Am I the only one missing the fact that had the OP renewed his/her visa before it expired this would have never happened? Or can the visa only be renewed after it has expired? It seems personal responsibility is being buried under "the airline isn't doing something for me".
See - this is exactly what bothers me. You are clearly on a forum, so you can say things like that without understanding how visa renewal works. You cannot renew a Visa BEFORE it expires. Especially with H1-B, the employer files all the paperwork to renew the visa before it expires. And in return, once you are approved, you get a I-797A form that you take with you to the nearest US Embassy (which is OUTSIDE United States), to get your Visa stamped on your passport. You cannot do that until and unless you leave the country. Visa is like a key to a house that you need to get in - but not to get out.
What bothers me is that this fundamental understanding was lacking among VS boarding staff who did not know anything about visa regulations. It's perfectly fine if they had told me "Sir, you do not have a transit visa which is required to go through UK airports". But instead, they gave me BS reasons like you described above - which doesn't fly really well. People in position of power or responsibility shouldn't make statements that just don't make sense. And when people are paying $2000 for a ticket, there should be some minimum expectations for customer service - which I failed to see in VS and Delta.
Wow, so many errors:
Starblazers summarized all the errors really well. I made my mistakes, and paid a hefty financial consequences. But what consequences do Airlines have to pay when they screw a passenger like me? Again, it goes back to basic customer service. I was a loyal member of Delta for domestic flights. I have Delta rewards. I have spent 1000s of dollars flying with Delta domestically. They could have really helped me with my bag with decent customer service and they would have won my loyalty for the rest of my life time, where I would have spent another 1000s of dollars flying with them. But with this experience, I am NEVER flying Delta or VS. Customer service is one of the reasons why some of the brands stay as the most hated brands and some brands have their fan boys. It's appalling that neither VS or Delta didn't think once about helping a customer who spent $2000 to give him a clear and coherent answer, and instead were rude, insulting, condescending and dismissive because they feel "it's not their problem".
What expenses or damages did you incur while waiting at home for your luggage that you feel DL or Virgin owes you for?
@tpatta - Are you not familiar with how baggage claim works?
From Delta's website:
If your bags are delayed, notify one of our representatives. You will get a file reference number, which you will need to initiate claims or inquire about your things. You may be eligible for a bag fee rebate (see the next section) if your first or second paid checked bag(s) have been delayed for more than 12 hours after being reported to a baggage service agent/office.
And I feel based on the eligibility on that website, I am eligible for bag fee rebate. I worked from India office for the first week. So when I didn't receive my bag, I had to buy the following things that I lost access to:
1) New suit
2) New shirts
3) Dress pants
4) Shoes
5) Other t shirts and pants
6) Underwear and socks
Buying all this in India was less than $200 which I claimed from Delta - which is very average amount of reimbursement in situations like mine.