Flight 1213 refund
 

So , brief explanation. I was on flight 1213 which was the MCO-ATL which caught fire this past Monday. We received an email from Delta that same day apologizing and that a full refund would be provided for the trip. Fast forward to yesterday when I was scheduled to return, I'm at MDW getting ready to go through security and my boarding pass magically disappears from app. Apparently, the refund was issued a few mins before, and it whacked my return ticket in the process. I had 35 mins before boarding started so I quickly made my way to the counter where they basically had to book me a new one way back to MCO and charged me for it in the process. I figured I'll sort it out later as time was running out. Agent at the counter was great and I left him a kudos ticket for his effort. So, this morning I contact the refunds people via email by replying to the refund notification they sent me yesterday and they are telling me that I'm out the new charge from yesterday and not entitled to a refund. It's a work trip so it's not coming out of my pocket but it's the principal. With the fiasco on Monday due to the evac of the aircraft a six hour delay waiting on a replacement aircraft and then the replacement aircraft couldn't refuel as there was no clearance at the gate for the fuel truck so that added another 1.5 hours delay, how many sky pesos would be fair in compensation? For broken IFE I received 3k, a 2 hour mechanical delay I got 6k , late bags 2.5 k etc. I will say everyone I talked to from Delta was extremely helpful and genuinely sympathetic. I'm sure there were other business travelers on the flight that the refund doesn't really do anything for directly.

Done venting

I would call in and talk to an agent. There's no universe where them canceling your ticket should have led to you having to buy a walk-up ticket, unless you specifically asked ffor them to cancel your itinerary.

I think you are giving some of them too much credit. If everyone were so great, you wouldn't be making this post.

come on, what is the point of this, he didn't say EVERYONE is so great. He simply complemented a particular agent he dealt with in the middle of a bunch of dumb stuff happening that was not his own or that agen'ts fault.

They should be able reinstate the ticket they accidentally refunded, apply the return flights you actually flew to that, and refund the walkup ticket you booked. I had a situation a few years back where during massive IRROPS in ATL, nearly nonexistent flight options, long wait times on the phone and jammed SCs, I bought a walkup ticket to hold space on a recovery flight. When I finally got through to an agent, they were able to sort it out and refund the walkup ticket. It took the intervention of Global Ticketing (naturally) but they got it done.

A key difference with your case was I hadn't yet flown the flight...I imagine this may make it more complicated or maybe so troublesome it's not worth the effort until you get to the right person. But given the circumstances, they should be able to fix this (even though it's not your money) and then also probably make you whole through some additional customer service gesture.

I wonder if they botched other reservations as well.

I'm saying everyone I had contact with was helpful in working through the issues they didn't cause. I'm in a service industry and what separates the good customer service organizations is how they handle bad situations anyone can look great when things are going smooth.

You would think, but was told since the full refund was issued on the original ticket it was closed, and they had to issue a new ticket.

Clearly this is a mistake... I'd respond to the email saying you are getting a refund with the ticket, etc., and give them one more shot. Then I'd email Ed's office.

I would simply do a chargeback as you were forced to purchase a new ticket at a higher fare. Basically a post-purchase fare increase and unlawful.

DL had no right to cancel your return flight and require you to purchase a more expensive ticket.

A chargeback will get s much quicker response than a complaint.

I disagree. A chargeback as the first attempt at resolution may result in more issues down the road. The OP flew it and DL will just show the stub to the credit card company.

It probably wouldn’t happen in this specific case give the other circumstances, but a chargeback without making a good faith effort to resolve the issue can also result in DL taking punitive action against the skymiles account, etc.

That has been common advice here at FT from the beginning and isn't nearly as simplistic as most make it out to be.

In a situation like this I’d suggest the following 3 steps:

1. Call back to customer service and give them one more chance to make it right. You will probably have to escalate to multiple supervisors, refund dept, etc. The key is to find someone who not only understands the situation, but who is empowered and has the authority to make it right.

2. If that fails, I would contact Ed’s office. In addition to this situation being morally and financially incorrect, this is has the potential of being a bad PR issue for DL. Imagine the headlines of “DL plane catches fire, customers forced to buy new expensive walk-up fare to continue travel.” Trust me, some member of Ed’s team will make this right in order to have it go away.

3. Absolute last resort is to file a chargeback. This can be further complicated if it involves your employer and I would suggest letting them handle it, fully understanding there could be potential repercussions in the future. Also, card type seems to have an impact on success rates with Amex being more customer friendly and Visa (especially Chase) being more merchant friendly.

In my experience I’ve never had to go beyond step 1 with DL - it might take multiple calls and escalation attempts, but someone has always made it right. I had to utilize step 2 with another company a few years ago (Ring Security Systems) after a missing order piece caused the rest of a multi-thousand dollar order to be unusable and general customer service couldn’t assist. The CEO’s secretary made it right once I found out a valid email address, explained the issue politely, but also threatened a chargeback. Only ever had to utilize step 3 once during Covid madness when Ticketmaster ghosted me on a refund and all attempts to contact them failed. Amex had my back and promptly accepted a $700 chargeback and I won the case.

My long-winded point is: Don’t give up and don’t let it go, whether it’s your funds or your employer’s. But go through the proper channels and take it a step at a time.

Let us know how it works out!

It doesn't solve this problem, but going forward, if there is no premium for purchasing one-way tickets, you should.
I learned that the hard way once. Changes/problems/anything at all in one direction of travel don't affect the other

I would file a DOT complaint before a chargeback.

Probably. But I’d try to work with DL before DOT for what is clearly a mistake.