Compensation for uncommunicated gate change?
 

Hi,

I have a question for all you experienced flyers out there. I had a Delta connection in DTW and didn't IMMEDIATELY go to the connection gate because the boards said that departure would be on time. So, I eventually end up there shortly before departure and find it odd that no one is there. There are no Delta attendants to be found anywhere in the area, there is no message at the gate that a change has occurred, and the boards still say that the plane is leaving from the gate I'm standing at. I also haven't gotten a text notifying me of any change. I finally find a Delta agent, she looks it up, and tells me that there was a change and that the people waiting at the gate were notified - clearly verbally and in no other way. At this point, there is no way to make it all the way over to the new gate on the other side of the airport, so I ended up sitting for hours waiting for the next flight. After probably an hour on the phone and on Facebook, they offered me $150. At first they offered me nothing because others had made the flight, so they obviously communicated it somehow, but I showed them a pic of the board info still saying the wrong gate even after the plane left. Is there anything else I can do to get better compensation? I'd actually prefer to never take Delta again. I used to fly it years ago and stopped because the service was so bad. I tried it again, and this is what I get. Delta is the worst.

Thanks.

Yes! enroll in DPJ program and next time this happens they will happily arrange a private jet for you.

Is this post a joke?

$150 is more than they should have offered [paging Bubba].

It's also weird you want more compensation but also claim to hate flying them and want to never fly them again.

Doug Parker?

Get the popcorn ready...:D

Ok, you "....eventually end up there shortly before departure..." - how long before scheduled departure did you honestly end up there?

I'd prefer that they give me cash, or some kind of airport voucher but if that's all they'll give me is a voucher for them, I guess that's what I'll take. Maybe I'll use it, probably not.

And why is $150 more than they should have offered? I missed my flight through THEIR incompetence, not my own.

You seem like someone who's not interested in helping in any way. Why did you bother replying?

15 minutes. God help me, I stopped to get a coffee after getting off my original flight. The boards said it was on time and at the gate somewhat near me, so I figured I had a few minutes.

$150 seems like an extravagant amount for this.

Why bother asking for more since you hate DL in the first place. Put another way, why would DL give you anything?

I think you got that backwards

If they offered you $150 in any form, you better take it and run and hide. You aren't ever going to get any cash. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Stopping for coffee and arriving at 15 minutes before departure....I can't even fathom.

I hope Bubba doesn't actually go find the GA and berate them for not updating GIDS as thats a $150 hit to DL bottom line

OP may have a point if the airport monitors and app were never updated to reflect the last minute gate change. Then passengers would have no way of knowing until reaching the incorrect gate. But I've never seen an unofficial gate change. If he was just relying on the gate printed on his boarding pass, then I agree it's his own fault.

Well, this thread is a delightful mashup of "bash the OP" and "I don't like the answer I got so I'm taking my toys and going home".

If OP did arrive as claimed 15 minutes prior to departure at the gate posted for the flight, then OP fulfilled his obligations to the CoC and failure to post an updated gate is indeed DL's problem. One could argue that this is a case of IDB, but I suspect that would be an uphill battle to claim (does the timestamp of your gate photo show it's at least 15 minutes prior to departure?), and would require the flight to also be oversold. I'd probably take the $150 voucher and move on.

All that said, this hardly seems like a "they're the worst" kind of moment. (I mean, nobody got dragged off a plane bleeding, right?)

Where, Livonia?

:D