Had an interesting situation recently and was wondering if I was actually IDB'd or not. I was flying YVR/SEA/SFO and did a same-day change to a later departure a few hours later. The app rebooked me on new flights for both segments; however, for some reason, it also kept me on standby for my original SEA/SFO flight. I figured this would work out well as it could be possible to meet the original flight.
I flew YVR/SEA normally and then my original SEA/SFO flight ended up delayed a bit, so I had plenty of time to catch it. I went to the SEA service desk to make sure I was actually on standby for it, and after some changes they said I had been confirmed on the (original) flight. At this point I had a boarding pass for the flight and was showing as confirmed in the app; I was never shown on the standby list. I also never had a seat assignment ("At Gate").
When I went to the gate, I checked with the gate agent, who said they were overweight and I would not clear for the flight as they had to leave with empty seats, and said I should not wait around the gate area. I was a bit confused but figured I could not really argue with that. Once I went back to the SC, I asked the SC agent if I was confirmed on the flight, and they said I was and showed me the segment as HK on my PNR in DLterm. The flight departed at this point and the GA was gone.
I am a little annoyed that they bumped me off a flight even though I was confirmed on it, since I had to wait several hours for the next flight. (It was fine, of course, but seems like the GA was just trying to work around their problem.) I wrote to Delta saying I was IDB'd, who responded:
Our records indicate that you were not confirmed, but placed on the standby list for flight DL XXXX and was eventually cleared and assigned a seat. However, once the flight crew was aware of the weight and balance issue, the gate agent must then remove the seats assigned to all standby passengers in order to be in compliance and for safety. This is not considered denied boarding and I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Given it showed as HK and confirmed in the app, I don't really believe this. Did I get IDB'd, or am I crazy?