Complaint Response Time
 

Hi all, long time lurker, short time poster. I've been a Delta FF for a while (7yrs) and travel often but not too often. I've been SM and GM since I started flying with Delta and have *generally* had a good experience. On a recent trip coming back from Greece, they lost my bags, I had a canceled flight, and I was served raw chicken at the new Skyclub at LGA. This all happened in a span on about 36hrs and needless to say, Delta really missed the mark -- pretty disappointing. I was advised by the SM help desk to submit a complain and I did --- for all three separate topics.

Now, the site says that they will "respond" within 30 days, and follow-up with a thorough response within 60. I received an automated email right after I submitted the complaints. So now I have a few questions:

1. Is the auto-response the "response within 30 days"? Or should I expect to receive an actual email from Delta?
2. What are other's experiences with complaints and how Delta handled their complaints?

For the past several years, I have found that any questions/issues I have written about have been responded to within two week, EXCEPT for baggage issues. I have had three baggage issues in the last several years, and two of them took around 60 days. You will receive an actual response from Delta , but be patient. They will respond!

I submitted a complaint at the end of May (45 days ago) and have received no communication back from Delta except for the canned "response times may exceed 30 days" email right after I submitted. I would not hold out for a fast response.

It took me 55 days and several follow-up emails to get an actual response to a complaint I submitted in early May.

I addressed my Day 55 e-mail to both [email protected] and [email protected], and that seemed to finally engender a meaningful response.

My complaint was ultimately resolved to my satisfaction, but it shouldn’t have taken that long.

For my recent (3 weeks ago) issue (flight cancelled, re-booked flight cancelled, had to rent a car to drive to another airport where I finally boarded the third flight), I received the automated response right away and the "real" response in about 3 or 4 days. I would add that the "real" response was quite thorough, which indicated to me that a person had actually read and thought about my issue before replying. :tu:

Took me over a month to receive a reply as a PM.

Had a flight cancel on AA due to mx issue last Thr 7/7. Emailed them from the airport in the morning and recd an apology and had 7500 AA miles in my account THREE HOURS later with NO STATUS on AA.

AA answering no status member emails within hours while DL is taking WEEKS to get back to Medallions...yet another sign of how pitiful DL's guest service has become.

Submitted complaint about canceled flight and forced overnight on April 9, got email of acknowledgment. Then nearly 3 months later (July 7), got a compensation offer. Accepted, hope to see $$ next. Won’t fly Delta on my next TATL though, cause they won’t answer the phone on a booking issue

-Earlier this year I sent a complaint about screwy Delta IT dropping me off the upgrade list. Never received a response.

-Sent a complaint (and request for compensation) 28 days ago about a trans-atlantic flight that was delayed more than 4 hours, thus entitling me to a cash payment. So far, crickets....

I got a response back regarding compensation for a canceled flight within 48 hours. Was surprised. Got E-credit for my flight plus a check issued for my hotel.

Submitted a complaint in February on the website, took exactly 30 days to get the non-automated response.

In early March I sent in a complaint about the length of time for luggage to arrive in baggage claim (62 minutes) in Atlanta. I just got a response today, 7,500 miles.

That's give or take 120 days... bravo Delta. I guess it means I should not totally give up yet.... Coming up on 90 days for missing mileage requests here; not a peep other than the canned response with the case number.

Relatedly, has anybody ever had any luck calling in about a complaint? I assume the agents can't even look them up?

My experience (and only that) is a bit mixed as a 6+ year DM (prior to Covid, when things became a bit less predictable, understandably) and a few before as PM. Summarily:
- bags gone missing (including once having bag sent to MEX and very clearly used for suspicious purposes), zero response. I don't think they care, once the bags make it to you.
- complaints about service issues (e.g. FA yelling at other pax, ignoring all of FC for a trans-con flight): usually handled quickly, always thrown a few thousand sky miles. This seems to be something they pay attention.
- compliments/good things: within 10 days, a follow-up email saying thank you
- anything requiring a refund (e.g. downgraded class flown): either VERY fast or VERY VERY slow, it's a bit 50/50 on this.
Everything right now is a mess, so I wouldn't expect much, but that's air traveling in summer 2022. TL/dr: pick your battles and know that the grass may look greener, but it probably isn't.

I just got a response to a message I seem to have sent in December of last year. I haven't the foggiest of ideas what I had written in about to be honest, and their response is just a standard text asking for a PNR/ticket number... Since I'm EU based it's handled by AF/KL though, so maybe not the most relevant data point for most people here.