Posted on 06/02/2008 2:22:57 PM PDT by Graybeard58
So, America isn't sue-crazy, eh? Last Christmas, a Manhattan man arranged to fly his family and several cousins to Argentina for his mother's 80th birthday. With the free tickets he got with his frequent-flier miles, the family flew to Atlanta, but missed their connecting flight because their plane from New York left almost two hours late.
For the sake of brevity: Their vacation was interrupted and they had to drive to Miami to catch a plane for Buenos Aires on another airline. Oh, yes; Delta lost their luggage. In between, Mr. Roth said, he encountered Delta employees who were nasty, incompetent, disrespectful, obnoxious, unhelpful and rude. "It was the most outrageous experience I've ever had in my life. It was an absolute disaster. One catastrophe after another."
Admittedly, his unpleasant experience was out of the ordinary, even for the airline industry with its abysmal reputation for customer satisfaction. Delta should compensate him promptly for the money he spent on car rentals, hotels and such, and maybe throw in a little extra for all the inconvenience, rudeness, etc.
But Mr. Roth is going for the gold. He wants the airline to pay him $1 million to compensate him for his "emotional trauma. ... I tried so hard not to sue them." Anyone wanna guess his profession?
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
Nothing like a lawyer with time on his hands ... OTOH, I’ve been on the other side and it’s frustrating dealing with employees who provide the antithesis of customer service. Just saying ...
Do the airlines have enough friends on juries, or not?
I hate lawyers but in this case I hope he wins his millions. If YOU ever had this happen to you, you would probably do the same. I would.
42 hour trip from Peoria, Illinois to Salem, Oregon? Air Plane with a flat tire, over night stay that she had to pay for, lost luggage.
She has had more than one such incident. Don't even ask about damaged luggage.
He should be paid for his higher expenses, but that's it in my book!
Look, I despise crooked lawyers as much as the next guy but, when he says he "tried so hard not to sue them," it could mean Delta refused to compensate him for some or all of the above. Then, he figured to get their attention with a million-dollar suit and settle for precisely what the writer suggested was just compensation.
Sorry if I'm raining on anyone's kill-all-the-lawyers party. ;^)
My wife had Dan Rather as a seat mate on a trip from Oklahoma City to Chicago. She should have sued them over that.
Read the replies. The air lines aren't getting a lot of sympathy here.
That was not Dan Rather. It was a very good copy, false but accurate.
Based on my experiences, this is SOP for Delta.
I came up with a new advertising slogan for them (based on an older one), "We Hate to Fly and it Shows."
"...and those memos are as solid as a rock wrapped up with steel 2x4s... and the way CBS treated me was as rotten as a banana left out on a Texas highway from noon till sundown... yada yada yada...."
What do you expect? Running an airline is at least a Beta Plus job.
The family was to meet a cousin in Atlanta and all were to fly together on the Delta flt. to Argentina. The plane was still at the gate when the family arrived at the gate. The cousin was on the plane and phoned the family that there were seats on the plane. Delta gate person says they are not getting on. Cousin gets off the plane because she is not flying to Argentina alone.
After waiting two days in Atlanta Delta tells them they can't get them to Argentina by the time they want. They then fly (not drive) to Miami and then to Argentina. Lost baggage for 5 days.
What ever.
Hey, the guy had FREE tickets. Where’s the actionable tort?
They are not "free".
Only a million bucks?
Jeez. I would go for more.
In a world where idiots sue for 65 million bucks over lost pants.
And some fool in New Orlenas tried to sue for 3 point something QUADRILLION dollars in Katrina losses....
A million bucks is chump change.
At least Southwest Airlines employees are friendly, even while they’re herding you on and off their planes. There’s no excuse for the way Delta employees behave, IMHO.
I am afraid I would have asked for another seat and if could not get it would have deplaned.
There is a reason that I drive to Maine from Florida every Summer with the family. The airlines suck, are rude, and I have zero confidence they’ll get me there, and if possible even less confidence that I’ll ever see my luggage again. I used to fly quite often.
I’m a very calm guy, but I think I was within inches of getting arrested at Newark when the whole family got bumped off of a flight, delaying our vacation plans by two days, and then the $400 per ticket that they promised suddenly turned to $60. And then the customer service people were as nasty and rude as they could possibly have been.
The airlines are running themselves into the ground.
Free? That's a crock. Frequent flyer miles are not freely given.
Sounds like something that happens every few months to frequent business travelers.
> Free? That’s a crock. Frequent flyer miles are not freely given. <
You must be doing something wrong. All of mine have been free. Southwest is best for using them. But wife and I will also be flying roundtrip shortly to Scandinavia, courtesy of her FREE miles on United.
I’m not a business traveler but my wife is and she has a bag full of horror stories. Maybe “horror” is too strong of a word but I’ve heard enough of them to know that I will never fly again. It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been on a plane and I have no fear of flying, I just won’t.
She is reimbursed for her travel but gets to keep the “free” miles. So far, our adult children have been using them.
Please explain how you are getting free miles without flying or charging anything.
Good one.
I had a similar experience. Even if it only results in the airlines being honest with their customers, I'm for it.
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