Delta Air Lines

He was not helpful and told us that we had the most restrictive tickets and they would not be able to place us on another flight without us paying for new tickets. Did not offer any sort of a discount and made us feel like we were a burden. Absolutely the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE we have experienced. We advised the manager that we had traveled with Delta just in the past week 4+ times, after this experience we will no longer be using an airline that treats their customers like garbage.

The customer service is AWFUL. No one is answering in NY, Frankfurt. Delta employees have no information, and someone on the phone told my mom I should have packed these things in my carry on. The audacity! I have been 3 days without this bag and now I am going on a trip that I planned months ago to see family in Italy. So I will be without my personal items for another 2 weeks. I was told twice that they would most likely put it on "the next flight" to Frankfurt. It's despicable. I am never flying Delta again. The worst feeling ever is being a student all alone in a new country without my belongings and trying to find replacement items is hard. This has absolutely ruined the beginning of my study abroad experience for me.

On 8/3rd, the actual day of my flights, I somehow managed to land in Atlanta (ATL airport) after a 1 hour flight delay and ran over to catch the tram to the next outbound terminal. After arriving at the connecting flight gate, I learnt that my connecting flight out to EWR (NJ airport) had gotten delayed by an hour. I felt like OK, if there's a little bit of rain and lightning in that area, a 1-hour delay is perhaps warranted. However, at the estimated departure time, the flight got delayed by an additional hour. I decided to get lunch and boarded the flight. After fully boarding the plane, the pilot announced that FAA had grounded them and so we all had to get off the plane for an estimated update at 3:42 pm. The next flight was supposed to depart at 4:26 pm so once again, all the passengers boarded the crew only to be informed one more time there was a further delay with the next update expected 1 hour later.

An hour later, again the same story with an apparent 1-hour delay. While the passengers were kept on the plane and not allowed to get off the plane, no food or even water was offered. I had to request the agent to at least give me a glass of water since I felt parched on that dry airplane. Since I was scheduled to fly back the next day i.e. 8/4th and I saw no point in possibly arriving in NJ around 9 pm IF we were even cleared to fly. I told the agent at the flight to simply cancel my seat on the outbound flight. I was directed to walk outside to the customer service area to rebook a flight back home to Birmingham. I was informed by an agent on the phone the earliest flight he could book me was 6 hours later at 11:45 pm. AT that point, after being at the airport since 10:50 am and being thoroughly exhausted, I simply decided to get a rental car and drive the 2-hours drive to Birmingham myself.

However, currently I am still awaiting a flight refund or reimbursement for my out of pocket expense. I have put in an online refund request but the customer service has given me the typical run around by asking me to call 2 different 1-800 automated numbers. Thousands of angry customers are probably doing just the same. I cannot believe this horrible treatment of passengers who not only ruined their entire vacation day by spending it at the airport but were not even offered any kind of food/water during all the repeated delays. I have vowed never to fly Delta again because this is certainly not the first time I have experienced flight delays/cancellations with them and I feel it will not be the last either. They fly extremely ancient airlines that Being stopped producing ages ago and treat their customers horribly so only the ones who have extreme patience will bother getting a refund for service neither offered nor received.

However, we spoke with some other couples at our resort who flew into Atlanta just fine on the same day and were not grounded at all – they were able to make the connecting flight that left to St. Maarten. If flights are being delayed by weather going into an airport, shouldn’t they be delayed going out? Due to the grounding we spent 1 and 1/2 hours on the plane in an exit row that we were switched to without notice. We arrived in Atlanta over an hour after our connecting flight had departed even a few minutes early, but with several seats unoccupied (spoke with passengers at our resort). Arriving a little late into SXM would have been a better option than leaving close to half the passengers in Atlanta.

I question why some flights were grounded and some were not. By the time we would have even reached the Georgia state line from Austin in the air, the weather would have cleared the area considering the direction and speed it was moving. If you ground a flight knowing it has passengers connecting to other flights in ATL, why are flights not being delayed out? I understand that Mother Nature is not to be played with, but Delta can definitely manage and control their service.

REBOOKING Fiasco: Finally in Atlanta, along with several other hundred international travelers, we stood in line (longer than a football field) waiting for the rebooking process. I even tried calling the 1-800 number, but that was also a 2 hour or more wait. My husband used the “Help phones” and was able to get through to someone, but we were informed that all Delta could do for us was get us to San Juan, Puerto Rico and get us to St. Maarten by Wednesday afternoon (losing 5 days of our honeymoon)! Unfortunately, our honeymoon was supposed to start in St. Maarten that Saturday afternoon. The rebooking line was atrocious; several hundred people in a line with only 4-5 attendants at a time helping.

At one time, for a half hour or more, there were only 3 people behind the counter! Certainly, with ATL being one of the largest internationally traveled airports in the world, and it being the MAJOR Delta hub, the airline could have assigned employees to help with that mess. I looked up flights from other airlines and suggested those to the Delta employee who called me back after 2 hours and 15 minutes. He said he would not put us on a different airline. I suggested that could get us there the next day. The best thing he said he could do was switch us to American Airlines and get us there on Tuesday (again losing 3-4 days of honeymoon).

My husband finally made it to the counter where he again was told that Delta Airlines could not get us to our destination until Wednesday. It is truly unacceptable for Delta to postpone our vacation and refuse to help us get there sooner than 4 days from the original flight date. It’s exceptionally unreasonable all based on a temporary weather delay. Because of this, we searched ways to get to SXM as early as possible. We were able to book another airline from San Juan, PR to St. Maarten at EXTRA COST.

Scratch a fun first day of the honeymoon.

Day 2-July 22, 2018 (Sunday) - We took the flight to San Juan at 9:50 am. Nice flight, no issues. However, we had to pay for a room at a hotel there because my baggage was put on the later flight into San Juan instead of the flight we were scheduled to be on. Again, no help from Delta on a hotel room considering the luggage issue was not our fault. I luckily packed my toiletries, but other things were in the checked baggage that I needed, such as medications, underwear, and some clothes.

Day 3 - July 23, 2018 (Monday) – My birthday, and we’re finally getting to our destination via another airline. As exciting as it was to get there, the whole experience with Delta and all the extra expenditures were still weighing heavy on my mind. This is not supposed to happen on your honeymoon! Days 4-7—July 24-27, 2018 -- AWESOME! We did not fly anywhere. Day 8 - July 28, 2018 — Flights home were decent, no issues except for stiffness from long flights. My husband and I flew Delta Airlines late last year to Ft. Lauderdale with no issues, so we thought that we would have a similar experience using Delta for our HONEYMOON travel, but this trip has proved us to be EXTREMELY WRONG. It is a true disappointment that such a renowned and award winning airline is okay with treating customers (Sky Miles members) this way and gaining this kind of reputation.

It’s sad that when a customer seeks help very few members of your staff are available or even willing to assist. Delta left us on our own and cost us several extra hundred dollars when we trusted the airline. To recap, our travel on our honeymoon was indeed memorable but not in the way a honeymoon should be. We had scheduled 4 flights with Delta Airlines, and one being an add-on for rebook. Because of issues Delta refused to resolve, we lost 3 days of experience, which is almost HALF of our trip. Completely unacceptable. Wish there was a 0 star!

I travel on multiple flights a week every week. In every airline you're required to "check in" to your flight 24 hours before your flight is supposed to board. That makes sense. So I did that. In every other airline you can arrive to your gate whenever you want before boarding. Well, I was running efficiently on time as per usual. I hate airports (you would too if you were in them as much as me) and have TSA Pre-Check so that typically means I can be dropped off at the front entrance and through security in most airports in under ten minutes. Because of this, I usually arrive at the airport 10 minutes before my flight is supposed to board.

Today was no different. By the way, I never miss my flights. However, today was a crap day. I get to security with my boarding pass, the one from yesterday when I checked into my flight 24 hours in advance, and they told me I need to see the Delta services. Crunched for time, I'm not sure what the problem is. I get to the front of the slowest lines I have ever seen in an airport (the workers just taking their sweet time as if everyone in line is just wanting to be at the airport for as long as their shift) to find out that Delta gave away my seat because I wasn't checked into security an hour in advance.

I was re-directed to yet another line, which was even slower (didn't know that was possible) to have Juan the slow airline worker get me on a new flight. At this point, I'm pretty furious that a seat I checked into, paid for, and reserved to get to Miami in a timely manner was given away to another person because of an "arrive early policy". Juan finds me a new flight to Miami and then informs me that I'm required to pay this money hungry greedy airline called Delta $75 dollars to book the new flight.

Let me get this straight. I paid for a ticket, reserved my seat, checked into my flight, yet because I didn't arrive to my gate 60 minutes prior to departure, they gave away my seat to someone else and required me to pay a $75 change fee to get to my original destination in at a later time? UNREAL. This type of thing would never happen at Southwest. Southwest would make it right, correct it quicker, and wouldn't make me pay for it. In fact, they'd probably give me a voucher as a favor for giving away my seat in the first place.

I just recently signed up for the Delta Skymiles AMEX card. I got the points for spending a certain amount of money in the first month and I will now be retiring the card and never using it again. I will take my points and go. I never want to have to have an encounter with Delta ever again in my life. I will never purchase a delta flight for as long as I live. I will recommend that any and all frequent travelers avoid this greedy and crappy service airline.

Thank you Delta for starting my day off on a bad note. Thank you for showing me true greed exists. Thank you for showing me how truly amazing Southwest and Alaska are compared to this horrible horrible airline called Delta. I have absolutely no clue how you are in business. Attached is the seat I was given for boarding and then they just gave away. 0 stars. I hate you.

I called Delta flight operations, was on hold for over an hour. I was losing my mind over a flight I had booked well in advance, I was supposed to be sleeping when I was on phone with Delta flight ops. Delta bumping me off my flight made me cancel and rebook my airport shuttles in origin and destination. Lose my sleep time before a red-eye flight. Missed a really important meeting at my destination. Use my international calling for over 2 hours for calling Delta to fix flight schedules.

Caution to other travellers, if you have to be somewhere on time, Delta flight has not been reliable and they don't communicate or compensate when they bump you to a different flight that in my case was booked 6 months in advance. Delta Airlines doesn't care or respect that its passengers have carefully planned their travels and when they switch things around without notifying it results in the monetary real world loses. What is the point of booking in advance when you change flights less than 24 hours in advance without any advance information? When you want to change flights you have to pay extra. When Delta Airlines changes your flights without informing you, they send you different flight details 6 months later on the check–in email.

Itinerary which I have clearly says Premium Economy, all documents provided to me by CTS/Delta say Premium Economy. At the time when I was making the reservation on 28 May 18 I was getting Economy class seats in less than $800 and premium Economy from 1500-1700, so this sounded like a good deal in DL $1490.00 codeshare partner VS. As I have flown VS earlier, I like their premium economy. Finally Delta supervisor said that because it is a bulk third party ticket maybe travel agency (CTS) has made a mistake in the fare and I should contact them for help and guidance.

Regardless of any additional fees paid or not the safety of a minor should have been Delta Airlines main priority. Leaving a minor stranded without rectifying the issue is unacceptable. It should not have taken a call from an adult to fix. She knows her job. She chose to be lazy and do the bare minimum or actually even less than that. With all the bad press Delta has been receiving you would think that retraining your agents would be a priority. Shame on you Delta Airlines for leaving a 16 year old kid crying hysterically and doing nothing to solve the problem. Your lack of compassion and human decency is duly noted.

Upon checking in to the Delta counter overseas. They asked me if I had any of the said prohibited items and I said I did not. The Delta rep emphasized to me and asked me if I had powder in my baggage?? I told them, I did not. Only that I had tea in my checked baggage that I was bringing home. (This was commercial packaged tea mind you) They immediately said that my wife and I had to go through extra security screenings where we were treated like a felon! It was so embarrassing! They told me to return to the boarding gate at 5:45pm. I agreed and went to the restroom and one of the gift shops. I came back and waited for the specified time. Then at 5:35pm several Delta reps came out in the waiting area and surrounded us told us to follow them. They asked if I had control of my baggage and had made any purchases at the gift shops. Once we made it through security and on the plane BS did not end there.

Upon landing in Atlanta they told us they could not open the plane door and had to get someone to assist us. After clearing customs I just had the assumption that I would miss my connection. The Delta reps said we still had plenty of time... more BS. We got through security and wife and I did not even have the energy to run and walked about as fast as it possible for a person to walk. We were the very last ones with the final boarding alarm going off! (The latest I had ever been getting to my gate).

I bet you think this is the end of the Delta fun right? Wrong! It was not. After reaching our final destination and at baggage claim I was standing there waiting for one of our checked bags. After almost everyone else had left my name was called on the loudspeaker to go to the baggage claim office. They said my bag had been left in Atlanta and would come in on the next flight. This is 11pm. They offered to deliver my bag to my home address that which I declined after their incompetent behavior and said I would rather wait for it. When I asked them about their 20 minute baggage guarantee they offered me a $50 gift card that the Delta rep could not even put a request in and verbally promised to call me that next day. That never happened and I truly doubt that would ever see any gift card from them. I grabbed my bag grateful when it came in after midnight and got out of the airport and I promise I will never ever fly Delta!!

We were flying to Milan, with a connection in Atlanta. Our Atlanta flight was delayed significantly due to supposed weather issues in Atlanta. We understand that this happens, and we patiently waited at the gate. Eventually, our flight started to board. We got on line to board the plane and when we reached the front of the line, the Delta representative informed us that our boarding passes were not valid. Confused, I got on line at the gate to discuss this with the Delta representative there. She informed me that our flight was canceled, and other passengers had already been upgraded to our original seats in first class. Extremely confused, I ask what can be done at this point, as we have been waiting at the gate the entire time. The Delta representative says to me “I don’t have time for your problems right now.” At this point, my confusion is turning into frustration, and I am begging her to get us on the flight.

The best she can do is row 32 of 33. I take this option, assuming that Delta will reimburse me for the cost of my first class ticket (the total of which was $4750 per ticket – and there were 4 of us, not including a lap child whose taxes alone cost well over $500). What upset me most about this situation, aside from the poor customer service and downright rude staff, was that we would now have to wait on for all of the passengers to deplane in order to run to try to make our connecting flight to Milan. I politely ask the flight attendant to allow us to get off of the plane first, as I have 2 older parents, one with a hip issue, a 17 month old daughter, and to note, I myself am 24 weeks pregnant. It is clearly difficult for us to move quickly through a busy airport. The flight attendant says to me “You are no more special than anyone else. You’ll have to wait for everyone to get off. There’s nothing I can do.” As you can imagine, this furthered my frustration.

We finally get off of the plane. I am the only one who can run through the airport, as my husband has our daughter and our baggage. I run as fast as I can through 5 terminals and up two flights of stairs in order to reach the next gate and try to ask for the plane to be held for my family. As I arrive at the connecting flight, everyone around me is compassionate, asking if I am ok…everyone except the Delta representative, who says to me “You should have run faster because there’s no way we’re holding this plane for your family. They’ll never make it. Call Delta and get put on another flight.” The other passengers were looking at this man in disbelief, as was I. My family luckily arrives a few minutes after me, as they had a motorized airport vehicle drive them to our next gate. We board the plane, and interestingly, the pilot announces that we will be waiting for passengers from other connecting flights to board.

We finally arrive in Milan, only to find out that all of our baggage – 6 bags – have not arrived with us. We make it to the baggage office to learn that four bags are still in Atlanta, one bag somehow is in Amsterdam, and one bag is missing altogether. I speak to 3 different baggage representatives, including one supervisor, who assure me that our bag in Amsterdam will arrive that evening and will be delivered to our hotel during the night, and the 4 bags still in Atlanta will arrive the next morning at around 10am and will be delivered to our hotel that afternoon. The other bag is to be determined. Unfortunately, one of our bags was my daughter’s car seat, so we cannot leave the airport until we find a car seat. I go to every single car rental service there, and none of them will rent me a car seat without a car.

A Delta customer care representative later informed me that I should have been offered a car seat by the baggage department. This never happened. Thankfully, the gentleman driving us to our hotel eventually went to his house to get his own child’s car seat to bring it back to the airport for us. We were so grateful for his compassion and kindness. To further the difficulty of this situation, my father’s heart medication was also in his luggage. The next day arrives, and I eagerly check the front desk for our bags. Nothing. I call Delta, on a cell phone for which I had to pay for international use, and am on hold for an hour and a half. The representative I spoke with assured me that our bags are marked for urgent delivery, and the bags must not have been “scanned” yet. I am hopeful, and keep checking the hotel lobby. Still nothing. The following day arrives. Still nothing.

My father, at this point, is starting to feel ill having not taken his heart medication in days. I now have to attempt to get ahold of his physician in order to obtain a prescription to bring to the pharmacy to procure his much needed medication. I again call Delta, and again I am on hold for almost two hours. I also call American Express, who is also trying to get ahold of Delta to rectify this situation. They inform me that they also waited on hold for over two hours on two separate occasions, but were told by Delta that my bags should arrive that day. Nothing still. To note, throughout this entire process, I also called the baggage office at the Milan airport 23 times. Each time, an automated machine tells me that my baggage is at the airport, but when I attempt to follow the prompts to take me to a live representative, after being on hold for an extended period of time, the automation tells me that there is a long wait and I should “try again later.”

In fact, during one of my several calls to Delta through these days, the representative called the baggage office with me on conference, only to reach the same fate. She later told me that she can do no more than I can. Needless to say, I am shocked and disappointed by this statement. It is now 3 days after our arrival and still no bags. At this point, I need to spend countless hours purchasing clothing and personal items for my entire family, including my toddler. We finally decide to rent a car service to drive back to the Milan airport, 2 hours away, to personally attempt to retrieve our baggage ourselves – still making use of the driver’s personal car seat.

We arrive at the baggage office at the Milan airport, and I am told that our baggage was NEVER marked for delivery. There was no intention of delivering our bags to us. I feel defeated and tired at this point. I request my baggage, only to discover that my personal suitcase is cracked in 5 places with 2 wheels cracked off as well. I could not get back into baggage at this point, as the baggage representative dropped my luggage outside of security for me to somehow carry myself (24 weeks pregnant) to where my family was located, as they were not allowed into the baggage office with me. After all of this, I attempt to explain this saga to several Delta customer care personnel, one of whom says to me “We do not give compensation for pregnancy and aggravation.”

I am at a loss at this poor and frankly disgusting treatment of your customers. There was no humanism or compassion by your company employees at any step in this process. There was also no attempt made at providing satisfactory compensation for not only the flight cost, but also for the severe stress imposed by Delta and its representatives. I am a physician, and therefore also in a customer service business. I would never treat my patients with this kind of disregard. I have recounted this story to several Delta representatives over the phone, many of whom have told me that this is one of the worst stories they have heard and are truly embarrassed by their association with Delta because of this.

I believed her so I changed it but when I just sat down on airplane still at San Jose ready to fly to Utah I got a text said the fly from Utah to Atlanta will be delay 1 hour and 5 minutes so I will miss the fly from Atlanta to Tampa and I should check for update. But when I came to Utah it was not 1 hour delay but 5 hour delay so I talked the manager at Utah. She said, “I don't know because I wasn't there” and I am sure she can call San Jose airport to find out but she ignore and told me "I have the fly to Tampa for you but you will come to Tampa at 6 am next day." I told her I have to work next day because I am a hairdresser. I had all appointment booked, I canceled all my appointment because I was too to tired after 9 hours sat at airport to wait to fly to Tampa.

After that I file complain and want my money back, I think I deserve to get my money back because I lost my business for busy Saturday and got lied by ticket attendant. A few day after I got a phone call from the manager of Delta said that there was not any refund because I already fly. I tried to explain to her for my understanding if Delta Air fly wants to find the seat for the crew members they need to negotiate with whoever willing to give the seat not lied to people then she rudely hung up on me. After reading all bad review on Delta I am so glad we made the right decision not fly with Delta anymore. Thank you for reading.

She informed me that if my keyboard and flight case fit within the dimension requirements and weight maximum it may be checked as a regular bag. Regarding fees, she said it would be the same as a second checked bag “$100”. I was satisfied with the response and the information she provided, especially since it only confirmed what I read via the website already! Specifics of my keyboard/flight case, dimensions and weight: Total linear dimension (length + width + height): (L) 62.5’’+ (W) 24’’+ (H) 9.5’’ = 96.’’ Total weight: 121.2 lbs. SEE photos attached.

On June 23rd, 2018 I arrived at approximately 13:55 at Boston Logan Airport so that I would have around 3 hours to check in my bags and get through security in time for my flight. My flight departure time was scheduled for 16:49. The first thing I did was go to the “Self-Check-In” kiosk to print off my boarding passes. Then I waited in line for my turn to check in my bags (a suitcase, and musical instrument -- which was a keyboard in a flight case meeting all the requirements listed on the Delta website and given to me by the Delta representative I spoke with on June 6th).

As I came up to the baggage drop-off counter the Delta service worker with a look of great surprise (I suppose from the size of the flight case etc.) asked me to place my keyboard (instrument) on the weigh scale, she did not help me with this at all (it weighs 120lbs). I explained to her the process of me bringing my instrument and informed her that I called on June 6th regarding the musical instrument requirements and so forth. She then asked that I show her the website where I got my information from, but then I let her know that it was directly from the Delta website. Another representative next to her then pulled up the Delta website and read aloud the requirements.

However, the woman helping me said that unfortunately “we are not allowed, by law, to accept any baggage over 70lbs for safety reasons!” Then, I said “I don’t understand because I meet all the requirements listed on the Delta website!” Therefore, I then asked to speak to a Supervisor. She then went to get a supervisor and came back a few minutes later.

Supervisor (red coat, mid-30s): “Hi, yes, unfortunately we cannot accept large oversized baggage in this department. You will need to go to the Delta Cargo area in order to drop off your instrument.” Me: “Okay, so how do I get there? Also, do I need to prepay for this extra bag now and then bring them the receipt?” Supervisor: “No, no they will take care of everything down there.” Me: “Okay, and how do I get there?” Supervisor: “I think you can just take the #22 shuttle and it should drop you off close to there. Or, you can take a taxi.” Me: “Do you have anyone that can help me bring this over there, or cart that I can use? It is quite heavy.” Supervisor: “No, unfortunately we don’t do that.” Me: “Okay, so I need to take the #22 shuttle and then get out at the Delta Cargo area, and just show them my ticket info?” Supervisor: “Yup, they will take care of all that there.” Me: “Okay, thanks.”

At this point the Supervisor left, and the other representative said “you should probably hurry so that you don’t miss your flight.” I then asked if I could go ahead and check in my other suitcase. She said, “well, you probably should wait and check it in after the keyboard to avoid losing your bags.” Me: “well, there is no way I can shlep everything around with me down to the Cargo area. Representative: “Okay, well it’s up to you, hopefully you will make it back in time.” I then, went ahead and checked in my suitcase and began dragging my keyboard down to the shuttle area. At this point it was already 14:45, after waiting around 10 minutes, the #22 shuttle came. With basically no help I dragged my keyboard onto the shuttle. I then asked the driver to let me know when we were at the Cargo area. Driver: “Oh ma’am, you are on the wrong bus; I think you need the #66 shuttle.” Me: “Oh no, really?

So I need to get on the #66 and it will take me directly there?” Driver: “I think so.” Coming from Terminal A, I got out at Terminal B. I decided to avoid getting on the wrong bus again, I should ask the information desk. The information worker had no idea how to get to the Cargo loading area. She said, “well, I think you can take the #66 or any shuttle and it will take you there”. Very frustrated and upset, I went back to the shuttle area, but then decided to avoid risking time - loss I should take a taxi. I went over to the taxi area, and NO ONE would allow me to ride in their taxi because of ‘how big’ my instrument was. Also, they had no idea where the “Delta Cargo Area” was. I rushed (as fast as I could with 120lbs of weight) back over to the shuttle area and waited for the #66 shuttle. I even asked a Police officer if he knew how to get to the Cargo area, he said “no, I’m not sure but I will try to ask”.

He asked another bus driver and they said the same thing “I think that the #66 shuttle goes there”. Around 25 minutes later, the shuttle FINALLY came! At this point it was already 15:40 (my flight was leaving in an hour). As I was getting on the Driver was very kind and helped me lift the keyboard on (thank you for a kind soul); he asked where I wanted to go and I said “Delta Cargo area if possible!” He said, “Okay you mean on Harborside Drive?” I said, “Yes, I believe so.” It took around 30 minutes on the shuttle to finally get to the Delta Cargo area but I finally made it there! I got off the shuttle and dragged the keyboard all the way across the parking lot and finally into the Delta Cargo loading zone.

I got to the desk and explained my situation to the women working there. One of them was still in training and the other could not figure out how to accept my keyboard. She said, “we aren’t allowed to accept items from any travellers other than approved shippers (people with a license)”. Then I explained that the Supervisor instructed me to come down here and would not accept my keyboard at general baggage drop off etc. I showed them the musical instrument regulations via the Delta website and explained my entire situation (how I got there, and what a challenge it had been). She went to get her Cargo Supervisor and then I re-explained everything to her.

She said “we are not allowed to accept any items over 16oz. Of weight from travellers, unless approved shippers”. I begged for some kind of compromise and asked if they could just call the Supervisor that told me to go there in the first place. They said “Unfortunately, we are a completely different department and don’t have that contact information.” Then the Cargo Supervisor said: “I really don’t know why they told you what they did, it doesn’t make any sense. They should know better!” She seemed sincere and was trying to help so she went and asked another Cargo Supervisor just for additional confirmation. She then came back and said, the same thing.

At this point it was already 16:30 (my flight was departing in 20min.). I let them know that I already checked in another bag and that my flight was leaving in 20 minutes. The Cargo Supervisor said, “Well, there is NO way at this point you are going to make that flight.” Of course I knew I was going to miss my flight but I still had no detailed explanation as to WHY my keyboard could not be checked in the general baggage drop off area. According to everything I read, including the Delta baggage service worker representatives, and the Delta Cargo representatives-- I met all the regulations! This did not and still does NOT make any sense.

Thankfully the Delta Cargo representatives and Supervisor were at least ‘nice’ and sincere in trying to help. The Cargo Supervisor suggested I bring the keyboard over to FedEx and try to ship it that way. After offering to help me bring the keyboard over there, I found out that it would cost a minimum of $3100 just based on the weight alone. No way! The Cargo Supervisor said, “you could at least try to get rebooked before your flight departs?” Me: “There is no way I will make it back to Terminal A before my flight leaves, they will just mark me as a ‘no show’”. Cargo Supervisor: “Well, I can drive you there?” Me: in tears at this point, “That would be amazing, thank you!”

So, I arrive at the Delta Check-in again. This time however it was packed with people almost going out the doors. I hate being this person, but I skipped the line and ran straight over to the Delta Service worker who initially was ‘helping’ me. I informed her that “the cargo area cannot and will not accept any bags from unapproved personnel unless it’s an pet or under 16oz.” Service worker: “Oh no, really? That’s strange.” I then asked if she could please rebook me at least for another flight. She said, “Well I can’t do that on this computer, you have to speak with one of the supervisors.” I then ran over to one of the supervisors (of course the one I spoke with initially was nowhere to be found).

Already 16:55 at this point, I let her know exactly what happened in as much detail as possible. This Supervisor II (Female, brown bob haircut, mid-50s, black suit jacket) didn’t understand why the other supervisor told me what she did. I explained everything and still this Supervisor II said, “She is fairly new but still should have known better than to make you go to Cargo”. She then tried to begin the ‘rebooking process’. She called upon another Supervisor III (Female, red coat, blonde hair, mid-50s, name= Linda) to come and help with the situation. I had to re-explain everything to her and finally, in the end, she was trying to rebook me with Delta. She informed that for some reason the system wasn’t allowing a ‘rebook’ but then she called another head person via the phone. That head person overrid the system and she ended up booking me with Lufthansa instead!

As she finally was printing off the NEW flight/boarding pass info she said “Okay, you are all set to leave tonight at 22:05.” Then she ran off to another meeting. When I started looking at what she printed it said “Monday, June 25th at 22:05” instead of that day. Just to avoid confusion and make sure that this was correct I asked the other Supervisor II (black jacket) to confirm everything. She got frustrated with me and argued that everything was “correct”, but eventually asked another representative to help me confirm the details. I was all set for Monday June 25th at 22:05 with Lufthansa instead of Delta!

Finally, I asked the Supervisor II (black jacket) if she thought it was worth checking with Lufthansa regarding my keyboard, or if she thought it would be the same situation as Delta. She said, “probably will be the same as us, but go ahead and check.” That was it. I said, “thank you” and went on my way. In all honesty I was just happy that I got rebooked.

I did end up going to Lufthansa and showing my keyboard. I spoke with their Customer Service Worker (by the name of Jazzy-Jasmine) and directly with a young male Supervisor. Both of them were extremely nice and informed me that there would be “no additional costs, if this was my only checked bag. And that they have had TVs bigger and items heavier than what I had”.

The male Supervisor said, “Just ask for Jazzy on Monday, and you will be ALL SET!” Long story short, I came back on Monday June 25th and this time I arrived 4.5 hours ahead of my flight departure time-- just in case! I went straight to Jazzy and just as the Supervisor said there were NO charges and the checked my keyboard right away! In contrast to my Delta experience, I was HIGHLY HIGHLY impressed with their kindness, their professionalism, and service altogether. Lufthansa did an AMAZING job at serving their travellers! I will definitely be flying with them again.

All in all, I have had bad travel experiences before, and yes not only with Delta. But never bad enough to feel as if I had to write an official complaint. I am not sure what will become of this letter of complaint but I do hope that NO one ever has to experience what I did. It truly was the worst travel experience by FAR! In the end I also lost my other bag, and finally got it back/tracked it down upon my arrival to the final destination. I have never been so disappointed with the professionalism, lack of knowledge regarding regulations, lack of clear explanation, and the customer care service as a whole -- it was repulsive to say the least. Thank you for your time in reading what I have to say.

The agent could not explain how the charges were approved but then somehow deemed unauthorized by Delta's fraud department. I also spoke to a supervisor that was even less helpful. She suggested I call corporate the following day even though I explained to her that the passengers were stranded in LAX with no way to purchase tickets, she informed me they would need a payment method in their name or cash. I also explained that due to the fact Delta charged my account over $2100 dollars for tickets they claimed to have refunded and did not, I would be unable to send them cash. The agent informed me it would take seven days to receive the refund.

My son informed us that a couple was sitting in his seat and the one next to it. Usually an airline will ask for volunteers to change seats. I feel that it was unethical and unprofessional for Delta to bump my son out of his seat. Why make a reservation almost 3 months in advance if he's going to get bumped out of it? It is really upsetting when it put a damper on his first trip to London, and he gets moved to seat 13E in a middle seat in the middle row of the aircraft. I feel that Delta needs to reimburse us for that part of his trip.

TULSA flight got delayed by 30 minutes and when finally arrived around 12:00 am at TULSA, the luggage with medicine was missing. On inquiry answer was, "We did not load the luggage from Atlanta. Either we will deliver it tomorrow to your address or we will send it to Fayetteville and you can pick it from there." There was no point in further discussing, we left to Fayetteville via road from TULSA. Due to not having child seat and medicine, we faced some difficult situations at midnight 1:00 am.

Next day morning we get call from DELTA around 9:30 am, saying luggage cannot be delivered to Fayetteville or our house address [since the ticket of my brother-in-law and family was a discounted ticket] and need to be collected from TULSA airport [meaning we will have to again drive back 2.5 hours]. After much discussions [during which they even threatened, they will cancel my family’s discount and blacklist us], they agreed to deliver to Fayetteville around 6:30 pm.

On 06/16th, my brother-in-law and family had to go back to Dubai and the return flight was from Fayetteville to Atlanta to Orlando and then from there to Dubai in Emirates at 2:15 pm. First DELTA flight from Fayetteville to Atlanta was at 06:00 am, but did not take off till 07:00 am [reasons best known to them, since DELTA customer service told, as per their records flights are all on time]. By the time my family reached Atlanta and went to counter to catch the next flight to Orlando, the guy on the DELTA counter told, his scanner is not working, take a print-out of the ticket from KIOSK again and come. My brother-in-law took printout and came as quickly as he could, but now this guy tells gates closed 4 minutes back and "We cannot permit you" [remember... since his scanner was not working, he send them back and now he is telling he cannot get them through].

My 4 year old nephew was almost at the verge of fainting due to all these running between terminals and really bad customer service of DELTA airlines. Now, since option of getting the Emirates flight from Orlando was practically nil, my brother-in-law decided to book a flight to New York or so from where there were Emirates flight taking off at night around 7 pm. But here comes the worst part, DELTA had already loaded their luggage on to Orlando and it’s on way and they will have to collect it from Orlando. DELTA staff informed, they cannot take it to Emirates terminal. Also if they want it to be brought back to Atlanta or New York, it will take time. By this time, we were so fed up with DELTA, we started looking into other flight options.

Few points to highlight in this whole experience: (a) DELTA doesn’t give a damn about its travelers [especially if you are on a discounted ticket]. (b) DELTA doesn’t give a damn about whether you are traveling with a small kid. (c) DELTA doesn’t give a damn about you losing or getting on time your luggage and finally (d) Some of the DELTA customer service professionals/staff needs to get a good lesson on how to behave with passengers [wherein they even go on to the extent of threatening and make passengers run crazy because of their mistakes]. Sharing the experience with everyone [especially people with kids and who are on vacation], so that they start thinking. Is it worth going in DELTA...

In addition, my friend was charged twice for it! I waited patiently and called their customer service. First, the customer service agent was rude and speaking to me as though I was incompetent. The agent explained to me that the 4 times I was charged would be dropped within 24 hours and that of the 2 transactions from my friend's card, which went through on their end, one would be reimbursed. So, we hung up the phone and I checked my email for the refund confirmation. Surprise, surprise, they were only refunding $32, not the $43 I paid.

So, I called them back and I was told that's all they charged and that is all they would refund, EVEN THOUGH THEIR SEAT PRICES ARE $43. Finally, I was also confirmed the original seat I wanted. Fast forward a few days and the seat I wanted does not show up on my reservation and has since been taken by someone else. Also, the four times of $43 they charged me still hasn't dropped and both of the transactions went through on my friend's card without a refund. I'm waiting in line again to speak to a representative. Bottom line, absolutely would not recommend to anyone. They are thieves.