Twice recently I have had my seat assignment changed after OLCI. (3x actually, but the 3rd was a genuine equipment change, so completely understandable and acceptable.)
A couple of weeks back, I checked in in the AM, get to the gate in ROC that afternoon, the reader beeps and spits out a new, different, exit row aisle on the MD-88. IIRC, the new assignment was a seat not in the medallion reserved inventory, and a different exit row aisle from what I originally had reserved and received during OLCI.
Last weekend at MLB, the gate BP reading gizmo threw a spaz and rejected my OLCI BP, claiming I was NCI (not checked in), a little dubious given the fact I had many copies of my OLCI BP in hand, and I lost my much preferred 2B to some seat back in row 9. ...?
. DL custommer service went over the PNR with me and it showed legitimate OLCI the previous day, and nothing else.
No huge deal, really, but why does this annoyance keep arising?
I know that the airline apologist script (at all legacies) is no seat is guaranteed. There was a good recent thread on this board about seat assignment changes during schedule alterations, but I can't see a legitimate reason for seat assignment changes after OLCI, either, and there is no chance to catch this type of meddling, if that's what it is, prior to boarding the plane. Changes any later than what I'm experiencing, are a post boarding change, and at that point, DL might as well be WN, at least in terms of advanced seating.
Any input?