MilesFiend

FWIW, here's what happened to me: I sold a few Coke Rewards codes on eBay (not realizing it was illegal, since there's _nothing_ on any of the certificates or at Coke's site to remind you these codes can't be sold), but never touched any of the miles in my account. Without any warning whatsoever, Delta froze my account (I'd rather not state exactly how many miles, as I already feel like they've been more or less stalking me--but suffice it to say it was a fair amount) and informed me by second-day letter that I would not be allowed to open another, or to recover my miles. The letter was sent to an address not associated with my eBay OR Paypal accounts (somewhere I haven't lived for several years)--for all they knew it could have been a coincidence of names. Got an ex-girlfriend or -boyfriend you're pissed at? If that person has a SkyMiles account, sell some Delta miles under her name; they may well freeze her/his account to punish _your_ sale.

I've seen from old FlyerTalk posts (from some years back) that Delta used to at least first send e-mails to people selling miles, to warn them that the transaction was not allowed and was punishable by miles deductions, etc. Looks like they're figuring now that they'll gain a lot more by simply ripping off their own customers by freezing accounts--great strategy, guys! It's the first rule of succeeding in business, after all: Piss off your customers!

Again: Never having been a member of FlyerTalk or other similar boards, I simply didn't realize promotional codes could not be sold--I knew account miles couldn't be sold (which is why I've never tried to sell my own miles from ANY airline), but since nothing at Coke's site mentioned the rule, I went ahead and sold the codes I had. Of course, if I'd had no connection whatsoever to Delta--or if I'd registered on eBay under a different name, because I _knew_ what I was doing was illegal and was deliberately covering my tracks--my account would have been left untouched. Because I broke their rule innocently, however--_and because I'm a customer_--they screwed me as well as they could. But then, that's completely in keeping with the customer treatment I've seen from Delta over the years. Delta's a sh***y airline; I'm looking forward to toasting their eventual bankruptcy. In the meantime, fortunately, I still have enough miles on American, Continental, and U.S. Air to last me through at least a couple more years' worth of vacations. And I'm looking forward to urging everyone at my workplace (a large university, with plenty of scholars and international students who fly internationally _a lot_) to fly with Delta's competitors whenever possible.