the third person radios to their superviser to check on board the plane for my wallet He asks where I was sitting. I was sitting in 36E. He radios back, "Can't find it" I say to her "Tell him it is in the seat pocket with the magazine where no one can see it."

So twenty minutes go by, I see a lady walking with a wallet in her hand. I then get my wallet back but without $700.00 cash. Superviser claims it could have been a passenger or a cleaning person. I know the wallet wasn't in veiw of anyone's eyesight because it was down in the pocket so far no one could see it, so I knew it couldn't be a passenger.

The only one that knew it was there was the superviser. He is the one who found it, but he is not the one who returned it. I think someone lined their pockets with my $700.

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