Dear Delta,
I'd like to say I was surprised when I received an email from you alerting me to a change in my upcoming itinerary. But I wasn't. No, in fact I almost overlooked it--easy to happen given the frequency in which these emails are sent out to alert me that perhaps my flight number has changed, or my flight time has been altered by a minute here, a minute there.
I can't tell you exactly what it was about this particular email that signaled that it contained something important in it, something that would cause my jaw to drop, my blood to boil, my mouth to spew out profanities. But it did.
The email in question informed me that you were deeply sorry for any inconveniences, but you had cancelled my flight and instead put me and mine on one of the worst flights you offer.
Let me refresh your memory on this dear Delta before I get to the part of this letter when I go ahead and call *BS* and accuse you of various things ranging from fraud, bait and switch and other shady business practices for which I am not entirely certain on the correct legalese--but we all know what I'm talking about.
I scoured the 'net finding the perfect flight. The flight/s that would cause the least disruption to a young family traveling with a newborn and a 3.5 year during the holidays. And a pretty penny was spent on this perfect flight--it was selected over cheaper flights that had undesirable arrival/departure times/long layovers.
Yes, Delta, I passed up a chance to get home at 11.30 pm, after a 5 hour layover in Atlanta. I passed that one up and forked over
$1687 for a flight that only had a 1 hour layover in Atlanta and brought us home at 7 pm--just in time for my son's bedtime.
SO WHAT KIND OF REACTION DO YOU EXPECT FROM ME WHEN YOU SEND ME AN EMAIL TELLING ME YOU'VE GIVEN US THE BOOT AND PUT US ON THE CRAPPY FLIGHT I DIDN'T WANT IN THE FIRST PLACE? In case you're not clear Delta, I'm pissed. I'm irate. But I'm also baffled. I'm confused. And I'm challenging you on a few things:
1) Bait & Switch. Prove to me dear Delta that you never meant to sells seats on a more expensive flight and then cancel it for a less desirable flight.
2) Explain to me why I am not being offered a credit/price adjustment. On August 24 at 12 noon, this crappy flight was being sold for less than my original flight. YOU OWE ME THE DIFFERENCE. No, no, I do not care that you are currently selling seats on said crappy flight for $1,800 PER seat. Irrelevant. What is relevant is the price at my time of purchase.
3) You owe me a discounted rate for shipping commerical goods. Confused on this Delta? Well, I'm currently entering into negotiations to beging production of toddler size t-shirts bearing the logo
DELTA DID THIS.
See, I'm going to make one for my son--it's a big parental disclaimer. So that when we board our late night flight after spending that long in an airport, EVERYONE on board that plane will understand exactly why my son is bouncing off the walls at 37,000 feet.
It's not MY fault he's been up so long, it's not my fault he's acting up. It's Delta's. Blame them.
So I want you to ship these shirts for me once they arrive--we'll sell them all over the place.
Oh, and you better make sure to alert all the flight attendants to have lots of coupons to be comping people drinks. They're going to need them.
To conclude this open letter dear Delta, I will say, I have found your automated phone system surprisingly easy to use. See, when I being shouting into the phone
REPRESENTATIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, I am actually immediately connected to one. And everyone I have spoken to has been extremely courteous, albeit, extremely unhelpful given that they are simply reading from a script where they repeat incessantly "
I am sorry for your inconvenience."I am sorry too Delta. I am sorry for myself and that I've allowed your inability to effectively manage your flight timetable to get under my skin. I'm sorry it's come to this, but enough is enough. You've got my credit card on file, I anxiously await the credit I'm owed.
Sincerely,
Disgruntled Passenger heading to MIA