CJKatl

Weird phone call yesterday with a Cincy based agent. I'm not looking for compensation, an apology or anything, just sharing a war story and curious if anyone else has had a similar thing happen.

Background: On May 25th I booked a Sept 2015 r/t Biz SM redemption on the DL site (006 ticket) but flying on KE, leaving ATL on a Mon for 140k SMs. Originally, I needed to be in ATL that weekend, but the event is postponed, so I've been checking via the Website and phone to see if something opens for Fri or Sat departure at the low points level. Somehow, I was assigned seats without having to call KE, but yesterday, I called KE to confirm the seat assignments are correct, since I've usually had to call after booking through DL to get KE seats. (Don't want to wind up in a middle Prestige seat!) KE told me they have availability for Fri at the lowest points redemptions, which DL should be able to see and use. The KE agent gave me the specific flight numbers and her contact info and said to have a DL agent call.

Strange Conversation: The Cincy based phone agent told me my outbound flight ticket would not be honored. She insisted that it was a KE blackout date, and kept reading me the blackout dates over and over. This seemed odd, and I pointed out none of the other DL agents I have spoken to when trying to change the outbound noticed this, and the KE agent seemed to think I had a confirmed seat. I pulled up my confirmation email, and the confirmation on the DL site, but she kept insisting that when I show up at the airport for the flight, I would be turned away and not able to fly! She repeated this over and over, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. Granted, I thought she was wrong, but was still worried at that point. She left me on hold for over fifteen minutes and then put me through to IT support, telling me the problem was the Website let me book the flight. I explained to the guy that she was nuts, and he agreed, neither of us realizing she was still on the phone. She then put me back on hold another ten minutes, at which point a supervisor confirmed the agent was nuts, it wasn't a blackout date and my ticket and seats were, in fact, valid. The original agent had the wrong blackout dates.

Even though I knew she was wrong, I was in panic mode. Plus, I was worried she was gong to take it upon herself to cancel what she kept insisting was an invalid booking. That's why I didn't just hang up and call back in.

Anyone else ever had this type of nonsense?

PS: The supervisor could not call KE, insisting that if it did not show on the DL site, there was nothing she could do. We all know partner redemptions have disappeared, so obviously, surprise, the problem in the DL site, not the partner airlines. DL did not have anything below an additional 100k SMs.

TrojanTraveler

Over the past few years I have an increasingly long list of ignorance and borderline idiocy from bad DL agents. Your story doesn't surprise me at all. DL used to have great agents but there are becoming fewer and fewer. Whenever I get a good agent I try to get as much information about DL policies, procedures, etc. as possible and am grateful enough that I give them a JWD. Mrs. TrojanTraveler and I now expect to have to make multiple calls to get anything but the most simplest questions answered or issue resolved.

flyerCO

Just because KE has a seat they're willing to give away as an award doesn't mean that DL Skymiles also has a seat it can ticket. 1)Airlines limit the number of award seats partners can book, and 2)DL can dole out or not dole out, those award seats in whatever manner and at whatever rate they choose. Especially with how much DL and KE are at each others throats I'd bet DL doesn't want to send anything more than a bare minimum their way. I wish KE was on the level of AF/KLM in terms of cooperation, but it just isn't the case.

Often1

This.

The agent wasn't nuts, just wrong. But, the point is that the fact that you can find availability on a partner doesn't mean it can be booked w. SM.

TTT

Partner awards are back on DL.com (I just confirmed KE space is available via a IAH-ICN search).
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...anished-7.html

If DL doesn't show the space then they won't be able to ticket it. Maybe there is a lag between KE's inventory and DL's. It might update later in the day?

MSPeconomist

If you call the DM line and CVG answers, hang up!!!!!!

CJKatl

No, she was nuts. If you had heard the conversation, you would understand she was both wrong and nuts. The IT guy agreed, she was quite off kilter, which is why, when we realized she was still on the phone listening after she had told us she was handing the call over (?!), he made sure my call was routed to a supervisor, repeating her name several times. He was not talking to her like you would talk to a coworker. He was instructing her like you would talk to someone who is nuts.

I understand the availability of the partner airline seat. The KE agent seemed to think it was coded in a way that it should have been available for a DL booking, so it appears the availability of partner airline seats is a DL action, not the partner airline action. That was my point. It wasn't that they should have booked the seat for me, it was that DL is obviously the party restricting the partner bookings, not the partner airline.

rylan

This

CJKatl

Apparently everyone else knew this already. Lesson learned!

MSPeconomist

Actually no. I violated my own rule when someone based in CVG sounded very professional so I proceeded to ask her about upgrade inventory on a trip I was planning. Among other things, she said that taking a stopover that is allowed by a fare (not a broken fare or three one ways) would require an additional upgrade cert. She also insisted that an international connection cannot exceed 12 hours, while offering me an itinerary that had a 13 hour connection (but being unwilling to look for a longer connection). Incompetent but convinced that she was right!

AvidFlyer1990

Question: so before proceeding with your query, do you ask where the agent is based out of?

I called the PM line once, to book 2 rt saver level biz awards on VS, and the agent was not only able to find it on the flights that I wanted, but ticketed/confirmed in minutes. I was blown away! Wish I still had a JWD! It was the PM call-center that people rave about, and I could see why.

Another time, a simple SDC took >30 mins, even after giving her all the flight details. Had to repeat to the agent, atleast a dozen times that I was in paid F, and not in a UG inventory, so she can confirm me in F (at the right booking class) on the later flights.

TrojanTraveler

Seems to be a theme more and more with DL agents.

clr4t8koff

How do you know when you get a CVG DM agent?

fgirard

And it's not just limited to DL...on Sunday I had to inform a phone agent and a GA at UA about the SNA curfew.

But, I've noticed that when I call the AF number, I'm routed to a DL call center. For example, today, I was attempting to book LAX-FDF on AF (because it seems that DL doesn't know where FDF is, and that AF does fly there), and the website kept on telling me that no routes can be found. I called the airfrance.us phone number and wound up talking with an ATL based agent. First she said that AF doesn't service FDF, then after looking at some route map, she came back and said that the AF MIA-PAP-PTP-FDF doesn't exist, which I know still exists, but I was hoping to get LAX-CDG//ORY-FDF booked anyway. Then, when I spoon feed her the correct flights, she is able to locate inventory, but the system won't allow for it to price unless she gets a supervisor. The supervisor takes it upon herself to flatly refuse to ticket this reservation because she claims that it is "illegal". So, after a good 45 minutes of this, I hang up, fire up Skype and call the AF phone number in France, which while not being a very pleasant experience was able to ticket LAX-SLC-CDG//ORY-FDF, FDF-PTP-ORY//CDG-MSP-LAX.

MSPeconomist

Ask. At the beginning of every customer service phone call, I always write down the agent's (first) name (or whatever name they tell me) and location. I sometimes tell myself that I get better service if they're aware that I've noted their name.