F Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines

[Gas Man]

Ok so we all hear stupid stories... well here's another one. I will include all my emails (minus some personal info). But the basic thing here is simple.

I always pay the extra amount to have a non-stop flight. I hate lay overs. Just get me there. I did this for my mexico trip. I go to check in online 24hrs in advance and POOF. Delta eleminate the flight completely. The nonstop from Detroit to Cancun. GONE! And now instead of 4hrs of travel its nearly 8hrs. Instead of a 1030 flight its 7am. WTF! I call. She can't do anything but check me in or cancel. Call customer service m-f. WTF!

So I guess I can do that while on my layover. I speak to a delta person in memphis and they say to email thru the site not call. So I do.

Hello,
I am currently in a layover in Memphis, TN that was not part of our
travel plans. When I checked in online I found out that nwa had
eleminated our NON-STOP flight from DTW to Cancun. A flight that
I paid extra to have as NON-STOP. Further, this change by nwa, has
nearly doubled our travel time. It has also inconvienced my family with
drop off arrangements.
I would like to find out if nwa is going to back up this lack of
customer service with something more than an apology. As a loyal nwa
customer I find it hard to believe that they would treat their customers
so poorly.
Being I will be abroad and without voice coverage on my cell. Email may
be the best avenue of communication.
I was told by a nwa/delta employee at the airport that emailing nwa
would be a better way of communicating. That the customer service phone
number is a third party call center but emailing directly would be best.
That surely nwa directly would take care of me. That they value good
customer service. I sure hope he is correct.
Myself, wife, and brother were all traveling. My wife and I were
confirmation #XXXXXX and my brothers #ZZZZZZ. All have same last name.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
-Chris

Their reply

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the problems you and your
family experience with Northwest, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. On
behalf of Delta Air Lines, I apologize for the problems you all
experienced due to a schedule change and appreciate the opportunity to
further review your request for compensation.

I am truly sorry for the inconvenience you were caused when your
non-stop flight was rescheduled for a connecting flight change and
clearly understand your frustration. Please be advised that we do not
compensate those passengers who experience a schedule change for their
original itinerary. We must therefore respectfully decline your request
for compensation. Even so, feedback like you have provided will help us
to improve our overall customer experience. Be assured I will be
sharing your comments with our Network Planning and Analysis leadership
team for their future consideration with flight changes in this market.


Chris, your support is important to Delta, as well as to our
partners. We look forward to your continued patronage.

Sincerely,

Ashley P. Josh
Coordinator
Customer Care

Are you f'in kiddin me. My comments will help them? WTF

I would like respectfully inform you that myself, my family, and friends
will no longer be traveling with nwa, delta, or booking any vacations
with delta vacations like we did this one. I have always flown nwa, and
this was my first delta vacation. Unfortunately now it will be my last.
There are plenty of other providers such as apple, fun jet, etc, that I
can book thru and still ensure that nothing is booked with nwa/delta.

This simply isn't good customer service regardless of how well you word
it. Further I will continue to speak poorly to anybody that will
listen. I plan on calling my AAA travel agent and informing them of my
poor experience. I'm sure a company as reputable as AAA will be
displeased with such lack of good customer service.

Of coarse all of which can be eliminated with better customer service. I
also would like to have my case file elevated to a higher level of
management on your end. Please forward my email on ward. I will also
return from my vacation late saturday (per itinerary you can see by my
information provided). After which I would like to have your manager
call me personally. My cell should be on file but just in case
123-555-1212.

Respectfully,
-Chris

Nope, this woman will not budge... but I had forwarded these to my AAA agent as well. Love my BB in mexico

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your additional comments regarding the problems you and
your family experience with Northwest, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
On behalf of Delta Air Lines, I regret you are disappointed with our
reply. While we certainly appreciate your wish to contact our upper
level management teams, our Customer Care team has been designated to
reply on their behalf.

I understand you feel I did not adequately address your concerns. I was
happy to review your comments again to see if there was something I
missed. Respectfully, there is nothing more I can add.

Chris, we recognize this was not the response you expected to
receive and trust you will understand our position. We value your
business and hope you will continue to choose Delta.

Sincerely,

Ashley P. Josh
Coordinator
Customer Care

My inner calm is wearing thin with this company, but hey... the drinks are flowing and I'm sitting on the beach so I can use the entertainment

Well Ashley then you have made my choice easier. I will longer do any
business with nwa or delta. Thank you for aiding in a swift decision for
me. I will be forwarding this email string onward to everybody I know
and posting it to every online forum I can. Further to my aaa travel
agent.

For today, you have at the very least 15 people from sales. Some,
including myself, are in our late 20's/ early 30's and will be doing a
great deal of future travel. The parents and family attending are very
well traveled. They are appalled by nwa's handling of this and will also
be not traveling with any nwa/delta affiliates.

Good day!
-Chris

Toting the BS company lines till the end...

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your most recent e-mail regarding the problems you and
your family experience with Northwest, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
On behalf of Delta Air Lines, I regret your continued displeasure with
our previous responses.

I am genuinely sorry it was necessary for you to write me again. I was
concerned that I missed the purpose of your original communication so I
reviewed your comments with my Supervisor. After a lengthy discussion,
there is no further action we will take regarding your experience.

Chris, again, I am sorry your travel was unsatisfactory. I hope in
time you will provide us with another opportunity to restore your
confidence.

Sincerely,

Ashley P. Josh
Coordinator
Customer Care

I never responded at this point. I am pursueing it with AAA (whom I booked thru). Any further suggestions?

My #1 suggestion. F**K NWA and DELTA! Plenty of other fish in the sea.

[Homeslice]

Pretty sure someone in India is replying to you and just signing with an American name.

But yes, Northwest has always been the worst airline.

[Papa_Complex]

It seems to me that from a customer service point of view this should be a no brainer. If you downgrade the level of service that you are providing someone, then you reduce the cost of the service to a level that, at the very most, matches the cost that the lesser service would have cost. Back when I was a service manager I'd have knocked off an additional 10% as a good will gesture.

If the customer is still unsatisfied at that point, and he has every right to be, then you bump it upstairs for resolution. You don't stonewall with "we're sorries."

I haven't flown since I was a kid, but I hate connecting flights anyway. On two separate occasions I've ended up waiting for the girl of the moment in a Buffalo hotel room overnight, because the connecting flights were late and missed boarding for the next flight. I would pay extra for direct too.

[Trip]

Call them, no more emails, call them and demand to speak to the highest level person you can. If they won't do it. Keep calling them. They will eventually reimburse you once the expense of providing customer care to you is more costly than paying you off. It's an effective strategy that is a proven winner.

[Rider]

Chris, I'll speak with my wife. She worked as a travel agent for years so she may know an inside # or some other way to contact someone higher up. She may also have a suggestion on how to handle this further. I've personally heard her argue some specific complaints on behalf of her clients before with some success. Stay tuned.

[marko138]

I hate airplanes and will not get on them. Ever.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by marko138

I hate airplanes and will not get on them. Ever.

I swear, I design them to be safe.

[Homeslice]

But if they are overbooked, they are supposed to make an announcement at the gate asking for volunteers to give up their seat.....I don't think they would just send you home 60 minutes before the flight.

[azoomm]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

But if they are overbooked, they are supposed to make an announcement at the gate asking for volunteers to give up their seat.....I don't think they would just send you home 60 minutes before the flight.

Neither did I. Imagine having to make it somewhere... on someone else's schedule...

I used to travel 100%, leave Monday and come home Thursday EVERY week and I've NEVER experienced it. Their attitude about it was exactly like Gas had on email. They barely apologize and say "your bad experience has taught me how to improve our customer service" whatever THAT means....

[Mikey]

I fly constantly, so I've got some horror stories, but the worst was back in late june with American Airlines. I was booked on a flight from Wichita Falls, Texas to Okinawa, Japan, with short layovers in Dallas and San Francisco.

I showed up and checked in for my flight,went through security,the whole deal; then they decide to just up and cancel the flight. It's the only flight that day, so I can either wait until tomorrow, or try to drive the couple of hours to Dallas and hope I make it in time for the connecting flight leaving DFW. Trouble is, I have no car there and the rental agency at the airport is sold out.

AA decides that they are going to get us all down to Dallas by CHARTERING A FUCKING BUS. We all have to get our checked luggage, climb on a bus, and ride for four hours down to Dallas. We question them about refunds and are told that there will be nothing given. The attitude from AA is "we're still getting you there, what are you bitching about?" Of course, the bus gets to DFW too late for my connecting flight. I end up sitting around the airport all day (with my luggage) waiting on standby for the evening flight, which turns out to be full, so AA puts me up in a hotel and books me for the next morning.

The next morning, I get on the flight to San Francisco. It gets there late, and because I have to change terminals and everything, I almost miss my flight to Tokyo. I make it (just barely), and take the long trip to a country where customer service is not dead.

When I get to Tokyo (on time), I find out that the connecting flight that AA had booked me to Okinawa left hours ago, while I was still in the air. Turns out that someone at AA doesn't understand how time zones work. Great. There are no more flights from Tokyo Narita airport to Okinawa that day. I find a JAL (Japan Air Lines) customer service agent and explain the situation. He kicks ass. He takes care of me, gets me something to eat and drink, and starts working his ass off to get me home. He comes back with a buynch of options, and I choose the quickest route- take the bus across town to the other airport (Tokyo Hanaeda), and catch the last flight of the day to Oki. I had never ridden a bus in Japan or been to the other airport and I speak very little Japanese, but I am so well-cared for by the various employees that I come into contact with that it doesn't even matter. I get to Hanaeda just fine, catch my flight to Oki, and finally get home.

The trip should have taken me about 20 hours. I left on a Friday morning at 0600 and finally got there Sunday night at midnight, all because AA sucks at life.

That was not my first bad experience with AA, but unfortunately they are the airline of choice for government travel most of the time, so I don't get a choice. I'll probably end up on at least one of their birds on my way out of here- not looking forward to that.