Help! Delta gave me extra miles and now they won't take them back!
Nov 14, 2017, 8:37 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,644
Help! Delta gave me extra miles and now they won't take them back!
Two days ago, I got my second mileage boost from my Amex card, which gets me to about 47,000 MQMs for the year. Perfect. I'll roll over 22,000 to 2018 and start from a good base.
Then disaster struck. I got an email this morning congratulating me on achieving gold status. I checked my account and, sure enough, the transaction got duplicated. Now, I have gold status (not too different from silver) but only carry over 7,000. Curse you,Perry the Platypus Delta!
So I called Delta this morning to ask them to remove the extra MQMs. The CSR was lovely, but clearly did not get a lot of calls from customers asking to have miles removed from their account. She checked with her help desk and then sent me over to Amex.
I got through to Amex and got through to another confused representative (BTW, I love the outsourced call centers. The representatives are so ridiculously friendly that it always makes me smile.). He didn't know what to do either, so he checked with his help desk. Then he checked again. They had no record of the second transfer. I promised him that the extra miles were there and he seemed to believe me. He escalated it and promised to get back to me.
I have no doubt that the computer error will eventually be caught, since they always seem to be (hopefully, not until after my current trip gets credited), but how can I not appreciate the irony of the situation? For the first time, Delta makes a bank error in my favor and it's the one time that I didn't want it!
All my problems should be this grave.
Mike
Then disaster struck. I got an email this morning congratulating me on achieving gold status. I checked my account and, sure enough, the transaction got duplicated. Now, I have gold status (not too different from silver) but only carry over 7,000. Curse you,
So I called Delta this morning to ask them to remove the extra MQMs. The CSR was lovely, but clearly did not get a lot of calls from customers asking to have miles removed from their account. She checked with her help desk and then sent me over to Amex.
I got through to Amex and got through to another confused representative (BTW, I love the outsourced call centers. The representatives are so ridiculously friendly that it always makes me smile.). He didn't know what to do either, so he checked with his help desk. Then he checked again. They had no record of the second transfer. I promised him that the extra miles were there and he seemed to believe me. He escalated it and promised to get back to me.
I have no doubt that the computer error will eventually be caught, since they always seem to be (hopefully, not until after my current trip gets credited), but how can I not appreciate the irony of the situation? For the first time, Delta makes a bank error in my favor and it's the one time that I didn't want it!
All my problems should be this grave.
Mike
Nov 14, 2017, 9:02 am
#2
In memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PIT
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This has gotta be a FlyerTalk first . . . . Someone trying SO HARD to be SILVER!!!
Nov 14, 2017, 9:18 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
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With any luck, they'll accidentally post it once or twice more in the process of sorting it out. #platinumorbust
Nov 14, 2017, 12:54 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: BOS
Programs: DL GM
Posts: 300
I totally get it.
If the choice were to hit Gold just once, or stretch out Silver for an extra year with rollover, then I would totally stick with Silver. It guarantees that I'd get exit row + free bags + 0.01% chance at a nicer seat for all of my flights for another year.
The incremental benefits for Gold aren't that amazing. SDC is basically useless for me (leisure flier - I buy flights for when I want to fly). And on my routes, the difference from Silver to Gold on upgrades is the difference between 40th on the list to 20th.
If the choice were to hit Gold just once, or stretch out Silver for an extra year with rollover, then I would totally stick with Silver. It guarantees that I'd get exit row + free bags + 0.01% chance at a nicer seat for all of my flights for another year.
The incremental benefits for Gold aren't that amazing. SDC is basically useless for me (leisure flier - I buy flights for when I want to fly). And on my routes, the difference from Silver to Gold on upgrades is the difference between 40th on the list to 20th.
Nov 14, 2017, 1:08 pm
#7
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Nov 14, 2017, 1:34 pm
#8
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Is the issue that you don't think you'd be able to hit silver with 7k rollover?
I'm waiting for them to end up posting another mileage boost while trying to remove the extra
I'm waiting for them to end up posting another mileage boost while trying to remove the extra
Nov 14, 2017, 1:41 pm
#9
Moderator, Delta Skymiles and Mileage Run
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Nov 14, 2017, 2:18 pm
#10
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Nov 14, 2017, 6:59 pm
#11
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Nice one, Doofenschmirtz. 
Slightly OT, but the difference from FO to GM can be quite substantial if you have reason to value SkyPriority and STE+. And lots of us find SDC quite useful, indeed.
All about personal situations, of course.
All about personal situations, of course.
Nov 14, 2017, 9:17 pm
#13
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: SEA once more (previously CDG and NRT)
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Nov 15, 2017, 6:31 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Vietnam & USA
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Posts: 455
Nov 15, 2017, 10:26 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: BOS
Programs: DL GM
Posts: 300
Not to derail this thread too far (there's usually a Silver vs Gold or Gold vs Plat thread in December of each year anyway). Each year I weigh the pros/cons of one last mileage run (or the end of year status buy-up if offered). If the OP is like me, the resulting analysis usually says that the roll-over + the cost of a mileage run is worth more than the jump in status.
95% of my flying is domestic, and the 5% that's international are F/J awards, so STE+ is meh.