Worst upgrade experience ever !
 

tl;dr: upgraded to 1st then forced to move to middle seat at back after original seat give away No compenstation.

After more than ten years at Platinum or Diamond status and 1.6M base miles, I had my worst Delta experience ever yesterday. I'm still stunned.

As usual these days, first was full but being Diamond had me at the head of the upgrade list. I already had bulkhead seat 4F (A319) so I was not too worried about not getting upgraded.

Ten minutes before departure (IND->MSP) I got the call from the gate agent and was moved up to 2B. So far so good.

But just after getting settled in 1st, the gate agent came on the plane and told me they had made a "computer mistake" and needed my seat for a passenger who was originally checked in at that seat. Things went downhill from here.

The gate agent then informed me that they had now given my original "Choice" seat to somebody else and would I please go to the back of the plane and sit in middle seat 17E. I was stunned. Nothing I asked or requested would get her to give me the original bulkhead coach seat back. They were okay with embarrassing me in front of the other first class passengers by moving me back but would not ask the person in my original set to give it back to me.

So I finally asked her what she could do for me? She offered a 5000 mile voucher if I would go sit down in that middle seat at the back. Wow - 5K bonus miles.

So I squeezed myself in the seat at the back - fuming. But then to add insult to injury, the door closed with no gate agent with my promised 5000 miles.

Only later did I realize they had probably sold the bulkhead coach choice seat to somebody for $50 or so and thus did not want to give it back to me.

Has Delta service really gotten this bad ? This would be a piss poor way to treat a regular tourist passenger - never mind a DM / 1M flyer.

Anyone got thoughts on what I can / should do next ?

Definitely write a letter to CS. It's not too much to ask for your orig seat back if it was their mistake.

Is there a good 'snail mail' address for that ? I tried the online CS web page a couple of years ago with a polite inquiry and was blown off with a "you are not entitled to anything but a seat" response.

Wow, that sucks! I don't even know where I'd begin, but CS is a good start.

favorite seat
 

Write in for compensation, yes. One theory would be that you were FAM'ed (federal air marshal took your seat--2B is their favorite), then as you guessed they sold your old seat, and so painted themselves into a corner. Still a lousy end to your week.

They sell bulkhead seats with the boarding process nearly finished?

The pax in your original seat should have been inconvenienced...not you.

And before the PA about how valued Medallions are to everyone in the DL family.

Something similar happened to my FO wife yesterday on DL 1562, DTW - PHL.

She was confirmed in Seat 9C on an A-319 or perhaps an A-320. She handed her BP to the GA, and a new BP was printed; she thought that she was upgraded. However, she quickly realized that she was effectively being downgraded to window seat 12A.

No explanation was offered and she didn't complain, which the OP's message indicated might have been futile.

5K miles for a short-haul seems like good CS for a freebie. I would send in a short & concise complaint through the web (snail mail is scanned in and read by the same people who get the web forms, just takes 6-8 extra weeks) and simply note the pertinent facts.

You don't know that they sold your original seat to somebody else, could just as easily have assigned it to someone else with status.

Your point is simply that the GA left without issuing you a credit and you want the credit, the rest of the back-and-forth is irrelevant and will simply confuse.

5k ? Really ? I had other less expensive flight options available that day on other airlines. But at 6'2" tall, I took the more expensive Delta fare knowing I qualified for an Economy Comfort seat and that they were available when I booked my ticket. Just losing that might have been only worth 5K. Being jerked around as I described in my post seems like its worth more than that.

But I guess maybe not these days.

No one should be preferred over a DM whose upgrade was reversed. Not even a GA's blind mother-in-law.

Including the other DM who was now in the seat and will pitch another fit? At this rate the plane will never get off the ground while all of us whine about wanting our original seats.

Flight was oversold. Seems unlikely it was a DM that had to wait around for the last minute seat

Wait until it happens to you and come back and tell us how you feel then ?

Flight was oversold. Seems unlikely it was a DM that had to wait around for the last minute seat

Wait until it happens to you and come back and tell us how you feel then ?:eek:

It has happened to me

I don't feel the need to post every time I don't like something. I am realistic. It is an airline not a loving parent LOL

"moving me back but would not ask the person in my original set to give it back to me."

Exactly. If YOU had to give up your seat to the original owner, then the person in your choice seat should be made to move, as YOU are the original owner of that one.

I would not have boarded.