Nor’easter (noun): “a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada” that “can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow.”
My story started on Wednesday afternoon…
Winter Storm Watch - 02.24.10
Wednesday, 2/24/2010:
I’m flying out to Chicago to see one of my best friends tomorrow and guess what happens? The National Weather Service issued a storm warning of epic proportions—okay, I’m just exaggerating now—but they did issue a severe weather warning. As the day went on, the warning intensified. Before I knew it, weather.com and many other weather channels were reporting extreme weather conditions for Thursday… the day I am to fly out.
That was going to be a problem and so I immediately called Delta to move my flight earlier. If anything, I might be able to dodge the storm and fly out before it got worse… Luckily for me, the representative was very understanding and told me that I could change to any time I liked. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I had to figure out when I could take off work to leave for the airport and when my friend could pick me up. As a result, I called Delta back 30 minutes later. All of a sudden, in this second call, I was told that I had to take my original flight and wait for it to cancel before I could book another one. I was shocked! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he informed me that only after Delta issues an advisory statement online could he change my flight plans without an extra fee. Weird thing was, as soon as I hung up the phone and refreshed the Delta site, an advisory had come out… and it had come out before I spoke with the supervisor.
Where was the communication between employer and employee there??? I decided to just forget and forgive this glitch and contact another rep. Of course, third call was the charm. Within a few minutes, I was booked for an earlier flight.
Thursday, 2/25/2010:
Bright and early Thursday morning, I logged into work from home. A few hours later, I hopped on a black car for the airport. By this time, the weather had turned insane. Wet snow and sleet hit the pavement and turned into slush. Everyone moved slowly through the streets. It took about 30-45 minutes to get to the airport. But, even so, I arrived at the Delta Shuttle terminal 2.5 hours before my flight departure. Little did I know that in less than 2 hours, my flight would be canceled. This was when the drama increased.
The storm worsening...
I asked the Delta Shuttle representative for help. My flight was canceled and so were the next several flights. “So what should I do now?” I asked her. The representative behind the counter answered mechanically. “I can put you on the next available flight. 7AM.” Wait, what?!?!??! The storm is supposed to increase with intensity over night through Friday morning and she wants to put me on the early morning flight that would get canceled (and did, by the way). I asked her to help me out a bit and even told her that when I called Delta, the reps were very helpful and told me that if my flight was canceled or really delayed I could change my flight to another time without any hassle. This Shuttle rep just stared at me and repeated her answer again. “7AM”. She didn’t even look up when speaking to me. I felt as if I was a some a beggar! I was speechless at her attitude. Not only was her attitude extremely poor (for example, I’d ask her a simple question and she would answer “It says RIGHT THERE” as if I was retarded), but she was telling me something different from the Delta reps on the phone. I was getting very upset. Her attitude only grew worse when I became more frustrated. As a result, I calmed down and asked her if there was anything she could do to help me out. “I’d really appreciate it!” I said, clenching my jaw and refraining from calling for a supervisor. She finally gave in and said smugly that she was doing me a favor by changing my flight time to 3pm at the latest. I asked her politely to move it to a later flight… 5PM or later? The storm had been forecasted to lessen only in the evening. She then said loudly and obnoxiously, “You can’t just expect me to change the flight to whatever time you’d like. This is not your personal jet, you know.” Whoa there, lady! I didn’t do anything to piss you off, so why the attitude? I asked politely for help… help that Delta online as well as several phone reps have told me they could do without any trouble, and all of a sudden, this lady ridicules me? What “private jet” is she talking about? I didn’t say anything about wanting Delta to bend to my will, I merely asked her to put me on a later flight (especially when there’s still room on it and I’m standing in front of her after waiting 2.5 hours at the terminal)! She wouldn’t budge, saying she couldn’t do anything. She then handed me the ticket and repeated again that she was doing me a favor. I couldn’t believe her bad service.
As I waited for the bus back to Manhattan, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have called Delta on the phone instead. So, I did. The rep on the phone was extremely polite and told me that she could have easily changed my flight to another time, but now that I have printed the ticket I must wait until tomorrow and go to the airport to change it. I couldn’t believe my ears! If I weren’t so tired, I would have gone back to that lady and called her out on her attitude and her being wrong. Instead, I decided to wait it out and hope that the next day would be better…
Nor'easter February 2010
Friday, 2/26/2010:
I awoke early in the morning again to monitor the weather. By this time, I had full understanding of the monster the weathermen called, the “Nor’easter”. This sucker was not leaving New York. Instead, it was circling New York, meaning flights would be canceled or delayed, but you just couldn’t tell when it would get bad. At 11AM, I trudged through the snow for part 2 of my journey.
On my way there, I kept checking my flight’s status. All the other flights before me had been canceled. The snow outside was falling hard, but it wasn’t as bad as Thursday. Then, as soon as I got onto the bus to the airport, the flight status changed to “canceled”. Immediately, I called Delta for help. Should I go to the airport and wait to get onto the next flight out? It seemed like there was only 2 viable flights, a 6PM one and an 8PM one. The rep told me the only thing he could do for me was to put me on the first flight out on Saturday. What?!?!? I would only get to see my best friend for less than a day… that didn’t make sense to me. I begged him for more help. There’s got to be something that can be done. He apologized, but he just couldn’t find any availability on those two flights out. Consequently, the only thing he could do was give me a full refund. Begrudgingly, I took that option.
Overall:
I am definitely unhappy with how I was treated by this Delta Shuttle employee even though the other Delta reps on the phone were extremely helpful. I’ve been on both Jetblue and American Airlines when they had weather problems, cancellations or major delays. Both representatives were extremely helpful. I think they understood how the customers felt and truly tried to help out as much as possible… but this lady… OH HELL NO… She was giving me this attitude that was unfounded and for her to repeatedly remind me that she was doing me a favor when I could have gotten better service and better flight time with a Delta rep on the phone… well, she’s just ridiculous! Plus, by the evening the weather had cleared. The 6PM and 8PM flights both flew out fine… If she had been more helpful and more understanding instead of obnoxious or if I had just called Delta instead, I could have been placed on one of those flights… and I could be celebrating my best friend’s birthday right now!
*NOTE: The above account is based on my own experiences and opinions and may not reflect the opinion of others.
—UPDATED 2/27/2010—
After writing my post, I couldn’t help but Google who else has complained about Delta and how to file a travel complaint with Delta.com. I actually found several links and it seems that most of them are because of service issues:
With all these complaints and websites criticizing Delta… maybe it’s a hint to management?
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
My Painful Journey Through the Nor’easter…
27 FebNor’easter (noun): “a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada” that “can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow.”
My story started on Wednesday afternoon…
Winter Storm Watch - 02.24.10
Wednesday, 2/24/2010:
I’m flying out to Chicago to see one of my best friends tomorrow and guess what happens? The National Weather Service issued a storm warning of epic proportions—okay, I’m just exaggerating now—but they did issue a severe weather warning. As the day went on, the warning intensified. Before I knew it, weather.com and many other weather channels were reporting extreme weather conditions for Thursday… the day I am to fly out.
That was going to be a problem and so I immediately called Delta to move my flight earlier. If anything, I might be able to dodge the storm and fly out before it got worse… Luckily for me, the representative was very understanding and told me that I could change to any time I liked. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I had to figure out when I could take off work to leave for the airport and when my friend could pick me up. As a result, I called Delta back 30 minutes later. All of a sudden, in this second call, I was told that I had to take my original flight and wait for it to cancel before I could book another one. I was shocked! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he informed me that only after Delta issues an advisory statement online could he change my flight plans without an extra fee. Weird thing was, as soon as I hung up the phone and refreshed the Delta site, an advisory had come out… and it had come out before I spoke with the supervisor.
Where was the communication between employer and employee there??? I decided to just forget and forgive this glitch and contact another rep. Of course, third call was the charm. Within a few minutes, I was booked for an earlier flight.
Thursday, 2/25/2010:
Bright and early Thursday morning, I logged into work from home. A few hours later, I hopped on a black car for the airport. By this time, the weather had turned insane. Wet snow and sleet hit the pavement and turned into slush. Everyone moved slowly through the streets. It took about 30-45 minutes to get to the airport. But, even so, I arrived at the Delta Shuttle terminal 2.5 hours before my flight departure. Little did I know that in less than 2 hours, my flight would be canceled. This was when the drama increased.
The storm worsening...
I asked the Delta Shuttle representative for help. My flight was canceled and so were the next several flights. “So what should I do now?” I asked her. The representative behind the counter answered mechanically. “I can put you on the next available flight. 7AM.” Wait, what?!?!??! The storm is supposed to increase with intensity over night through Friday morning and she wants to put me on the early morning flight that would get canceled (and did, by the way). I asked her to help me out a bit and even told her that when I called Delta, the reps were very helpful and told me that if my flight was canceled or really delayed I could change my flight to another time without any hassle. This Shuttle rep just stared at me and repeated her answer again. “7AM”. She didn’t even look up when speaking to me. I felt as if I was a some a beggar! I was speechless at her attitude. Not only was her attitude extremely poor (for example, I’d ask her a simple question and she would answer “It says RIGHT THERE” as if I was retarded), but she was telling me something different from the Delta reps on the phone. I was getting very upset. Her attitude only grew worse when I became more frustrated. As a result, I calmed down and asked her if there was anything she could do to help me out. “I’d really appreciate it!” I said, clenching my jaw and refraining from calling for a supervisor. She finally gave in and said smugly that she was doing me a favor by changing my flight time to 3pm at the latest. I asked her politely to move it to a later flight… 5PM or later? The storm had been forecasted to lessen only in the evening. She then said loudly and obnoxiously, “You can’t just expect me to change the flight to whatever time you’d like. This is not your personal jet, you know.” Whoa there, lady! I didn’t do anything to piss you off, so why the attitude? I asked politely for help… help that Delta online as well as several phone reps have told me they could do without any trouble, and all of a sudden, this lady ridicules me? What “private jet” is she talking about? I didn’t say anything about wanting Delta to bend to my will, I merely asked her to put me on a later flight (especially when there’s still room on it and I’m standing in front of her after waiting 2.5 hours at the terminal)! She wouldn’t budge, saying she couldn’t do anything. She then handed me the ticket and repeated again that she was doing me a favor. I couldn’t believe her bad service.
As I waited for the bus back to Manhattan, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have called Delta on the phone instead. So, I did. The rep on the phone was extremely polite and told me that she could have easily changed my flight to another time, but now that I have printed the ticket I must wait until tomorrow and go to the airport to change it. I couldn’t believe my ears! If I weren’t so tired, I would have gone back to that lady and called her out on her attitude and her being wrong. Instead, I decided to wait it out and hope that the next day would be better…
Nor'easter February 2010
Friday, 2/26/2010:
I awoke early in the morning again to monitor the weather. By this time, I had full understanding of the monster the weathermen called, the “Nor’easter”. This sucker was not leaving New York. Instead, it was circling New York, meaning flights would be canceled or delayed, but you just couldn’t tell when it would get bad. At 11AM, I trudged through the snow for part 2 of my journey.
On my way there, I kept checking my flight’s status. All the other flights before me had been canceled. The snow outside was falling hard, but it wasn’t as bad as Thursday. Then, as soon as I got onto the bus to the airport, the flight status changed to “canceled”. Immediately, I called Delta for help. Should I go to the airport and wait to get onto the next flight out? It seemed like there was only 2 viable flights, a 6PM one and an 8PM one. The rep told me the only thing he could do for me was to put me on the first flight out on Saturday. What?!?!? I would only get to see my best friend for less than a day… that didn’t make sense to me. I begged him for more help. There’s got to be something that can be done. He apologized, but he just couldn’t find any availability on those two flights out. Consequently, the only thing he could do was give me a full refund. Begrudgingly, I took that option.
Overall:
I am definitely unhappy with how I was treated by this Delta Shuttle employee even though the other Delta reps on the phone were extremely helpful. I’ve been on both Jetblue and American Airlines when they had weather problems, cancellations or major delays. Both representatives were extremely helpful. I think they understood how the customers felt and truly tried to help out as much as possible… but this lady… OH HELL NO… She was giving me this attitude that was unfounded and for her to repeatedly remind me that she was doing me a favor when I could have gotten better service and better flight time with a Delta rep on the phone… well, she’s just ridiculous! Plus, by the evening the weather had cleared. The 6PM and 8PM flights both flew out fine… If she had been more helpful and more understanding instead of obnoxious or if I had just called Delta instead, I could have been placed on one of those flights… and I could be celebrating my best friend’s birthday right now!
*NOTE: The above account is based on my own experiences and opinions and may not reflect the opinion of others.
—UPDATED 2/27/2010—
After writing my post, I couldn’t help but Google who else has complained about Delta and how to file a travel complaint with Delta.com. I actually found several links and it seems that most of them are because of service issues:
With all these complaints and websites criticizing Delta… maybe it’s a hint to management?
Share this:
Like this: