Delta Airlines: Don't drink the Kool-Aid

Delta Airlines. Sure, they usually boast the cheapest flights with the friendliest service, but in a recent trip to San Francisco,  I learned that the only area they need to focus on is customer service. 

This past weekend, I flew out to the golden gate city for the National Communication Association Conference with four other Western girls (all of whom are communication majors).  Our flights left as scheduled early Sunday morning, but we were quicky re-routed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa due to a minor mechanical malfunction.  While at the Cedar Rapids airport, we discovered that we were not going to make our connection in Minneapolis.  After approaching the Delta desk, we learned that being a twenty- something female was not going to be an advantage.  Though they tried to brush us off several times, we persisted.  Both Delta employees informed us that all the flights to San Francisco were booked and that they did not have access to other airline information (which is absurd).

After deciding to check Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline, our fears were confirmed.  There were, in fact, seats available online available for purchase, though we were not being given those spots.

So what did the five communication majors do? Yes, we took our anger to the world of social media.  We posted numerous times on their Facebook account, and nearly blew up their Twitter.  And that was just in Iowa.  Still, no repsonse.

Though were were lied to by the Delta official in Cedar rapids who told us we had seats to San Francisco out of Minneapolis, we managed to harness our frustration. With no help from customer service via the telephone, we approached the official in Minneapolis in charge of helping displaced flyers make arrangements.  His insults and patronizing tone were about all we could take. 

We finally made it on a flight, though were were technically stand-by passengers.  Needless to say, it was very touch and go.  Still, we tweeted, griped, and made suggestions to get Delta's attention. No response.

As an update, Delta_is_lame is now following one of the girls from the trip on Twitter, but we were never granted a simple apology by the airline.  In looking at their Twitter, it is obvious that they have deleted all of our comments regarding our flight troubles (from November 14th). My only hope is that our trip can somehow help influence what airlines people chose to fly.