[ked615]

I was scheduled for a business to Birmingham, Alabama on April
28, the day after the tornado struck. As of Thursday morning, the
meeting was still scheduled so I headed out on the trip. On Wednesday, I
had made arrangements with my niece who attends the University of
Alabam, Tuscaloosa to meet her for dinner after my meeting in
Birmingham. As I sure you are aware, the town of Tuscaloosa was
demolished. My meeting got cancelled and I headed straight for
Tuscaloosa from the airport so that I could get to my niece who lived
right on 15th street, the heart of the hardest hit area in Tuscaloosa. I
was to fly out of Birmingham on Thursday afternoon, and I could have,
there were no cancellations, or delays keeping from doing that. The
reason I did not leave was the fact that I could not leave my 21 year
niece, who had just lived through that tornado by herself, her parents
live in New Jersey. I called your airline to change my reservation to
Saturday morning and they were able to do so. I asked if they were
waving the change fees due to the situation and they were not. I chose
to change anyway because of my niece. I had to pay 150 dollars to fly on
Saturday plus 50 dollars to make the change. My niece, who was scheduled
to leave May 7, called her airline, Southwest, and they accomodated her
change with no fee, no penalty, just words of comfort. I am so
disappointed in Delta Airlines, which is the "Hometown Airline" of the
region that was so destroyed, for not waving fees in such extenuating
circumstances. I travel quite a lot for my company, and recently had
started to choose Delta as much as possible because I always had such a
great experience with your airline. However, in the future, I will not
seek our your airline for my travel needs, and I will make sure I let
all of my colleagues and friends know what Delta did during this tragic
situation. I am saddened and disappointed in your choice not to help out
the travelers who were affected by this. Sincerely,
Submitted: Sun May 1 2011 13:34:19 EDT



There response:
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the change fee. On behalf
of everyone at Delta Air Lines, I sincerely apologize for your
disappointment with change fee policy.
I am truly sorry for your disappointment with the fee to change your
nonrefundable ticket and appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.
In order to be fair to all our customers, it is important to adhere to
the terms of the ticket each passenger has purchased. In this case, a
fee applies even if the decision to cancel or change planned travel is
due to an illness or other circumstance that was unknown at the time the
ticket was purchased or is beyond a customer’s control.
Respectfully, I must deny your request. I know this is not the answer
you were expecting, and I apologize for any disappointment.
Mrs. , I hope I have been able to resolve any concerns you have
about our service. As our valued SkyMiles member, your business is
important to us and given the opportunity of serving you in the future,
I am confident Delta will not only meet but exceed your expectations.
Sincerely,
Roger M. Parker
Coordinator, Customer Care
Delta Air Lines/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

[jimworcs]

That reply illustrates why the government was wrong to let them out of bankruptcy. It s a canned response that bears no relation to the point made. Delta were given the opprtunity todo the right thing. They chose not to do so and even give the courtesy of a reply which answered the points raised. Delta are arrogant and anti customer. You should drop them and travel Southwest.

[ked615]

I will avoid them as much as possible. DELTA will be my last choice.

[Ombudsman]

Other airlines routinely issue fee waivers for areas hit by natural disasters. Its the right thing to do in that situation. Unfortunately Delta rarely does the right thing. Avoid them whenever possible as well and I have a friend who works for them!

I'm glad your niece was okay. She's lucky to have a family member who cared so much about her they did not want to leave her alone to handle the devastation and despair alone. If only Delta cared as much about their customers. Another friend of mine is a volunteer with the Red Cross and she flew into the area with her team to assist...on Southwest! They even waived the advance purchase requirements and flew them there on their lowest fare. A little good will goes a long way.

[ked615]

Thanks, we are all so grateful that she was fine. I fly out of Raleigh so unfortunately I do not have too many choices when I fly. BUT, DELTA will be last on the list, even after Amtrak and possibly Greyhound!!