manneca

I am intrigued at a phenomena all over Flyertalk. Someone posts a complaint, perhaps a little overblown, but a legitmate complaint and then the response is how whatever happened is the posters fault. Pattern happens all the time. So, what does that say about us as posters, as flyers?

In this case, both flights were on time with a 2.5 hour connection time. Surely that is sufficient time for Delta to get the dog from one plane to another. Surely we can rely on the Delta folks to make appropriate arrangements.

I'm sorry the dog was delayed and caused you distress.

DiscoPapa

Should've taken the offer for the DL American Express! (I kid, I kid....)

OP, sorry to hear about the situation. DL dropped the ball, and added on poor customer service as a bonus.

Kibison

Don't forget that Delta gets a nice chunk of money for the service. It is only fair that they provide the service that they charged the user for.

tkey75

I didn't read anyone as saying what happened was the OP's fault. Rather the OP was called out for overreacting to the situation. The dog was not lost, rather missed a connection is currently being cared for until the next opportunity to get it to the destination. It happens all the time to all sorts of people, things, various living creatures. That doesn't excuse it, but the 'How dare you, Delta! Not to MY things!!' attitude will never fly here.

manneca, you're not completely off base, but in general I think Flyertalkers interject a little reason into situations where passengers feel they have been wronged (and likely have been, as in this situation - the dog should have made the connection) overreact.

mikey1003

This is the whole issue! Plus, OP should not have had all the problems trying to locate mishandled pet

GoingAway

I disagree that YOU or most anyone on this board have a clue as to what type of care that animal is/will receive during the stay at ATL. The people supposedly responsible for the animals work for an airline not a kennel -- they have NO CLUE as to the appropriate care of the animal unless you're lucky enough to get a pet lover.

The overreaction you're siting on the part of the OP has to do with the use of the word LOST, I believe .... IMO - DL did "lose" the animal for a time from the OP and their friends perspective, as no one was able to tell them where the animal was and DL did not notify them that the animal wasn't on the flight. When something isn't where its supposed to be, its been misplaced/lost ... sure, now they've located the animal and have the story, but it was LOST when it didn't show on that flight.

Just curious - if this was an unaccompanied minor that didn't show at their destination, no contact made, nothing known about the kids - multiple calls needed to locate them, find out they'll be held overnight at the airport because there isn't another flight ... would the reactions on this thread change at all?

TTT

I believe Delta and other airlines which routinely transport animals have facilities in place at their hubs to store and care for animals that have been 'lost'. These are climate controlled rooms specifically for the storage of animals and I believe there is a dedicated or at least specially trained staff to care for the animals on a regular basis. IOW, the dog is not sitting at the end of the B concourse in his kennel being kicked by baggage handlers as they walk by.

DiverDave

Good analysis. ^ ^ ^

A little research on flyertalk (including the CO forum) and airliners.net will turn up a reasonable number of threads about problems shipping animals. Some of those problems (unfortunately) resulted in death.

None of this should have happened this way, but airlines mishandle luggage, cargo, and even children. It is inevitable that somebody's shipped pet will be mishandled.

So you are taking a risk by shipping a pet as cargo.

Some airlines such as Southwest do not transport pets at all: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/animals.html I've seen enough threads like this that I wish Delta would do the same.

I'm glad the dog is okay, and apparently being well cared for. I expect the dog is far less frightened in the Atlanta pet facility than it was in the cargo hold of an airliner.

David

gauravp123

As a pet owner, at the end of the day, a minor that you refer to "A HUMAN" will never be treated on the same level as a PET. People have dogs, cats etc other pets etc, and they are "LIKE" a kid or a child etc but at the end of the day, no PET will ever be viewed at the SAME LEVEL as a HUMAN in society.

tkey75

Meh. Just plain old deleted.

tkey75

DL did not lose the animal. The unlucky OP just happened to get the person on the phone who didn't care to find out where it was and blew it off. That was wrong, but the animal was never lost, as proven by the caring PDX agent who easily was able to relay its location and flight status.

GoingAway

You'd be wrong, it's firsthand experience with pet transportation when I was forced to put one animal in the belly (an associate bowed out of the trip at the last moment and they wouldn't let me retain the second seat, pay for the ticket and have two animals on board with me). I was also assured that the animal was being "well taken care of" but learned that my definition of that and the airlines was vastly different. I won't ever be faced with that situation again, personally, but am well aware that "care" can be a loosely defined term when coming to the animal transport process.

GoingAway

But BUF seems to have had no clue and were supposed to be receiving the animal or they would have helped the friend and the OP would not have had to get involved again at all.

tkey75

I suppose it can. Some may say not letting it die by providing shelter, food and water is caring for an animal. Some may disagree with that and say care is much more.

Even others may say subjecting your pet to being treated as cargo is not caring.

I have/had all sorts of pets. I'm not sure I'd choose to ship them in the cargo hold of an airplane.

tkey75

All BUF has no clue about is how to give a damn about this guy's animal. As tragic as that is, DL knows where the dog is. The OP is just in the tough position of dealing with people who don't care.