We flew through ATL a while ago with a 39 minute connection (thanks to DL schedule changes) arrived 15 minutes late - mad dash to the gate, made it 12 minutes before departure - they were asking for vols... and told us that we lost our seats.
Blamed it on ATC - but in ATL, DL and ATC delays are common - so why put me on this (let me make it clear - I did not chose this - it was a 75 minute connection to start with... ) awful connection?
Would not provide hotel or compensation.
Write a detailed explaination of what happened. Don't let them lie to you. Keep them on subject.... Remain calm. And get something - I finally got an apology and DBC. What OP rcvd was how I was treated for the first few rounds of the battle of wills.
(actually - found this thread searching for minimum connection times in ATL because I was scheduled changed AGAIN into a tight connection - this time 41 minutes!!!)