Paul,
Welcome back to the US, and congratulations on seven years of marriage. A trip to Chile sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate. I don’t imagine you will like my response.
As you pointed out, Delta.com, the Cardmember Agreement, and pre-booking T&Cs repeat the same line: “Pay with Miles tickets are not eligible for mileage accrual Medallion Qualification Segments, Medallion Qualification Miles, or Best Fare Guarantee.” [From Terms and Conditions
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/use_mi...les/index.jsp].
I would be angry too that you were told otherwise by an agent.
Is it fair? No. Is it annoying? Yes. But from a neutral point of view, I don’t think it is a fair expectation that Delta would give you the MQMs as a resolution to the incident. This is based on the fact that the agent who mislead you did not ticket the reservation. Unfortunately, you “signed” the electronic agreement with those terms and conditions before booking the ticket. Additionally, there are other road warriors such as yourself who have read the rules and earned the MQMs and status through the traditional earning methods.
I think the lesson to those reading the forum is to always read the terms and conditions yourself. Never trust a verbal statement from an airline employee. What it comes down to is this: Even if a Supervisor pulled the phone tapes, the written terms and conditions that you “signed” will always prevail. I wish every agent would be held accountable for what they say, but they never will be.
Matt