AN EXAMPLE
Ted and Susan Mortimer
address withheld
phone withheld
 
February 16, 1998
 
Mr. Lawton Roberts
UNIGLOBE Country Place Travel, Inc.
2000 Riverside Parkway, Suite 206
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043

Dear Mr. Roberts:

As per our conversation. attached you will find a written summary of our experience with Delta Airlines on the morning of February 12, 1998. I have detailed the circumstances and the delays we encountered on this day.

I would like to also express to you the impact that this had on our entire vacation. We originally booked and paid for this trip in November, 1997, obviously, we had also been looking forward to it since that time. As you know, this trip was to Disney World in Orlando. We not only had flights scheduled and paid for, but we also had accommodations and four day passes to Disney paid for. These four days were, Thursday, Friday. Saturday and Sunday. If we had been on our originally scheduled flight from Atlanta to Orlando, we would have been able to enjoy the entire day of Thursday at Disney. We scheduled this day for the Magic Kingdom. anticipating the busy "Presidents Day" weekend coming up! Because of Delta's overbooking, we did not arrive in Disney in time to see the park at all on Thursday. Disney and MGM closed at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday 2/12/98. In addition, I would like to ask anyone to consider how they would feel telling their 3 year old and 5 year old child that a visit they had anticipated for so long would be delayed. My eight year old was actually in tears. I would also like for the parties concerned to consider how difficult it would be for a 3 year old, a 8 year old and a 57 year old recovering from two broken arms and surgery to endure the time delays and flight transfers that we were forced to deal with. In summary, I will honestly tell you, this was by far the most miserable traveling experience of my life!

There are a few facts I would like to make clear to you and Delta. We did not arrive late to the gate on the morning of Thursday, 2/12/98. We did check-in at the gate desk. We had assigned seat numbers. We boarded the plane. We were told by the people sitting in our seats that they also had assigned seat numbers. We were not the only ones on this flight to see their seats occupied (the others were seated in other vacant seats and 1st class.) Two flight attendants and a supervisor (a gentleman in a red jacket) told me that this flight was overbooked. We were never told that we were late!! After exiting the plane, Delta insisted that we return our Boarding Passes. We did not exit the plane voluntarily and we were never given an option to give up our seats! I, nor my family never signed anything stating such a thing! We did accept the coupons for a future "free" round-trip ticket but I would not have accepted it if I was given a choice (i.e., flying that flight or losing my day at Disney for a future "free" round-trip ticket.) In fact. we begged to be given a morning flight direct to Orlando!

I would assume that an airline the magnitude of Delta Airlines would honor their tickets, and if they could not, a passenger would be compensated accordingly. I do not feel that I have been appropriately compensated and I would like to make it clear that I expect further compensation. Not only for losing a day at Disney, but for the fact that my integrity was questioned. I have told the truth about the events of that day, and someone at Delta has told a very different story. I suppose they see it as their word against mine, but I see it as a the "Corporate World" stomping on the "Vacationing Family." I would like to stress that I am not normally the type of person who complains, however, I cannot begin to express the magnitude this "Delta Mistake" had on our trip. A vacation my family had planned for so long turned into a nightmare. Forgive my dramatics, but facts are facts!

I would like to thank you for your concern and attention regarding this matter. I look forward to a response from you or Delta Airlines.

Sincerely,
 
Susan T Mortimer
 
 
 
 
EVENTS OF THURSDAY, 2/12/98 WITH DELTA AIRLINES

  
My family (four adults and two children) were scheduled to fly on Delta flight #659 departing Atlanta for Orlando at 6:40a.m. on Thursday, 2/12/98. We called 24 hours prior to the flight to confirm it. We arrived at Delta baggage check-in at approximately 5:57 a.m. and checked-in at gate A-24 at approx. 6:15 a.m. We had our boarding passes and assigned seats, we were not told of any problems with the flight at this time. We boarded the plane prior to the final boarding call, the person at the gate ran our tickets thru the machine upon boarding and we were given back the right-hand stub that had boarding pass and our assigned scat printed on it. My husband, myself, and my two children boarded the plane and continued in a line back to the "coach" section of the plane. My parent's boarded the plane somewhere behind us. We went around the coach section twice, because our seats were occupied. I gave our boarding pass to an attendant and she pointed to the area our seats were located in... indeed they were occupied. The people sitting in our seats told us that those were their seat assignments. I took our boarding passes back to another attendant, and told her someone was in our seats. By this time there was a sense of "alarm" among the attendants, as we were not the only passengers attempting to find seats. The attendant told us the flight had been overbooked and then she began trying to find us other seats. At this time the captain or perhaps a supervisor was announcing that anyone who did not have a seat should sit in any unoccupied seat. They did not have four unoccupied seats left in coach, so the attendant asked us to follow her up to 1st class. At this time she "handed us over" to a tall. African-American, gentleman in a red jacket. He looked for seats in 1st class and then told us that our flight had been overbooked and he was very sorry but we would not be able to take this flight. I asked to find my parents, whom we were traveling with, so that I could let them know. My parents were seated in 1st class (not their original seat assignment, I might add.) I yelled to my parents at they were trying to shuttle us off of the plane. Thc gentleman in the red jacket told my parents to come with us, and then he gave their seats to two people who were waiting in the "tunnel". My parents did voluntarily come, however, they did not feel they had a choice, since we were all traveling together. As we walked back down the tunnel to the terminal, the gentleman explained that this flight had been overbooked but that he would "take care" of us. We followed him back out to a desk at the terminal. He then told us that we would be given "free" roundtrip tickets to compensate us and that he was sorry but that he would not be able to get us on a morning flight direct to Orlando. We were told we would fly American from Atlanta to Miami on a 7:45 a.m. flight and then have a "lay over" in Miami until we were to take a 12:45 p.m. Delta flight from Miami to Orlando. We literally begged to be put on any flight that would get us to Orlando any earlier. My husband noticed that a flight left for Orlando again at 8:30 a.m. and he asked why we could not fly on it, we were told that all their flights direct to Orlando were booked. We asked to go stand-by, they told us we would not be able to get on any direct flights because they were all overbooked. We told them that we were going to be missing a day in Disney, they told us they were sorry but that was the best they could do. I continually asked why someone else was in our seats and why they told us they also had those assigned seats, I was never given an answer other than "this flight was overbooked." During this time, we were asked to give back our boarding passes so that they could give us our other tickets, we did as they told us to. By the time they started processing everything, there was another gentleman that was also working on our re-scheduling. We were never told that we did anything wrong, in fact, we were told that we did not do anything wrong and that this was just unfortunate. There was another family of four at the terminal, that were not allowed to board the airplane, because they were late. Even though they were late they were given re-scheduling and "free" round-trip tickets it was my understanding that they were delayed in baggage because the people they were traveling with had their tickets. Ironically, they sat by us on the flight to Miami and told us that they were given a 10:30 a.m. flight from Miami to Orlando. In other words, even though they were late and we were not, they were accommodated to arrive in Orlando 2 hours and 15 minutes before us. They were traveling for a business convention the husband had at Coronado Springs in Disney. Explain this?? I would like to emphasis that we told Delta we would happily give up these "free" roundtrip ticket in order to get to Orlando earlier. I would also like to emphasis that we told Delta many times that we had tickets for Disney for that day and how difficult it was going to be to suffer these delays and flight changes while traveling with two small children. They continued to tell us there was nothing they could do and that they were sorry, but it could not be helped. We were given absolutely no option but to accept what they told us, it was even to early in the morning to contact our travel agent. My eight year old was in tears! We eventually left for Miami and upon arrival waited until 1:05 p.m. to fly to Orlando (I might mention that this flight was on ConAir.) We arrived in Orlando at approx. 1:55 (over 6 hours after our original flight would have arrived in Orlando and an entire day was spent miserable and we did not see the Magic Kingdom!) The only positive thing that happened to us that day was that while waiting in a long line to use the restroom in the Miami airport, my mom was allowed to use the handicapped restroom since she had a cast on her broken arm. I do not have Delta to thank for this, simply a very kind bathroom attendant. I find this quite ironic!

If anyone at Delta every takes the time to read this description of events they might simply chalk it up to a disgruntled passenger. That would be far from the truth, it goes beyond being slightly inconvenienced. I would have never imagined a airline like Delta would not stand behind their tickets. Delta's overbooking caused my family a day in "Airport Hell" when our day was suppose to be in Disney, making happy memories. I might also add that our Delta flight returning home on Sunday was cancelled at the last minute and we were two hours late arriving in Atlanta. My Delta Dream Vacation was anything but a "dream" it was, quite frankly, a "nightmare!" I would happily invite anyone I dealt with at Concourse A Terminal and Gate 24 (Delta), on the morning of Thursday, 2/12/98, to look me in the eye and tell me that what I have just described did not happen the way I described it!
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