Originally Posted by Giovanni
...I encountered the most unaccomodating gate agent I've ever seen.
Not even remotely apologetic - or even interested in helping me resolve my situation. I had to practically pry the location of the nearest "missed connections" desk out of him with a crowbar.
Upon arriving at the missed connections desk, a Delta employee took one look at my itinerary and told me, "This was a missed connection waiting to happen, and should have never been booked".
I'm merely commenting to Delta that their own employees agree with me that this itinerary is barely feasible given the frequency of delays into ATL - and that I as a passenger shouldn't be required to know the layout of an airport, how far I should be expected to walk, and what constitutes a reasonable amount of time for a connection at an airport that I've never been to.
I as a passenger should expect to be able to purchase a ticket from an air carrier, and feel confident that they can accomodate the itinerary that they sold me. Showing up at a gate 10 minutes prior to arrival (and running the length of ATL in about 15 mins) and not being able to board a flight isn't really acceptable customer service as far as I am concerned.
I still don't understand how Delta could possibly satisfy you unless they move the flight times for your particular flight. I don't think that they should routinely hold the flight for anyone that's late. (I feel different about this when it is the last flight of the day.)
I think that 40 minutes is a perfectly acceptable connection time at ATL, though it comes with an increased risk if your inbound plane is late. The longer the connection time, the less risk. This is true of any airline at any airport.
If you deplaned at ATL with 30 minutes until your next flight's departure time, then you had 20 minutes to get from one gate to the next. Most people can travel between any two gates in ATL within 20 minutes. I can hurry between any two gates in ATL within 10 minutes. (On very rare occassions, I've encountered slight delays with the trains, but I usually find them pretty dependable. And walking the tunnel is always an option.)
In CLT, I think that it would take more time to get from the end of Concourse B to the end of Concourse E than it takes to get between many gates in ATL. However, you happened to find that your own flight needs work out with a longer scheduled connection time -- therefore less risk during flight delays. But if the scheduled connection time there were 40 minutes, you'd be facing increased risk in a delay just like at ATL.
It doesn't sound to me that Delta's schedule has a problem. It does sound as if you would be better served by using a travel agent or travel advisor than booking by yourself online. All of the major airlines have tried to remove the travel agents from the booking process for most travellers. (And to a large extent, I support this move.) But part of the job of travel agents/advisors is to help travellers make educated decisions about the level of risk in each factor within an itinerary.
Where I think that you DO have a valid complaint is that you claim to have received poor customer service from the gate agent following your missed connection. My feeling about the agent at the missed connections desk is that the agent was perhaps trying to empathize with you and to alleviate some of the anger and frustration that often gets directed at the staff members in that department. Maybe what that agent should have said is that a flight with a 40 minute connection had an increased risk of misconnection if there were any delays. (But that would probably tick off most people.) If there were no delays, it was fine. If it was prohibited from being booking, then the alternative was a mandatory long layover.
The issue that seems to have gotten a lot of attention in this thread is one that I don't think seemed to be one of your main concerns when I read your OP. The agent that phoned you said that they can't compensate you, and I think that was an appropriate thing to say. It's so often the next question that comes out of people, and this agent told you up front that they considered it. Why should the agent play a game to wait and see if you are one of the relatively few that don't ask?
The fact is that you DO want compensation. Your desired compensation just isn't in the form of money or points or Delta Cash. You want SOMETHING, but Delta can't or won't give it to you. And some of us probably agree with Delta that whatever you want from them is not something that should be given to you. What is it that you really want?
If your desired compensation is a letter or phone call with a certain statement or promise, what do you want them to say? If it's that a 40 minute connection time should be prohibited in ATL, I don't think that they should say that. If it's just an apology for a rude gate agent, then I think that they should apologize. If it's an explanation about whether or not they think that 40 minutes should be adequate, I think that they already addressed that.
Perhaps the compensation that you seek is the addition of an extra warning on their website (and all 3rd party websites and booking agents?) that short connections have increased risk of missed connections. Is this the subject of your letter that the agent on the phone refused to address? If not, what subject did she refuse to address?
As I see it, Delta called you because they care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't have responded at all. If they cared less, they probably would have sent a form letter. In your case, a form letter probably would have been a better approach for them.