c_d

You want to drug a cat for 2300 miles in a car? Ouchy.

EDIT: I did not know about the baby benadryl thing. And I also don't know whether you sport irony here.

mother-

No kidding. (They couldn't be more opposite in their acceptability as carpool mates...)


And to the OP: Personally I'm relieved to read that this was a logistical SNAFU with Delta cargo. Delta "pet" posts tend to have very tragic endings.

NotHamSarnie

No problem with the OP's decision to ship the kittie as cargo - that's his prerogative. I thought it unfair of him to offload on the DL staff, though. They were clearly not in the loop with DL Cargo and I thought it unreasonable of him to criticize them for not knowing what to do.

TTT

I have seen quite a few cats pets in cabin. YMMV of course.

kitkat77

Not to be a constant nay-sayer, but I requested those pills from the vet. They were given to the cat that yowled for 16 hours in the car. Evidently sometimes they don't work...

jeff30189

Blaming the OP is standard operating procedure here at Flyertalk, I expected nothing less so that doesnt bother me at all. It just exposes the prejudices and ignorances of those who do so.

The decision to ship the cat as cargo has nothing to do with the post. For all of you who feel the need to make this the central point of the discussion, here are the facts.

It is a 12 year old Bengal. She gets carsick on a 30 minute car trip to the vet, so a 2300 mile trip across country amounts to animal abuse. She cannot go in the cabin as she is very vocal and talkative particularly when stuck in a small carrier. Cargo is temperature and pressure controlled, there's nothing cruel or inhumane about it, and all things considered the only option for the trip. There. Feel better?

I did not berate or yell at any Delta staff. However, when an airline supervisor communicates to you that the passenger terminal staff can book the pet as cargo you sort of expect that at least one of them can actually do so - particularly when a Red Coat and Ramp Supervisor get involved. Heck, call another airport (i.e. DTW, ATL, MEM) and ask them how to do it!

The whole situation is an example of how Delta habitually mishandles its customer service opportunities. Instead of fixing it, or offering to waive the fees, or even following up with a letter of apology they give you the equivalent of a "oops, our bad, sucks for you" attitude and go on to the next poor sucker.

davetravels

So, why is your vet so far away? You should hava vet that's much closer!



Sorry, I just couldn't resist!!!!!

Happy New Year!

laxskygal

While this doesn't help the OP and the issue with Delta Cargo, I have to throw my two cents in regarding travelling with a cat. I am a FA for Alaska Airlines and just moved to Seattle. I flew my two cats from LAX-SEA in the cabin. I also was worried about my cats disturbing other passengers, especially having two. I found this amazing product, "Nature's Miracle Calming Spray". It's all natural and works just as promised. You just spray a little on the carrier or bedding. My cats slept the whole way and never made a peep, other folks didn't even know they were onboard! It works for car rides as well! Found it at PetsMart, for around $8....much cheaper than from the vet!!

Now if I can just find a spray that works like this for my passengers....just kidding of course, couldn't resist!!

grahampros

[QUOTE=laxskygal;
Now if I can just find a spray that works like this for my passengers....just kidding of course, couldn't resist!!/QUOTE]

LOL. Hell as a passenger myself i on occasion could have used that kinda spray for your neighbors. Flying or travel makes some crazy.

jdrtravel

I totally disagree. Its 100% reasonable to expect Delta staff to either:

a) completely understand the products and services that Delta offers

or

b) if they do not understand, do whatever it takes to get the correct information to help the customer and find a solution.


This is especially true when it comes to supervisor level staff. "I don't know"is not an acceptable answer in any kind of customer service interaction. If you don't know, you do what it takes to find out. Only after you've done everything reasonable do you stop, and the answer then is not "I don't know" but rather a very strong apology to the customer for inadequate service.

OP: I agree that you should send a letter to Richard Anderson. I believe that you are due a partial refund for the cost of transporting your cat, as Delta did not deliver services in the way that they told you they would.

grahampros

It's likely we are only getting part of the story here. it's a bit way over the top to escalate to RA. He'd probably get a good chuckle out if at best.

Starblazer

I'm sorry to hear of your issues. I know it's not useful now, but they should have called the DL Cargo/PetFirst helpdesk. It's open until 9PM EST Sunday, unless the holiday screwed with the schedule.

dilbertsdaddy: pets can still go dash.

http://www.deltacargo.com/ProductsRa...veAnimals.aspx

rajsh

Based on above ... I assume you have had or have an UN-healthy long term relationship

Also, does that cat get Skypeso's credited to it's account for the flight mileage should it end up flying.

On a serious note -- sorry to hear about the problems with the transportation. What did you end up doing to transport your cat?

grahampros

Is it really any surprise the long term relationships didn't work out given the post? Poor cat

jeff30189

Thank you for your insights Doctor... and for proving my points about ignorances and prejudices. Your poor kids...

You're getting the full story. I asked for ideas on how to address this, never suggested that I wanted to involve Richard Anderson although a standard complaint submission will only result in a unintentionally comedic form letter response.