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I will NEVER ever step foot on another Delta plane!
15 years ago
Yesterday was the absolute WORST experience I've ever had with an airline. And I've flown on AirTran (if you've flown with them, you know the deal).
So I bought a ticket a few weeks ago for a flight to Augusta to spend some time with
pandapawlin before FWA. I even went to the extent of buying it on Delta.com so I wouldn't get an overbooked ticket (I'm forced to only get Delta because they run a monopoly at the small airport in Augusta. Well, US Airways is there too, but their tickets were much more expensive). So anyway, I get my ticket, come to the airport yesterday. All of my tickets print off with "Seat Request" on them. I didn't think much of it at the time, but from know on I know that's a VERY bad sign.
So the flight from Tampa to Atlanta went fine. I got a seat, got on, all good. The problems begin as soon as I get into the Atlanta airport.
I run on down to my terminal, because (of course), its 5 miles away. And when I get to the gate for Augusta, I'm on seat request again. The attendant is calling people up for seat assignments. Everyone except me. There's 3 people in line ahead of me talking to her, but I'm kinda leaning on the desk trying to get her attention because the plane is, well, about to leave.
Of course they oversold the flight and had 3 people more than they could fit. Which, personally, should be made illegal. So even though I PAID for my ticket just like everyone else did, I'm forced to wait for the next flight. But I'm not just waiting. I'M PUT ON FUCKING STANDBY. Really? Standby? Apparently when you buy your ticket, there's a secret "class" of ticket you're purchasing, which is completely undisclosed to you. And that "class" determines your priority on the plane, regardless of what you've paid.
So, of course, the three of us left behind were raising hell. They offered us either $400 toward another Delta flight, which I would have loved to say "take that $400 and shove it up your rectum." Or they could cut me a check right then and there for $66 as a "we're sorry." Could they give a refund for the flight? Suuure, but you wouldn't be allowed to land. Nevermind how much they've screwed you over.
So I take the $66 because that'll be nice spending money for FWA. The manager that's dealing with us runs off somewhere and, literally, NEVER came back. I guess he was afraid of confrontation. But that's very poor customer service. So we're waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally the first flight attendant gives me my new Standby ticket and the $400 credit. "Um, NO, I don't want this. I want the check!" "...Oh, that's not what he told me..." FUCKING IDIOT. So this whole time I'm sitting around waiting (potentially missing the next flight) is because of THEIR fault.
Another manager appears this time and proceeds to explain to me that they don't have access to the checks right now because the higher-up managers are "in a class" and can't get out. And they can only hand me the check in person (can't mail it or deposit it). So this is where I'm REALLY getting frosted over. You DO NOT, under any circumstances, put your customer on the back-burner for "a class."
Imagine if I were working in the hospital and a family member comes up to the Nurse's station and says "So-in-so is lying in a pile of their own shit, can someone come clean him up?" "Oh I'm sorry, your tech is Lindsay and she's in a class right now." That would not fly, so why is it ok for it to happen in an airport?
So, at this point, it's 8:00pm (when I originally should have been landing). The next flight is at 8:30. I'm standing at the desk, very impatiently, waiting for this lady to return with the check. Because if I left, they couldn't give it to me. She finally waltzes up at 8:15 (I could have slapped her for walking so slowly) and starts writing stuff down. So I ask her "Will I make this next flight? I have to go over a terminal?" "Oh yeah hun, you should make it."
I grab my check and literally run all the way. And, if you didn't know, I have a fear of escalators. Like, a terrible fear of them. I'm generally a rational person, but this is one of those irrational things about me. And the elevators are all fucked up and not opening, so I'm forced to go up 2 stories on the escalator. I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
But anyways, I run the rest of the way to the gate, give my ticket to the guy and say "I'm getting on this flight." Which he, very rudely, said "No...you're not." If there were no chance I'd get arrested, I would have learned across the counter and swiped his eyeballs out. The tone in his voice and overall response was just...RUDE. So I tell him I need a HIGH UP manager because I've VERY angry. "You mean you need to speak with a manager?" No dickhead, I wanna buttfuck them. YES I WANT TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER.
Again, I'm directed toward another person who really doesn't give a shit by their attitude, but will listen. I tell the lady my story, and all she can say is "You knew this was a risk when you bought your ticket." Um, NO! FUCK NO! Maybe in the teeny-tiny TOS print or something, but not anywhere where a normal human being can read. So she's giving me this whole line of bullshit about how all airlines do this. But she does print me out a ticket for the 10:50pm flight (which, mind you, I SHOULD have left at 7:00pm). And the ticket has a seat assignment on it, THANK GOD. Seat 1C. Bitching gets you somewhere eventually.
And, as a way to say "we're sorry," they gave me a $7 food voucher. Which bought me a small ice cream cone and a water. Awesome.
I'm so terrified they're gonna pull this shit on the way home, because I have NO time to spare getting home (I have clinical the next day). If my ticket gets "Seat Request" on it, I'll probably scream.
And that is why I will NEVER step foot on a Delta plane another day in my life. And I will NEVER fly to Atlanta again. 8 hours of driving is so totally worth it to avoid the headaches and utter frustration.
So I bought a ticket a few weeks ago for a flight to Augusta to spend some time with
pandapawlin before FWA. I even went to the extent of buying it on Delta.com so I wouldn't get an overbooked ticket (I'm forced to only get Delta because they run a monopoly at the small airport in Augusta. Well, US Airways is there too, but their tickets were much more expensive). So anyway, I get my ticket, come to the airport yesterday. All of my tickets print off with "Seat Request" on them. I didn't think much of it at the time, but from know on I know that's a VERY bad sign. So the flight from Tampa to Atlanta went fine. I got a seat, got on, all good. The problems begin as soon as I get into the Atlanta airport.
I run on down to my terminal, because (of course), its 5 miles away. And when I get to the gate for Augusta, I'm on seat request again. The attendant is calling people up for seat assignments. Everyone except me. There's 3 people in line ahead of me talking to her, but I'm kinda leaning on the desk trying to get her attention because the plane is, well, about to leave.
Of course they oversold the flight and had 3 people more than they could fit. Which, personally, should be made illegal. So even though I PAID for my ticket just like everyone else did, I'm forced to wait for the next flight. But I'm not just waiting. I'M PUT ON FUCKING STANDBY. Really? Standby? Apparently when you buy your ticket, there's a secret "class" of ticket you're purchasing, which is completely undisclosed to you. And that "class" determines your priority on the plane, regardless of what you've paid.
So, of course, the three of us left behind were raising hell. They offered us either $400 toward another Delta flight, which I would have loved to say "take that $400 and shove it up your rectum." Or they could cut me a check right then and there for $66 as a "we're sorry." Could they give a refund for the flight? Suuure, but you wouldn't be allowed to land. Nevermind how much they've screwed you over.
So I take the $66 because that'll be nice spending money for FWA. The manager that's dealing with us runs off somewhere and, literally, NEVER came back. I guess he was afraid of confrontation. But that's very poor customer service. So we're waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally the first flight attendant gives me my new Standby ticket and the $400 credit. "Um, NO, I don't want this. I want the check!" "...Oh, that's not what he told me..." FUCKING IDIOT. So this whole time I'm sitting around waiting (potentially missing the next flight) is because of THEIR fault.
Another manager appears this time and proceeds to explain to me that they don't have access to the checks right now because the higher-up managers are "in a class" and can't get out. And they can only hand me the check in person (can't mail it or deposit it). So this is where I'm REALLY getting frosted over. You DO NOT, under any circumstances, put your customer on the back-burner for "a class."
Imagine if I were working in the hospital and a family member comes up to the Nurse's station and says "So-in-so is lying in a pile of their own shit, can someone come clean him up?" "Oh I'm sorry, your tech is Lindsay and she's in a class right now." That would not fly, so why is it ok for it to happen in an airport?
So, at this point, it's 8:00pm (when I originally should have been landing). The next flight is at 8:30. I'm standing at the desk, very impatiently, waiting for this lady to return with the check. Because if I left, they couldn't give it to me. She finally waltzes up at 8:15 (I could have slapped her for walking so slowly) and starts writing stuff down. So I ask her "Will I make this next flight? I have to go over a terminal?" "Oh yeah hun, you should make it."
I grab my check and literally run all the way. And, if you didn't know, I have a fear of escalators. Like, a terrible fear of them. I'm generally a rational person, but this is one of those irrational things about me. And the elevators are all fucked up and not opening, so I'm forced to go up 2 stories on the escalator. I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
But anyways, I run the rest of the way to the gate, give my ticket to the guy and say "I'm getting on this flight." Which he, very rudely, said "No...you're not." If there were no chance I'd get arrested, I would have learned across the counter and swiped his eyeballs out. The tone in his voice and overall response was just...RUDE. So I tell him I need a HIGH UP manager because I've VERY angry. "You mean you need to speak with a manager?" No dickhead, I wanna buttfuck them. YES I WANT TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER.
Again, I'm directed toward another person who really doesn't give a shit by their attitude, but will listen. I tell the lady my story, and all she can say is "You knew this was a risk when you bought your ticket." Um, NO! FUCK NO! Maybe in the teeny-tiny TOS print or something, but not anywhere where a normal human being can read. So she's giving me this whole line of bullshit about how all airlines do this. But she does print me out a ticket for the 10:50pm flight (which, mind you, I SHOULD have left at 7:00pm). And the ticket has a seat assignment on it, THANK GOD. Seat 1C. Bitching gets you somewhere eventually.
And, as a way to say "we're sorry," they gave me a $7 food voucher. Which bought me a small ice cream cone and a water. Awesome.
I'm so terrified they're gonna pull this shit on the way home, because I have NO time to spare getting home (I have clinical the next day). If my ticket gets "Seat Request" on it, I'll probably scream.
And that is why I will NEVER step foot on a Delta plane another day in my life. And I will NEVER fly to Atlanta again. 8 hours of driving is so totally worth it to avoid the headaches and utter frustration.
If you were me you wouldn't have this problem......I would've driven because I have a huuuuuge fear of heights.....and planes because of the heights they reach T_T
I don't like planes in general... Fear of heights.
Poor you.. Sorry to hear about that "experience" =( I sure hope nothing like that ever happens to you again.
Sorry you had to go through that, Rhu.
Thanks for the warning, though. :U Ima make sure not to bother with them if I ever need a flight.