RSSrsvp

As this flight originated in Brussels wouldn't the appropriate agency from the EU be the correct place to contact as opposed to DL?

brenig

I will make sure to mail them. Anyone has any contact details for the Belgian/EU health inspection?

tkey75

I did read your whole post. IANAL, but being hit with a car is not the same as getting food poisoning, which I've had. Again, not a lawyer, but I've always been told there needs to be damages, and throwing up for a day doesn't count (whereas being hit by a car and significant time out of work with a broken leg would).

If a day of illness is significant enough to command a large money payout, please educate me with examples. Not being snarky. I'd really like to know.

brenig

I'm not trying to become a millionaire here. All I want is half of my ticket refunded, as half of my flight was spoiled. Not so extreme,no?

longtimelurker

The percolating discussion of lawsuits, liability, and damages seems to miss the point. What we know is (1) the OP flew DL on a paid business class ticket; (2) DL served the OP a meal with an expiration date many months or even a year prior to the date of the flight; and (3) the OP became sick on the flight.

The evidence suggesting that the expired meal was contaminated and the evidence linking the meal to the OPs illness is all circumstantial. But that is irrelevant. As far as I can tell, the OP isn't blaming DL for his illness and he isn't trying to "prove" that the expired meal caused his illness. He simply wants to be compensated for a serious failure in DL's service, which may have caused mild food poisoning.

DL should want to do the right thing regardless of whether the OP could establish liability in a court of law. The expired meal, in and of itself, demonstrates that DL failed to provide the expected level of business class service. DL should therefore be willing to provide appropriate compensation -- if only as a gesture of goodwill to a customer who paid $3,000 for his ticket and had a miserable exerperience that was, at least in part, DL's responsibility.

That said, I think the OP's request for a 50% voucher/refund is excessive. But DL's offer of a $150 credit is also insufficient. Something in the range of a $500 credit would seem perfectly reasonable under the circumstances.

DMIrishFlyer

DL are wrong here, they need to fix this issue and do something that makes this right,

My advise to the OP - get the address of the CEO (its on this board) and email him. That's they way to see action. Make yourself a pest.

And going of topic.....

Here is what I don't get, if DL leave a bad taste in your mouth every time its name is mentioned, if you've had a bad experience with DL (or many of them) if they suck as bad as you continually say (and I'm fine with all of that, I can believe you have had bad experiences), why, why, why, why, why, why do you continuously fly with them and spend as much time .....in' and moaning about them as you do? Please explain? (and the merger ain't a reason)

I had a bad customer experience with US Airways a few years ago and I have never since and will never set foot on one of their aircraft again, but I'm not on the US Airways board moaning about them every single day!. I'm simply done with them.

I get that no company is perfect, I get that DL is not perfect, I complain about stuff, WHAT I don't get is the vendetta you and others appear to be on. (Jeez one person here has a DLSUCKs blog?????) Its almost like stalking - let it go. move on!

channa

I disagree. The context of this issue is extremely important, and exactly why DL is behaving the way it is. It has already been mentioned to upthread that DL may be deliberately under-compensating here specifically to disclaim liability. The insignificant $150 voucher can be argued is their standard goodwill voucher for in-flight issues, and they never admitted to failing to provide service, causing any sort of pain, suffering, etc. CSRs may even be instructed to never issue more than $150 for food poisoing, whereas something like IFE where DL has less of a liability, could have been compensated more generously.

Chances are, most customers will accept this and move on. If the OP wants to extract more (IMO, fairer) compensation out of DL for this, some attention-getting tactic is in order. Filing a small claim is one way of doing it. Contacting the executive office is another. Contacting local media may be a way. Starting a hate site may be another. Who knows. There are plenty of ways.

itsaboutthejourney

Having not met me I think you're missing the bigger picture: my loyalty was to NW who treated me very very well. (at the same time DL treated me and my family pretty poorly on a few tense occasions.) I was the co-organizer the past 2 years where NW FlyerTalker's raised money to give the NWA Elite Agents an appreciation event.

There are many things I like about Delta, folks that know me, know that I'm possibly the biggest fan of the Mile High Mojito. Its great to see former NW staff looking great in spiffy uniforms, former NW planes getting cleaned, and IFE turned on. HBO on DL is pretty awesome too.

I'm staying with DL for at least a year because I'm simply not throwing away my loyalty & status. I've had the opportunity to interact with and get know NW & DL staff at high & low levels. Aside from the loyalty guy with credibility issues, I find everyone at DL sincere and eager to get past merger problems to create an amazing airline. I'm impressed by their dedication, and really hoping it will show in customer-facing areas once the dust is settled. (In fact yesterday, a DL exec emailed me to say he was traveling to the station where I'd pointed out some problems to do some meetings about making improvements.)

Unfortunately, many of the threads these days are about problems. Posting in them provides a release, a way to know that i've been heard. My goal ins't to annoy you, rather to pressure on DL execs to improve, as I know a lot of DL staff monitor this site.

Apologies if I appear to be a 100% whiner (and going OT to reply to DMIrishFlyer)

DMIrishFlyer

tsaboutthejourney - Nice response and you are correct I don't know you and SHOULD NOT pass judgment so readily - I DO understand that you have real issues.

I personally am a big fan of Delta for various reasons (not least of which was they way they treated me after the missed flight in Dublin that was the result of one of the worst hangovers of my life - but that's another story) They have nearly always treated me very well. For example I'm happy that I am forced by my company to buy mostly LUT fare BUT I ride in F 98% of the time.

But likewise I don't like the way certain DL execs have treated the members of this forum with a disregard bordering on contempt, I don't really like the changes to SkyMiles, but do understand that the changes are inevitable (does anyone really expect SkyMiles to be the same now as it was in say 1986?) because change is always inevitable.

I'm also not naive enough to expect that crap never happens, the guy who got the expired meal should be compensated and Delta should apologize and make it right. However should we react like every meal served had expired and a planeload of people puked their way across the Atlantic? - no, but thats almost how we reacted here. Its how a company reacts to those situations that counts, so far it does not appear that DL have reacted very well (we also have to consider we only have one side of the story)

So, thanks for taking the time to respond, I don't think you are whiner, I do think you should give Delta a shot, you may end up liking them more than your expectations have lead you to believe.

And finally lets continue to pressure DL execs to improve, but if we continually do it by blowing every issue out of proportion and by allowing every thread to end up the same way, we won't have any credibility left as a group. We should be tough but constructive and critical but discerning.

itsaboutthejourney

amen to that!

rbwpi

Excellent point, might explain why I was offered $300 for non-functioning IFE.

brenig

Dear Mrs xxxx,

I am forwarding you my full communication with one of your customer care employees.

After reading it, I would like you, a senior customer care director, to review the matter and authorize my request.

Even after her second reply, I do not feel that your agent has answered all of my questions.

In addition, I am dissatisfied with her offer of a $150 TCV.

On a personal level, I do not think anyone, including yourself would have taken peace of mind with her offer.

I completely feel as though this matter is being minimized and brushed off with a 150$ courtesy.

In order to get me on a Delta flight in the future, it will take more than what she is offering. I do not think that my request for compensation is in any way exaggerated, especially in light of the fact that I paid 3250$ for my ticket.

I think that a fair settlement would be compensation of half of the fare I paid for my ticket, as half of the flight went terribly wrong.

Please reply to me with positive news.

Awaiting your reply eagerly.


Yours sincerely,

USA_flyer

Easy to say when you're not the one head in the pan vomiting for an hour. Feel free to let us know how your next case of food poisioning from an airlines or restaurant goes and how you deal with it.@:-)

Not if it's thawed, re-frozen, thawed and then cooked. I've tossed fish out days prior to the expiry date because it had a very slight odour to it even though I kept it refrigerated.

Got a law degree?


That looks like a fishing trip, you've not hardened your position at all. I would be using much stronger language with the aim of insisting on a satisfactory resolution.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Chiming in a little late but from:

https://www.google.com/health/ref/Food+poisoning

Overview
Food poisoning is the result of eating organisms or toxins in contaminated food. Most cases of food poisoning are from common bacteria such as Staphylococcus or E. coli.

Symptoms
The symptoms from the most common types of food poisoning generally start within 2 - 6 hours of eating the food. That time may be longer (even a number of days) or shorter, depending on the cause of the food poisoning.

I would say the OP had food poisoning from the meal.

Most people have had food poisoning at some point in their life. The last time I had it after eating out I reported it to the health dept. and the restaurant.

brenig

September 21, 2009 REF #xxxxxxxx


Here the email received from one cust care agent, after I mailed the CEO...


Mr. xxxx



Dear Mr. xxxxx:

Thank you for your correspondence to our CEO, Mr. Richard Anderson,
describing your recent experience with Delta; he has asked me to respond
on his behalf. I apologize for the poor quality Kosher meal that you
received.

The gesture my colleague extended was not meant to place a value on your
experience; rather it was an attempt to make amends for your
disappointment with our service. Due to the circumstances you described
and given that you are a very frequent flyer with us, I would like to
send an additional $150.00 travel voucher. I apologize, but we are
unable to refund any portion of a flown ticket nor offer free tickets.

As an additonal gesture of goodwill, an Electronic Transportation Credit
has been reserved in our system. This voucher can be applied toward the
purchase of a new ticket. Please keep the enclosed Terms and
Conditions, since the number is required for redemption. The e-TCV can
be used online at www.delta.com or when booking directly through one of
our Reservations offices.

Mr. xxxxxx, please know we will make every attempt to provide future
service that earns your respect and confidence.

Sincerely,


xxxx xxxxxx
Coordinator, Customer Care