Terrible Delta customer service

[Delta Technician]

A family member passed away and I went to purchase tickets to get to the East coast (flying out of SFO) as soon as possible. Somehow, things were miscommunicated and my tickets ended up being for 2 weeks from now, so I was at the airport, trying to check in for my flight only to find that I wasn't actually on the 9;45 out of SFO to Newark.

I asked the Delta representative behind the counter for help... that I needed to get to Newark for the funeral as soon as possible. Not only did the representative completely ignore me at first, he then told me to walk over to the counter to pick up a phone and call a customer service representative because he could not help me. The customer service representative offered me tickets for $1400 (and I mean, honestly, are they actually going to fill those seats considering the flight was in 1.5 hrs? do they really have to price them at $1400? Shouldn't they just try to get full capacity on the plane!?) and when I could not buy the tickets for $1400 (sorry, I'm only a year out of school with a low paying job), I was then offered tickets for 'only' $1200... oh and to clarify, these were the 'bereavement' fare. Wow... thanks for the empathy Delta.

I then asked if they could just help me find any flight on any airline out that night or early in the morning (It was already 10:30 at that time and I just wanted to get on a plane and get to the East coast). The cheapest flight they could offer me was $1000.

That's when I just gave up, sat in a corner in the airport crying and finally pulled out my laptop, tethered my phone to get the weak wifi, and sure enough, a quick search on Orbitz.com got me a flight for $670.

How can you possibly say that it's MORE EFFECTIVE to use ORBITZ than to deal with airline representatives to buy a plane ticket!? I was AT THE AIRPORT and the representatives ignored me and refused to offer me any help. I have had a long week, I lost a dear family member, my flights were messed up, I was stressed, and they were trying to sell me $1400 BEREAVEMENT FARE tickets. I paid 'full price' (no bereavement discount) for tickets on ORBITZ.COM and paid less than the 'bereavement' fare price and still flew out EARLIER than their offer. It's sad when I have to turn to Orbitz to get something done rather than work with the human being in front of me paid to be an airline representative.

First of all I have read nothing which says this person had the proper paper work from the funeral home which leads me to believe this whole thread is BS. If there is a bereavement, the funeral home is well equiped to provide the paperwork necessary to complete this process. Any gate or ticket agent who replied to this thread should have known this.

 

[FlyStorms]

"WN hasn't become what it has because it caters to every mistake and error of customers - if they did, they would shut down tomorrow because EVERYONE would be taking advantage of them. WN, DL, and every other succesful company sets a price for its product and it is the customer's responsibility to meet the terms of the product."

YOu're right, but you know what is free? Compassion! A little compassion and seeing what can be done to help go a long way.

I absolutely agree that it's up to the customer to double check what is printed and that the company can't give the farm away. BUT, how difficult is it to see what can be done to help out? How difficult is it to see if the ticket date can be changed, even if it is for a ridiculous fee? When people are going to funerals, it's pretty obvious that they can be distraught and not completely with it. If you've ever experienced that, you'd understand.

If this was your mother or wife traveling alone and there was an issue, wouldn't you want someone who is knowledgable at the ticket counter trying to look for alternative options? I'm stunned at the reactions with many of the folks on this board. Absolutely stunned.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Once again... how many people get on an internet chat board and say, "yes, I screwed up and I had to spend money because of MY mistake. The airline treated me fine given my mistakes."?

It doesn't happen.

Anyone who is told "no" is almost always going to be viewed with a jaundiced eye.

 

[Dignity]

Once again... how many people get on an internet chat board and say, "yes, I screwed up and I had to spend money because of MY mistake. The airline treated me fine given my mistakes."?

you need to go back and read the original post, the individual's perception or in this case first impression was not.. "treated me fine"

the individual acknowledged their mistake, the first thing that person wrote was feeling being ignored at the first point of contact.. within the airport..at the counter.

(that is more than likely the whole reason why that person is complaining, not necessarily about the price but more so, how that person felt they were treated)