We still don't trust airlines -- here's why!
I'll make sure to post the "hotel story" when it comes in. :-)Friend (2:12:03 AM): [...] we just got back from Hawaii on Thursday.
Friend (2:13:02 AM): Was a rough trip ... basically we didn't get to do much because we had [the baby] to take care of. But ... I was in Hawaii and wasn't at work.
Myself (2:13:32 AM): yeah, difficult off-days are better than easy work ones.
Friend (2:13:45 AM): Yep.
Friend (2:14:22 AM): Tons of stuff went wrong, starting with the fact that the plane left us at the airport on the day we were supposed to leave.
Myself (2:14:28 AM): why?
Friend (2:14:45 AM): They said we were late ... but here's the deal.
Friend (2:14:57 AM): We arrived at the airport at 6:25 am for a 7 am flight.
Friend (2:15:05 AM): Plenty of time for Hooterville Airport.
Myself (2:15:13 AM): you got one of those?
Myself (2:15:14 AM): LOL
Friend (2:15:31 AM): It's not like this is Atlanta or Cleveland or Newark. It's friggin' Hooterville.
Friend (2:16:04 AM): I'm in line to check my luggage and get our boarding passes at 6:25. There are two couples in front of me and two ticket agents.
Friend (2:16:11 AM): One of them decides to take a smoke break!!!
Myself (2:16:33 AM): they can just "decide" that?
Friend (2:16:52 AM): After he comes back in, the first couple moves on, the second couple moves forward, and we get to move to Smokey's station.
Friend (2:17:04 AM): He proceeds to chastise me for not arriving an hour early.
Friend (2:17:49 AM): Now ... this is Sunday morning, July 8. I haven't been to bed since I got up on Saturday morning because we had to get Kimberly packed and delivered to her friend's house because we took separate flights.
Myself (2:18:17 AM): hell's bells.
Friend (2:18:29 AM): So, my first instinct is to rip out his heart and show it to him before he dies ... but ... I decide to be quiet and let him chastise me because in a few hours, I'll be in Hawaii and he'll be here checking in people.
Friend (2:19:10 AM): We get to security ... I have all my stuff in order, but because of the baby, it will take a little longer than just a regular check through. Not a lot, but a little.
Friend (2:20:05 AM): We let the couple who was with us at the ticket counter go ahead of us as a courtesy. I will never do that again. They had all kinds of liquids and gels that they couldn't take, then she had to go buy a quart size bag to put stuff in that she could take.
Friend (2:20:40 AM): They get thru security, we get thru security ... they get out about a minute before we did.
Myself (2:20:36 AM): yeah, you can't be generous like that in an airport.
Friend (2:20:59 AM): We get to the gate ... and the woman says, "I just closed the gate 2 minutes ago. I paged you."
Friend (2:21:16 AM): I said, "We were in security. You knew we were here and that we are traveling with a baby."
Myself (2:21:15 AM): and you were supposed to do what, exactly?
Friend (2:21:40 AM): The plane was still at the gate. She went out and asked the Captain if he would open the door and he said no.
Friend (2:21:49 AM): The other couple made it on the plane.
Friend (2:21:58 AM): My luggage made it on the plane.
Friend (2:22:17 AM): I was and am furious.
Myself (2:22:29 AM): didja write a complaint letter yet?
Friend (2:22:58 AM): Then, they couldn't get us to Hawaii that day and we had to wait until the next day. So I lost a day of vacation, $175 on a room, and a day's rental on a car seat. The car rental company didn't charge us.
Friend (2:23:09 AM): I haven't put it on paper yet, but I've written it many times in my head.
Myself (2:23:28 AM): it always ends with, "we will never fly with you again, come hell or high water."
Friend (2:23:54 AM): But there's all kinds of stuff to go along with it. Like how I tried to get them to call someone at the Honolulu airport to get our bags when they arrived and put them in a safe place.
Friend (2:24:40 AM): You get some Hindu in India who tries to make you think she has an American name ... she kept saying, "What you do is, when you get there, you go to the baggage claim and if your bags are not there, you file a claim at that time."
Myself (2:24:54 AM): i HATE call centers.
Friend (2:25:03 AM): Four times I told her that I wanted someone from the airline to retrieve the bags, and four times this is what she said, verbatim.
Myself (2:25:09 AM): i HATE call centers.
Friend (2:25:17 AM): I finally said, "Is that the only English you know?"
Myself (2:25:17 AM): we take a job away from an American for this.
Friend (2:25:25 AM): Yep
Friend (2:26:01 AM): So I asked the people at the airport to get me the direct number to the Honolulu airport. They gave me a number. I placed 3 phone calls and got voicemail each time - left messagesl
Friend (2:26:26 AM): Finally, about 8:30 that night, I get a call from a woman who asks me how I got that number because it's for the baggage department at the Maui airport.
Myself (2:26:27 AM): nobody answers the phone at the airport? all on smoke break.
Friend (2:26:34 AM): I told her the Charleston airport people gave it to me.
Friend (2:27:11 AM): Fortunately, she had some sense and said that she had called the Hon. Airport for me and they did have our bags and had put them away for us.
Myself (2:27:28 AM): i would've threatened to put that phone number on the internet if they didn't.
Friend (2:27:36 AM): Then .... I had called ahead of time about what to do about food for Christopher.
Friend (2:28:20 AM): I asked that if I took food with me, would they then heat it up. The hindu pretenting to be american said yes - just ask the flight attendant and they will heat the food for you.
Friend (2:28:23 AM): So I packed food.
Friend (2:28:49 AM): When they served dinner, I told the flight attendant that I knew they were busy with dinner service, but when she had time, I needed her to heat up some food for the baby.
Friend (2:28:59 AM): She said, "I can't do that. We're not allowed."
Friend (2:29:19 AM): I told her about calling and asking about it, and she said she didn't know why they would tell me that.
Myself (2:29:18 AM): so she is telling you the baby will be allowed to bawl on the flight.
Friend (2:29:32 AM): She said I should have ordered a baby food meal.
Friend (2:29:54 AM): I told her, "Well, we have a problem, because he can't go 9 hours with no food."
Friend (2:30:25 AM): Finally, she said she could put it in the bun warmer for about 20 minutes and that should heat it to a proper temperature. It worked.
Friend (2:30:46 AM): So ... when I get to Hon., I call and order a baby food meal for the return flight.
Friend (2:31:20 AM): Dinner time comes, and we get ours, but no baby meal is delivered. And I had checked right up to boarding time that it was ordered and it was.
Friend (2:31:44 AM): I tell the gay flight attendant that we're supposed to have a baby meal and he says he'll check.
Friend (2:31:55 AM): This is at 5:50 pm.
Friend (2:32:26 AM): At 6:30, he comes by to tell me that he hasn't had time to check yet but he will. I am perturbed but think he's going right then to take care of it.
Friend (2:33:04 AM): At about 6:50, he comes by again and says, "I haven't had time to check for sure, but I know there's a baby meal back there. I just haven't been able to make sure it was for your baby."
Myself (2:33:17 AM): and... is there another baby on there?
Friend (2:33:46 AM): I told him that Christopher needed to eat. He said he was sorry, and that he has been taking care of other passengers. THAT TICKED ME OFF! I pointed to Christopher and said, "He's a passenger too and he needs to eat."
Friend (2:34:30 AM): Ken wanted to call the head flight attendant, but Christopher fell asleep. I told him no, because we'd have to wake him up to feed him. I wanted to wait and see exactly how long it would take to get the meal.
Friend (2:35:00 AM): At 7:35, the head flight attendant came by passing out bottled water, so I had to say something. I told her what happened. She was appauled.
Friend (2:35:09 AM): I had his meal within 2 minutes.
Friend (2:35:47 AM): They said it was confusion because we had changed seat numbers ... which we had ... but with me asking for the meal three times, we should have gotten it.
Friend (2:36:06 AM): We never saw Michael, the gay flight attendant after that. She moved him from our area.
Myself (2:36:30 AM): ooh, yer righteous anger burns hot. that is a bit of a turn-on, ya know.
Friend (2:37:01 AM): LOL - I am beyond furious with Delta.
Friend (2:37:17 AM): I'm writing directly to the CEO.
Myself (2:37:30 AM): yeah. you deserve a seat on the board for what you've put up with.
Friend (2:38:03 AM): Ron, I cannot believe they left us like that. The plane didn't even take off for another 15-20 minutes after that.
Friend (2:38:26 AM): And it was a small plane. They could have opened the door and lowered it and we could have walked up the steps and sat down.
Friend (2:39:00 AM): Yeah - if I had been there at 6 am, I'd have probably made the flight. But 6:25 was plenty of time.
Friend (2:39:17 AM): It doesn't take 10 minutes to walk to the security area and then to the gate.
Friend (2:39:53 AM): Checking in should have take 5 minutes at most, and 10 at security. There was plenty of time.
Myself (2:40:48 AM): you'd think, after hearing tens of thousands of complaints about waiting and customer service, and about the news stories on jetblue, the other airlines would've learned a few things. amazingly, they haven't learned at all.
Myself (2:41:01 AM): so history will repeat itself, for someone else, tomorrow.
Friend (2:41:06 AM): Yep
Friend (2:41:24 AM): To top it all off ... our flight from Atlanta back to Charleston was over an hour late taking off.
Myself (2:41:34 AM): do you mind if i summarize your story on my blog? no names, of course.
Friend (2:42:00 AM): Not at all. Feel free - and tell people to stay away from Delta Airlines.
Myself (2:42:04 AM): i do believe i will.
Myself (2:42:13 AM): and with that i am gonna go back to bed.
Myself (2:42:28 AM): i will sleep easier knowing you are ON THE GROUND. LOL
Friend (2:42:37 AM): I think I'm heading out too. Next time we talk, I'll fill you in on the hotel disaster. LOL
Friend (2:42:47 AM): Traveling with me is always an adventure.
Myself (2:42:47 AM): oh, my warm and fluffy lord.
Friend (2:42:57 AM): LOL
Friend (2:43:02 AM): You won't believe it. I swear.
Myself (2:44:03 AM): i appreciate this story. that you could keep your cool well enough to avoid being questioned by the FBI on the ground is nothing short of a miracle.
Friend (2:44:24 AM): You are soooo right about that.
Friend (2:44:33 AM): 20 years ago, I'd have mopped the floor with all of them.
Friend (2:44:35 AM): LOL
Myself (2:44:59 AM): well, you got the patience of a galley full of saints.
Friend (2:45:25 AM): Helps with the blood pressure. hehe
Labels: diversions, office space
posted by Ron @ 5:50 PM
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