I already wrote this letter to Consumerist.com (a great consumer advocate blog, read it!) and hopefully they’ll post it. But, for right now, if you’re wondering why Jill (my sister) and I are still in the USA, wearing the same clothes over and over again, this is why. Delta.
UPDATE 8:15pm on 8/15: Delta doesn’t know where our baggage is. They said they checked it in at JFK and they may have forwarded it to Tel Aviv tonight, but they don’t know. Oh and get this… apparently Delta is a loose confederation of local baggage claim services, that is, according to floor manager Miss Scott in Georgia. If I want to know where my bags are, I’ll have to call JFK Delta’s baggage services. What’s the number for that desk, you ask? She doesn’t know. Me either. She told me to call 411. Great service, Delta!
UPDATE 1:40pm on 8/16: Leaving for the airport right now. Delta still doesn’t know where our stuff is. I will not be going to Israel if I don’t know my bag will be there when I land.
Dear Ben and the Consumerist community:
My sister and I have been planning a trip to Israel through a group called Birthright Israel for the last year. Now we’re stranded in NYC. Here’s our story. Can anyone help us?
I flew up from Washington, DC yesterday (8/14) to meet my sister on her birthday at JFK airport at 4:30 for our 9pm flight to Tel Aviv. That’s when our troubles began. The group planned to meet in Delta’s terminal 3 check-in. I got there and found a group staff member who looked understandably overwhelmed at the mayhem of crowds and confusion Delta generously calls their main check-in area. After waiting half an hour in line, we discover half of our group is at another check-in area which some Delta representatives tell them is the only area they can check-in. (What line have we been standing in?!) So, we move. By 6:30pm, we finally make it through baggage check and security, only to hear over the intercom that our flight has been seriously delayed without a time announced. This delay seems due to a huge thunderstorm overhead. Obviously, this was not Delta’s fault and, while some in our group moaned, most were quite content to watch Michael Phelps win his sixth gold medal and get to know the rest of the group.
Delta announced a first of many delays… 9:50pm (delay #1): just a forty minute delay. I remember thinking at the time, “Wow! I’m surprised how short this delay is. I hope it’s not foolishly optimistic!” It was. Delta quickly learned of its own buffoonery and rescheduled the flight to about 10:45pm (delay #2). This too was not to last. Somewhere about 10 o’clock, Delta announced yet another delay: 11:55pm (delay #3). This seemed more reasonable given the weather situation and most of us consoled ourselves that at least we would get to leave sometime. Delta, it seems, thought they had given up an opportunity to yank us around and announced that the plane had landed earlier than they thought so we would be leaving at 11:25pm (undelay #4) Very excited that the plane was actually at the airport and that the weather had cleared up, most of us thought we could already taste the falafel we were to enjoy the next day in Tel Aviv. Again, so so wrong.
Even though the plane had arrived and the masses of passengers assembled, Delta decided to announce yet another delay: 1am (delay #5). Fine. Whatever. Just get us on the plane. 1:25am rolls around. (delay #6) We start boarding. My sister and I finally get on the plane, prepare for a 10 hour flight, take our Tylenol PM and try to fall asleep. We’re woken up by the pilot announcing at 2am that we are 14th in line to take off so we will be taxiing for another 25 minutes, but he’ll try to get us up sooner. (delay #7) I woke up at 2:40am, realizing that after more than 25 minutes, we were still not airborne. (effective delay #8 ) Around then the pilot announced a mechanical problem that they couldn’t fix from the cockpit (we later learn this was just part of the A/C system) and so we’re returning to port, but couldn’t leave the plane. Nearly 30 minutes later, someone announces that we would have to leave since the broken part couldn’t be fixed at JFK and the plane would need to be flown to Atlanta for repairs. So, at 3:15am, the entire complement of staff and passengers leave the plane, bleary eyed and annoyed.
Back in the lounge again, two delta employees are there to rebook some 100+ passengers, including many small children, for a flight leaving at 3pm the next day. Unfortunately, many of the passengers were observant Jews (as were the organizers of our trip) and could not fly on the Sabbath. These people, Delta said, would be provided a flight Saturday night after sundown. At 4am(!) nearly 12 hours into our horrible night at the airport, our group, still without food, was offered 10 hotel rooms for 42 people. Great.
My sister and I left the airport at 4:30am and took a $67 taxi ride to a her apartment in Brooklyn. This morning (8/15) we called Delta and very nicely requested some sort of compensation for our trouble. The friendly and calm customer service agent offered 5000 miles to me and my sister on Delta. While neither of us would care to pay to fly Delta right now, this seemed like a fairly serious attempt at remuneration. Wrong, again. I later learned that the 5000 miles they offered were only “fake” miles and that I would have to continue flying Delta and accumulate at least 25000 miles before I could use any of them, essentially at a ratio of 5 “fake” miles to 1 real mile traveled. After my sister called Delta’s customer service back to request serious compensation, the representative acknowledged 5000 miles to be weak compensation but that there was no way to increase the number nor was there any supervisor she could talk to.
We will try writing to the Better Business Bureau and to Delta’s CEO. But, I was hoping that the Consumerist community could pitch in a bit or offer some suggestions as to ways we could feel a bit better about being stranded in NYC for two days with no clothing, toiletries, and lost vacation days.
Thanks in advance and for the great work you do for other consumers nationwide!
Michael Donnelly
