I am deaf and use American Sign Language as my primary method of communication. On December 24th, My partner and I flew to ORD via SLC. When we landed in SLC, I (My partner is hearing and interprets for me) approached to the gate agent and told her that I am deaf. She was helpless and did not know how to deal with me. Then I requested (thru interpreter -my partner) if there is first class availability. She said yes and asked for my boarding pass. I handed it to her. She looked at my boarding pass and said "Oh you guys are in an economy comfort class. It is way better than First Class." I was speechless. When we boarded the plane, we noticed there were two seats opening. I felt that I was denied to an upgrade to first class was because of my disability - deaf. So I filed a complaint to Delta. They apologized it and gave me 3,700 points. I felt insulted. What should I do? your help is greatly appreciated.
Here is what they emailed me:
Dear Mr.XXXXX.
RE: Case Number XXXXXXXX
Thank you for your patience in waiting for our response. In your
e-mail, you expressed your concerns regarding the service provided while
traveling with us on December 24 with your travel companion.
On behalf of everyone at Delta Air Lines, I sincerely
apologize for the disappointing customer service you received from our
gate agent while in Salt Lake City.
I am truly sorry for the incident you described in which our gate agent
would not allow you to upgrade to our forward cabin, despite offering to
pay. I understand how upsetting this situation must have been and I
regret that our team member did not honor your request. As our
customer, you are in the best position to point out areas that need
attention as our goal is to provide accurate information at all times.
However, it is crystal clear from your detailed note that we did not
meet this expectation for service and I am so sorry for how this
affected your trip to Chicago. Feedback like yours will help us improve
our overall customer experience. Be assured I will be sharing your
comments with our Salt Lake City Airport Customer Service leadership
team for internal follow up.
When our service does not meet our customer’s expectations, we feel it
is important to acknowledge this and attempt to make amendments. To
demonstrate my commitment to customer service and as a gesture of
apology for the poor customer service you encountered, I have added
3,700 bonus miles to each of your SkyMiles accounts. Please allow three
business days for the miles to appear.
Mr. XXXXXX, we appreciate your continued loyalty and support since 1999.
Again, I hope you will accept my sincere apology and my assurance this
incident has been appropriately addressed with the team member involved
regarding our upgrade policy. However, we still value your business and
given the opportunity of serving you in the future, I am confident Delta
will not only meet but exceed your expectations.
Programs: DL-PM. AA,QF,UA. Every imaginable hotel program, but use Hotwire and Priceline whenever possible!
Posts: 2,051
What fare class were your original tickets booked in?
It would be helpful also to see the letter you wrote to DL. 3700 miles is a pretty low number and makes me think DL was not so much acknowledging a mistake as simply acknowledging that they "did not meet our customer's expectations" (whether or not those expectations were reasonable).
Did you have an upgradable ticket? Or were you asking to purchase a new ticket?
Honestly it is difficult for me to imagine the GA saying that EC was "way better" than F. I am not saying it did not happen...just hard for me to imagine. Seems like there has to be more to this story that what we have been told.
Do you have elite status with DL? If so, were you on the upgrade list?
What fare class were you guys traveling on? For domestic flights, I've only seen DL offer upgrades for sale on K fares or higher pending availability. In recent years, I've rarely see this happen at the gate, but if they were selling upgrades and you were in the right Economy fare (again K or higher), you should have been able to purchase an upgrade if Medallions had been cleared for complimentary upgrades already.
Did the two F seats remain open during the flight?
__________________ 2013 TATL/TPAC: DL: 12; AA: 6 U/G: DL: 5/7 AA: 3/3 Have you seen Floyd the Flamingo?!
Location: Um...I don't remember. I need to check my boarding pass.
Programs: Lots of shiny cards
Posts: 14,108
Quote:
Originally Posted by rwoman
While, alphabetically, T and U are higher than K, for DL fares, the order is roughly:
LUTKQMBY
L, U, and T are the lowest/most discounted economy fares and not eligible for paid upgrades.
You forgot H and E
Order is (from top/highest fare/least restrictive): YBMHQKLUTE.
L, U and T fares can only have paid upgrades at the gate on flights to Hawaii from the United States mainland. On all other domestic flights, the only way to get upgraded on an L, U or T fare is to be a Medallion passenger earning a complimentary upgrade.
__________________
The comments and opinions expressed here are my own, and are not an official representation of Delta Air Lines.
Programs: Delta SkyMiles GM, Starwood SPG Platinum, Hilton HH Honors, UA MP Silver, EK Skywards Silver
Posts: 439
Do you have elite Status with DL? Silver, GM, PM, or DM?
If you are unhappy with the solution, you can send them another email and escalate it to a supervisor or manager. Let them know you are not satisfied with this response, and see what happens.
Personally I think 3,700 is low. But others might feel differently.
Order is (from top/highest fare/least restrictive): YBMHQKLUTE.
L, U and T fares can only have paid upgrades at the gate on flights to Hawaii from the United States mainland. On all other domestic flights, the only way to get upgraded on an L, U or T fare is to be a Medallion passenger earning a complimentary upgrade.
I knew there was something missing there!
__________________ 2013 TATL/TPAC: DL: 12; AA: 6 U/G: DL: 5/7 AA: 3/3 Have you seen Floyd the Flamingo?!
Highest to lowest: Y B M H K Q L U T E (did I put "Q" in the right place?)
In any event, T is a deeply discounted economy fare, not upgradeable with miles or cash. U is the next higher fare, still considered deeply discounted and not upgradeable with miles or cash.
If you don't have Medallion status, then you were not upgradeable.
Do you have elite Status with DL? Silver, GM, PM, or DM?
If you are unhappy with the solution, you can send them another email and escalate it to a supervisor or manager. Let them know you are not satisfied with this response, and see what happens.
Personally I think 3,700 is low. But others might feel differently.
If the OP, or the traveling companion isn't a Medallion, then DL will really throw you miles for just about anything.
The GA should have been more informative, but if there is no status, you weren't eligible for the upgrade anyway based on your fare class.
Programs: DL-PM. AA,QF,UA. Every imaginable hotel program, but use Hotwire and Priceline whenever possible!
Posts: 2,051
Quote:
Originally Posted by stylo4444
Do you have elite Status with DL? Silver, GM, PM, or DM?
If you are unhappy with the solution, you can send them another email and escalate it to a supervisor or manager. Let them know you are not satisfied with this response, and see what happens.
Personally I think 3,700 is low. But others might feel differently.
3700 would be low if DL had made a mistake. But it doesn't sound that way so far. As I posted above, this "compensation" seems to be simply for not meeting expectations (which were not realistic expectations).
