glemoine

I'd like to report an issue with Delta, and hopefully find a way to escalate the problem, other than twit about it.

The problem started at ATL, when the airport staff would not let me get to the gate on time, and Delta staff at the gate, even knowing I was at the airport, did nothing to help me board my flight.

I was on a trip from Costa Rica to London for an official Argentine mission to the UK, hosted by the UK Embassy, and was supposed to be at the Argentine Embassy in London on Monday, March 20, at 8 AM, which is why I had scheduled to arrive a day in advance.

I arrived early in ATL on DL895 from Costa Rica, on Saturday March 18. I asked 5 different people to let me get through to the gate during migrations control and security check. They all told me in a very rude manner there's nothing they could do, that I had to wait. There were only 2 booths for over 400 people. The lady stamping my passport even made fun of me when I asked her how far the gate was, if I could make it. She literally said, when looking at the departure time: "Oh yes, of course you can make it. You'll even have time to get a drink. Me, I'm off in 15 minutes". By then, at the gate they had already given my seat away, even though they knew I had landed in the previous flight from Costa Rica. Delta never bothered to help me through a known problem with migrations and security checks at that airport, a problem that all Delta employees recognized. The security check lady even sent other people behind me to another security check point, but wouldn't let me then leave the line. The woman at the gate (E8) never bothered to look for me, although she recognized they knew I was the only person missing and she could see I had landed at ATL. I got to the gate 15 minutes before departure, but they all said it was not their fault, they had just given my seat away. Many people missed their flights on that night, and everyone was very nervous and answering back at airport staff at the security check point that night.

The most humiliating part of all this is that, due to effort incontinence while running, trying to make it to the gate, I peed on myself. I even skipped going to the bathroom to save time. Even after that, it took me about 1 hour to convince the ticketing counter employee to get me to London sooner than Monday night, and even I had to come up with the idea of flying me through another airport. They didn't accept to fly me through another airline. There were no stores open to buy new clothes and change, and I could not wash overnight at the hotel the clothes that I was wearing, the only ones I had. I had to stay naked in the room, and wear the same clothes to the airport the next morning. At the airport, I had to buy whatever appropriate clean clothes I could find to wear while flying to NY and London, and also for my first meetings, as I was denied access to my luggage in ATL, although initially they said I could get it. At this point I needed to get to the Embassy straight from Heathrow, and still I missed 70% of my official meetings in London on Monday, which was the most important day of the official mission. At the gate for the NY flight in ATL and in NY at JFK, the gate employees confirmed my luggage was traveling with me, when I specifically asked about this. When I get to London they tell me it's not there. I had to buy appropriate clothes again for the Ambassador's reception in the afternoon, wasting time I should have spent at a trade show. I arrived late to 2 different meetings because of this, and completely missed one meeting. I cannot even estimate how much I lost as a result of this, and that cannot possibly be re-scheduled.

I requested a full reimbursement at least of these expenses. They only agreed to 20%. I will never fly Delta again, or through ATL, which is no less than Delta's hub. But I will still pursue this out of the humiliation I felt then, and even now. They have the record that I requested the bags, but no record of them not giving me access to them. How convenient. Why would I have requested access twice then? Why would I have expenses if I had access to my bags? That single fact caused me to incur in expenses. And the CS representative won't escalate the issue.

I'd appreciate any feedback on how to further pursue this claim. Thank you.

Ny76

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Delta is not responsible for Airport Security so your complaint is really with the US government. I recently almost missed a connection myself in ATL due to the extreme slowness of immigration. If you presented yourself prior to T-15 for boarding then you do indeed have a legitimate gripe with Delta regarding the loss of your seat. But if you were just after, like 14:00 before departure, they do have the right to give away your seat. In cases of a missed connection, Delta will accommodate you in the next available flight in your class of service. Generally they will not put you on another airline unless they are the cause of your delay, which in this case they were not.

As far as the baggage situation goes, it appears that they have offered you reimbursement for what they consider reasonable expenses (You haven't given an amount so I can't say if its fair or not).

You will get nothing for missed meetings, for personal accidents in the airport or delays at security.

Apart from being provided some inaccurate information regarding your baggage location, for which Delta appears to be offering compensation, I don't see that you were lied to and you certainly weren't humiliated by Delta.

You can submit a complaint online through the website, but I seriously doubt you'll get anywhere because again, its not Delta's fault you were delayed.

Widgets

I have a few questions that would provide a clearer picture:

• What was your originally booked connection time in ATL? Since your flight arrived early in ATL, what was your actual connection time?
• Was your flight departing from ATL nonstop to LHR? (If so, the boarding cut-off is 30 minutes before departure.)
• Have you only claimed reimbursement for items purchased after your bags did not arrive in London?
• Would you agree that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are not affiliated with Delta? Other than the U.S. Customs officer lying to you, and being unable to retrieve your bags in ATL, was there anything that Delta lied to you about?

I'm sorry you had a bad experience in a high-stress situation. Long waits at U.S. Customs can happen when traveling with any airline through the U.S. since they aren't employed by or answer to any airline. While choosing a different airline won't help you avoid bad experiences with customs or being rebooked on different airlines, it's good to shop around, so I hope you have better travels in the future.

MarkCron

I almost missed an Intl-Dom connection in Atlanta last week. In fact, if I didn't have Global Entry, I would have missed it. My scheduled connection time was around 90 minutes.
I wouldn't have put the blame on Delta if i had missed my connection, though I certainly would have been upset about it. I am the one who made the decision to book the 90 minute connection.

Was the London flight one of the last flights to Europe of the day? If not, it seems like Delta may have been able to get you on a flight to somewhere in Europe (AMS, CDG, FRA, ...) if there was room, and you could have gotten to London at some point on the 19th.

C W

I'm very sorry for what happened to you, but it sounds as though basically all the blame is with immigration control. All the people directing lines in that area work for the US CPB, not for Delta.

It's unfortunate that the immigration delay caused you to arrive T-15, but as Widgets has pointed out, that is far too late for an ATL-LHR flight.

I am sorry for your baggage issues. I have similarly had misinformation from ground staff about baggage during IRROPs and it is frustrating. I do think Delta should reimburse you for the clothing you had to buy. If you outline these expenses specifically people here can help you judge if your request is reasonable and if you should be able to get more.

Often1

Sorry, but nothing in your complaint has anything to do with DL other than perhaps the delayed luggage and there is no way to comment on whether the 20% if fair without knowing 20% of what.

First, your delays at US entry formalities at ATL (CBP) have nothing to do with DL. If you were traveling on a Diplomatic or Official passport, you should have had access to a designated lane. If you were not traveling on such a passport, but simply to an official function, you are stuck standing in line with everybody else. Either way, your complaint is with the US government and not with DL.

Second, DL requires that you be at the departure gate for an international flight no later than 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure. You were not. At that point your seat was given to a standby passenger. DL has no way of knowing where you are. Perhaps you did stop for a meal, a drink or whatever.

Third, It's hard to comment on the 20% issue without knowing exactly what you purchased and submitted. Generally, DL will reimburse necessities and reasonable expenses under the presumption that you would have the first few days clothing in your carry-on. The same would be for the unfortunate situation in your hotel room. But, let me stress "reasonable". I don't know what you spent, so please provide the specifics: what did you purchase and how much did you spend?

Last, the missed meetings and the like are all consequential. Even if not, the delay was caused by CBP, not DL.

Bottom line here is that you are blaming DL for something that has nothing to do with DL. You made a smart move by allowing an extra day before important meetings. I would suggest leaving a greater connection time and also packing key items in carry-on. This means not having to rely on others.

flyerCO

The date you were traveling was the start of Spring break holidays for numerous school age children and colleges. It was also the end of Spring Break for numerous of the same. In US there usually two main weeks in March that are Spring Break. Thus you most likely hit ATL with a bunch of other travelers going through immigration and customs.

Sorry that it took so long, but immigration and customs are outside the control of the airlines. They may hire the staff helping direct people to booths, but those staff can only direct people where CBP allows.

As for your flight to LHR, as others have pointed out you were too late. International flights have additional paperwork, plus bag matching requirements that require you be on board at least T-30.

All of the rest of the details are extraneous and don't matter. Who you work for, where you are going to work, etc just don't matter.

DL may be nice and toss some miles your way, but that's about it. There really wasn't anything thato wouldve been any different on another airline.

C W

This is excellent advice. I learned it quickly when I started traveling a lot and now my carry-on never has less than two days of clothes and toiletries and anything else that I simply cannot be without. That's when I can't avoid checking bags in the first place.

I know that it sucks to try and pack formalwear into carry-ons, but high quality carry-ons can accommodate one suit which can be lifesaving in situations like this.

RSSrsvp

Most major credit cards over you protection for missing luggage and the need to purchase clothing. @:-)

C W

Many US-based credit cards. I have no idea about Costa Rica-based cards if that is OP's country of residence. The US is, of course, the Golden Land of credit card benefits.

Certainly a good idea to check your card benefits though, if you paid with a CC.

jackplum

If you were traveling on official business, did you not have a diplomatic passport? There are special lanes for them at most airports.

jjmiller69

Similar thing here, Missed a connection that was over booked even though I was at the gate 15 minutes before departure time. Doors where shut but plane didn't push away until scheduled time.
The only reason I know it was over booked was a friend who was on the plane who told me they offered $400 and then decided to board everyone really fast and close the doors.

flyerCO

Was it domestic or international?

Reid

Was the OP on a split ticket or did he have a schedule change that he failed to resolve. DL895 was scheduled to arrive in at 8:40pm but arrived early at 8:24pm. The last Delta flight of the day from ATL-LHR appears to be at 9:23pm, though I can't see any flights operating on FlightAware for March 18th. Delta.com does not let you book SJO-ATL-LHR using DL895, you have to take the earlier 1pm departure out of SJO.

The OP did tries to make it sound like he planned really well by booking him into LHR the day before. Booking the last arrival of the day with a tight connection when you have an extremely important meeting at 8am the following morning is not good planning.

MarkCron

Wow, if that was itinerary, no way I would have booked that.