I don’t like Delta Airlines
This summer I flew from Seattle to New York on Delta Airlines. When I arrived, my luggage was missing. I went to the customer service counter, where the woman behind the desk asked me if my name was pronounced “Barbra Riddle.” It wasn’t! Because of how different the letters in my name are and how you say them. It was a savvy question, though, because I have been trying (fruitlessly) to get people to attach new sounds to all the letters.
It turned out that my bag had been accidentally swapped with a woman headed for Atlanta. The woman at the counter said to go home and wait — Delta would bring me my bag the next day! Sadly, she lied. The next day, they brought me Mrs. Riddle’s bag. I called Delta, they apologized and said they’d bring me my bag the double-next day. However, the double-next day they brought Mrs. Riddle’s bag — again. At this point I decided to record my phone calls with Delta, because otherwise there would be no record of the beautiful dance of words and misinformation. I called Delta and spoke to a man named Trevor…
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As Trevor requested, I filled out a claim and faxed it to Delta. To my chagrin (that’s a real word I’m told) whenever I’d call to ask the status of my bag, they’d say it was out for delivery. They had no record of the bag swap. They just kept trying to bring me Linda’s bag.
A week later I got an e-mail from Linda Riddle’s son-in-law. He got my bag delivered to him and left on his porch in the middle of the night. He called Delta, but they refused to pick it up, so he e-mailed me. We were about to arrange for him to mail it to me, but then, Delta had a change of heart. I got a call from a woman who was ready to arrange for my bag’s return…
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She of course lied. A week later, there was no bag. I called Delta and they had no record of anyone finding my bag. Here is that call…
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Amazed at Delta’s incompetence and disinterest in helping it’s customers, I e-mailed the nice man in Atlanta and he mailed me my bag back. I’m still somewhat surprised that Delta found my bag, refused to pick it up, then agreed to pick it up, then forgot and kept no record of any conversations. Luckily, I did.
In the end, I decided to write them a letter explaining my disappointment in them. That seemed to have no effect. So I decided to start handing out postcards at shows, expressing my audience’s disappointment in Delta. So far, I’ve probably handed out a few thousand. Here is a photo of the front of the postcard:
Lastly, here is a song (in Russian) from Timur Shaov, a Russian bard, whose luggage was also lost by Delta:
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Dude, I will totally boycott them in your honor. What a ridiculous situation to have to go through! Nice work, though, getting your bag back on your own.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:26 am (#)
Oh. Em. Gee.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm (#)
Hi Eugene. Your thorough blog entry and palpable frustration have inspired me to write to Delta. I went here: http://www.delta.com/emailus/servlet/EmailUs?cmd=go
and wrote this the comment field:
——————
This is less a complaint and more of a concern. An acquaintance of mine, Eugene Mirman, experienced very poor service when his baggage was switched with another passenger’s. He is a very patient, articulate, and reasonable man, which would make him the ideal person to deal with when there is an issue. Despite his efforts and good humor, Delta did not handle his situation well. The situation is outlined at his website, and I would recommend that you read it to understand the context and the seriousness of the situation. Here is that page: http://eugenemirman.com/archives/129
You are losing a valuable customer and possibly many others. It would make me feel better (and I would be less inclined to boycott Delta) if you compensated Mr. Mirman with something. Let me know what you think and what you plan to do.
Sincerely, John M.
——————-
Now I don’t know if I am crossing a boundary here with you. If so, I apologize. I am really curious to see how they will handle this one. I want them to allay my fears and comfort me, as well as compensate you, of course! I wonder if their email system flags certain responses that have words like “boycott” or “awful” so they get a higher priority…
Well, thanks for the heads-up with Delta. I will be careful with them (if not outright boycotting them) in the future.
November 30th, 2008 at 8:35 pm (#)
They actually ended up getting me a check for some of the items in my luggage, which I then deposited and used to pay for the postcards I’ve been sending them. It isn’t cheap to tease an airline for being incompetent.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:12 am (#)
Well I am glad they compensated you somewhat. I love the postcard image — it’s fantastic.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm (#)
Eugene, I’m the husband of one of the ladies you spoke with regarding your situation. I assure you if she talked to you she did not lie to you based on the info she had access to, she is the one you actually spoke almost well of. Thanks. To avoid future problems, I always suggest to place a listing of name, address, telephone and any pertinent data inside a ziplock bag and then place it inside each of your suitcases on top of all clothing. If the labels are torn off, or mislabeled on the exterior, the airline could easily locate you or in your case whomever picked it up by mistake. It’s not easy being verbally abused on almost every call you receive for 8 or more hours each day, especially when some of the employees have already spoken with you and truly haven’t been accurate or truthful. Unfortunately, some people could care less, they just want a paycheck, but I assure you, my wife is 65 yrs old and has been dedicated to excellence in whatever capacity she has ever worked at anywhere for the past 45 years of our marriage. Thanks for taking time to let me vent. I hope you don’t have any problems regardless of who you may fly with. Pat S.
December 5th, 2008 at 4:40 pm (#)
Thank you Patrick. I know that the woman I spoke with meant well. I don’t really think she lied to me and in all my calls I don’t yell at the employees. I know that it’s hard for them. At the same time, it feels like Delta doesn’t keep track of anything and has a flawed system and just doesn’t care. Delta is like an abusive boyfriend who gets drunk and then promises to not hit you again. You love him, but also, he should go to jail. Not the best analogy, but not the worst. Tell your wife I think she is a nice person who got mixed up with a flawed company. But also tell her that I will probably make fun of Delta for another six months or so and then stop. And I will try the zip lock thing. That’s a good idea. Thanks.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:50 pm (#)
This week when I flew home from visiting my family, I saw a pile of Delta bags at the airport that hadn’t made it to the right place. One of them had a PUPPY inside! I hope Delta will be a little more speedy returning the puppy to its owner than they were with your bag. Also, you might consider putting a live animal in your bag next time. Perhaps Delta will treat it more urgently, then.
December 31st, 2008 at 7:34 pm (#)
[...] to SLC without us! [Especially since I had only two weeks previously laughed by ass butt off at this blog post from comedian Eugene Mirman about his luggage which Delta--the very airline now responsible for our [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 11:42 pm (#)
http://consumerist.com/2010/06/delta-smashed-my-bike-and-wont-even-refund-the-baggage-fee.html
Another Delta Airlines fuckup…
June 10th, 2010 at 11:22 pm (#)