Travel Awful Experience w/ Delta

tmc089

tmc089

O.G.
Oct 6, 2007
3,362
0
#1
This may turn really long so I apologize in advance! I was returning from Miami, flying out of the Fort Lauderdale airport through Delta. I was traveling with 2 friends, but we were all on 2 separate reservations.

We got up to the ticket counter and one of my friends, Laura, found out her seat got moved for the 4th time on our Delta flight. She asked an associate if anything could be done, since she was upset that she kept getting separated from us the whole time traveling. The employee stated you aren't paying for a particular seat, just *A* seat on the airplane, and that Delta had the right to switch up seats. Laura explained that while she understood that, she had never been on an airline that switched seats this often. (I'm really not much of a flier so I wouldn't know.) The employee offered to give her a seat upgrade for free, normally they're about $40. Laura said while she appreciated the gesture, she was already upset, and being moved even further away from her friends wouldn't fix the issue.

At this point, Laura turned to and said she wasn't ever going to fly Delta ever again. The employee said she could give her a refund immediately and reached over the counter to take the boarding passes out of Laura's hand. Laura said asked that she doesn't try to snatch things out of her hand, the employee said she wasn't snatching. Whatever.

Laura says to me that this is f***ing ridiculous. The employee says "there are more important things to worry about. My sister died at 40 years old due to cancer." Laura said I don't appreciate your rude-ness. While I'm sorry about your sister, that has nothing to do with the situation and right now I'm worried about my seat. They bantered for a minute longer, the employee clearly getting more and more angry, when Laura said "you're f***ing crazy" and walked away.

Sigh. NOW, the employee jumped over the ticket counter, GRABBED my friends arm, saying I'm what? I'm what? I'm f***ing crazy?! I was so freaked out! Tons of other employees came over trying to calm her down, including a supervisor. Laura said she wanted security called as the employee didn't immediately let go of her arm, it was ignored. At one point, Laura put her hand about 2 inches away from the emp's face telling her to get away from her. The woman kept saying hit me hit me! instigating the whole situation. At this point the supervisor threatened to cancel Laura's flight, but we just walked away.

We get through security fine, and as we're approaching our gate and I see 2 police officer's there looking at us. I knew something wasn't good. They approached Laura confirming her identity and told her she wouldn't be flying Delta today and she had to leave. Laura asked to file a report or if they could look at the tapes, the officer said he couldn't do either of those as it was a civil matter. She ended up getting a different flight and got home safely but WOWZA.

The day after we got home Laura called the sheriff's office telling them what happened and they said the officer most definitely should've filed a report since she asked him to. The same officer we spoke to at the airport called her back saying they did indeed look at the tapes and they can see the employee jumping the counter but nothing else. Also, the employee is now saying Laura punched her in the nose...?!?

Is this not the craziest thing?? Has anyone else had experiences like this? I'm still in disbelief. Sorry for such a long post!
 
#2
Although Delta' CS leaves much to be desired, and the employee's behavior was not entirely appropriate, I don't think your friend acted appropriately either. The employee tried to rectify things by offering the upgrade, then a refund, but your friend was still upset. What did she want then? I wouldn't expect to be near my friends unless we all booked together on 1 reservation or paid to request a specific seat.

I don't think it was necessary to insult someone by saying they're f-ing crazy...
 
#3
That's nuts. I've never flown delta or maybe I have but blocked it out of my memory. The way the employee lost control makes me think she's sick of her job and isn't sane enough to be dealing with the public. She needs help bigtime. I don't agree with your friend saying she's effing crazy but nothing justifies violent behaviour.
 
#4
Yeah, the Delta employee was clearly under stress and should've been on a leave of absence instead of being at work. She behaved inappropriately, for sure. However, your friend should've just taken the upgrade because that was a form of compensation. And her use of profanity just added fuel to the fire.

But I wonder why Delta chose to give her an upgrade instead of just moving her seat? Upgrades are hard to come by these days. Strange.
 
#5
They both acted inappropriately but not being able to sit next to your friends is a pretty minor inconvenience as far as travel goes. She should have just taken the upgrade and moved on. There's always a possibility you'll be separated from your group especially if you're not on the same reservation.
 
#8
Longchamp said:
Both behavior s are frightening. You might need to find new friends.
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This ^^^
Laura is an entitled jerk. So much of what she said was way out of line. She was looking to be 'right.'
Now she going to be flagged everytime she travels, which she obviously deserves.

In the real world, we don't always get our way. Something she must not know or too immature to understand.

How does the employee at Delta 'jump over' the counter. I fly often. I don't think I have ever seen a counter less than waist high. Some are chest high.
 
#9
Vegas Long Legs said:
How does the employee at Delta 'jump over' the counter. I fly often. I don't think I have ever seen a counter less than waist high. Some are chest high.
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I really didn't see her get over the counter. She may have gone through that open space where you can measure your carry on? I'm just glad we all made it home!
 
#10
Quite frankly, the Delta employee sounds crazy and your friend sounds like a jerk. I wonder what kind of ticket she purchased? I have never had my seat moved when I've purchased directly through the Delta website, but I can believe it happens. Seems excessive to have had it moved four times though.

Glad you guys made it home safely and that things didn't escalate further.
 
#11
buzzytoes said:
Quite frankly, the Delta employee sounds crazy and your friend sounds like a jerk. I wonder what kind of ticket she purchased? I have never had my seat moved when I've purchased directly through the Delta website, but I can believe it happens. Seems excessive to have had it moved four times though.

Glad you guys made it home safely and that things didn't escalate further.
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Ah, we didn't go directly through Delta. We did Kayak cause it was so much cheaper. I'm not sure if that would affect anything or not?
 
#12
tmc089 said:
Ah, we didn't go directly through Delta. We did Kayak cause it was so much cheaper. I'm not sure if that would affect anything or not?
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That's probably why - I don't know why they would assign a seat ahead of time but my guess is Kayak would assign a seat, but if someone else booked that particular seat through Delta then that person would be given priority. Like the ticket agent said, she paid for a seat on the plane but not a particular seat.
 
#13
Air travel is so stressful these days. I try to avoid it although dh is a retired airline employee and we're eligible for space available travel. He didn't fly for Delta but he did fly for an airline that gets very poor customer service ratings.

I've never had or heard of good experiences with Delta. They are known in the industry as the dregs for the way they treat passengers; some years ago their pilot training wasn't so good either. I think that's gotten better since then.
 
#14
The only issue I see here with Delta as a corporation is the seat changing. The Delta employee could've had no prior incidents before your friend set her off. So the corporation can't be blamed for the incident. They can't control their employees at all times.

Did you check-in before you got to the airport? The only time I've had my seat changed on a flight, after I'd checked in, was when the flight had to change to a smaller plane. And I travel quite a lot.
 
#15
boxermom said:
Air travel is so stressful these days. I try to avoid it although dh is a retired airline employee and we're eligible for space available travel. He didn't fly for Delta but he did fly for an airline that gets very poor customer service ratings.

I've never had or heard of good experiences with Delta. They are known in the industry as the dregs for the way they treat passengers; some years ago their pilot training wasn't so good either. I think that's gotten better since then.
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I remember the drama with the pilot training, specifically on the smaller airlines that operate through the bigger ones! They have a name, I just don't remember. But we were on one of those teeny tiny planes my first flight and WOW was it tiny! I was thinking I hope the whole traveling experience isn't this cramped! Luckily it wasn't, but yes, the whole process is SO stressful!
 
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