What would you do if punched by a gate agent?
Longtime reader, but rarely post. However, this makes me embarrassed to be Platinum on this airline. I can give you all the gory details (case number etc.), but here is the streamlined version.
One year ago, February 2015 my sister (no status) took a trip with her husband and two minor children from ALB to Montana. The return flight was a nightmare of delays requiring a gate check of carry-on bags in MSP. The harried gate agent in MSP tore the existing tickets off my sister’s bag, and then, with a handful of pink slips handed her one, which, we shall see, did not match my sister’s bag.
Upon their much delayed arrival in ALB, my sister did not take the black bag that looked like hers on the jet way because the pink tickets didn’t match. She waited and waited as the plane emptied and the airport grew quiet. She went to the gate agent to ask where the bag was that matched her pink tab. Gate agent laughed, said the bag wasn’t Delta’s problem, told my sister there was no supervisor to talk to, refused to give her name and attempted to close the jet way door while there was still one black bag at the end near the plane (the one with the ticket that did not match my sister’s). My sister pleaded with her to see if the black bag was hers, but the gate agent, still laughing refused and then grabbed my sister’s claim ticket. Instead of going down the jet way the agent then turned shoved and punched my sister leaving a bruise on her breast (call it assault or sexual assault, your choice). My sister’s minor children were in tears; her husband was off getting the checked luggage. She left to join her husband, bruised, now without her ticket stub and without the gate agent’s name. My sister was in lost baggage when eventually the same black bag showed up in lost luggage. Adding this to the delayed flight made for a very-delayed night. This would be the end of a terrible customer service experience except…..
Knowing she was in the wrong the gate agent preemptively filed an assault charge saying my sister had attacked her. All witnesses concurred that my sister was the one who was struck. My sister filed the appropriate police report giving her side, but said rather than pressing charges she just wanted this solved through Delta. She called customer service and, Delta, upon hearing the story gave her an apology and gift certificate. This would be the end of a terrible customer services experience except…..
The gate agent did not drop her complaint, maybe because she was dealing with personnel repercussions, and it wound its way through the court system requiring my sister to hire a lawyer, take time off from her medical practice to go to court only to have the entire charge thrown out as specious and without merit.
My sister then wrote to Delta, including copies of all legal action, lawyer fees etc. on June 20, 2014. All she has asked for is reimbursement for her out of pocket expenses ($717) and lost medical practice time ($900) that were incurred because of a wayward Delta employee. In a most gracious move she also said she would accept Delta credit in this amount. I think everyone on this board would agree this is not asking for much, given that many here want miles or otherwise for poor meals, broken seats etc. Here is a passenger who is assaulted and hauled into court for trumped up charges by a Delta employee.
The letter requesting compensation (including all documentation, bills, court papers, etc.) was sent by registered mail to Richard Anderson and to Customer Service. Had Delta responded this would be the end of a terrible customer service experience except….
All Delta has done is to write to my sister saying they can do nothing while things are tied up in court (all documentation was initially sent to Delta AFTER all charges were dismissed), then saying “we are investigating this matter further and will be corresponding after additional review” (July 20, 2014), then saying sorry we can’t talk about things while they are still in court (January 13, 2015) – once again the materials were only sent AFTER all charges were dismissed - now saying “after discussing with our Legal department, I can only confirm with you that they are aware of the incident internally and have addressed the issue appropriately with the employee.”
Never once in this entire saga has anyone asked about this dreadful employee and her career with Delta. NEVER ONCE, although one does have to wonder.
The issue is reimbursement for expenses brought about by an imbalanced and aggressive Delta employee. It has now been one full calendar year.
What would you do next? Who should she reach out to? Why should Delta's awful employee cost her so much money? Should I encourage her to turn to small claims court? It seems like even more hassle for her when she didn't do anything wrong at the outset (except maybe just taking the bag that didn't match her tag, which I am sure most of us would have just done).