I wrote the following letter to Delta after my trip was messed up. this letter is a sample letter that could be used as a reference for writing your own letters. I did get 15000 bonus miles as a result of my complaint.
Vitaly Kirkpatrick
Home Address Street
Orem, UT 84058
April 1, 2010
Corporate Customer Care – Passenger
Delta Airlines
PO Box 20980, Apt 980
Atlanta, Georgia 30320-2980
Dear Customer Care:
Re: Delta Account # 55555555
I am a frequent flyer and always prefer Delta Airlines services when travelling domestically and internationally. However, I recently had a very frustrating and extremely costly experience with your airline. I feel that I am owed compensation from Delta Airlines for my expenses.
On March 3, 2010, I flew on Flight 1512 from Salt Lake City to Atlanta, Flight 681 from Atlanta to Paris-De Gaulle, France, and then on Flight 1152 from Paris-De Gaulle, France to Kiev Borispol, Ukraine. The purpose of this travel was to go to my mother’s funeral. It was imperative that I arrived on time since I was organizing this funeral. I arrived at the Salt Lake airport 2 hours in advance of my flight’s scheduled departure. I flew from Salt Lake City airport to Atlanta on Flight 1512 without any problems. However, Flight 681 from Atlanta to Paris-De Gaulle, France was delayed by 2 hours. As a result of this delayed flight, I missed Flight 1152 from Paris-De Gaulle to Kiev.
I missed my flight and so my luggage flew without me to Ukraine. Later, I was able to get to Ukraine on a later flight, however, my luggage was lost. Air France did not return my luggage to me until a few days later. The expense that I acquired to show up at the airport a few days later to pick up my luggage cost me 180 hriven ($20) in travel expenses. Also, as a result of missing flight 1152, I arrived in Ukraine much later than I was supposed to arrive. This caused me to miss the train that I had reserved tickets for to take me from Kiev to Chernivtsi, Ukraine, where the funeral was. As a result, I was unable to use my $20 train ticket, and I had to purchase new bus tickets for my trip fromKiev to Chernivtsi at 135 hriven ($17) so I can be on time for the funeral. That night I barely slept. I missed the train and had to take the bus, which was an extremely unpleasant ride. I came to Chernivtsi for the funeral and was already exhausted emotionally and physically.
On March 8, 2010, I called Delta to confirm my flight back to the US. My reservation was made and I received a confirmation itinerary from a Delta Airlines representative. I received a confirmation itinerary ENMH32 on the phone while talking to the representative. However, the representative sent me hard copy tickets to my US home address. This was useless since I was in Ukraine. I didn’t know the Delta representative had sent paper tickets to my US home address because she never told me that. As a result of this, on March 15 when I arrived at Kiev Borispol Airport well in advance I was unable to fly on the flight I had reserved because I did not have an electronic ticket. I was informed that Delta Airlines had sent my tickets to my US home address, and never provided an electronic ticket for me. I then had to call Delta at around 1 AM Mountain Standard Time to reschedule a new flight with Delta Airlines, which was incredibly difficult. I spent over an hour on the phone and still was not able to get any representative. I was already tired that morning, but this added to my overall burden on that day.
I spent 167 hriven ($20) to get to the airport, and because I was unable to reschedule my flight that day, I had to go back to a hotel, spend another 167 hriven ($20) for the taxi to get to the hotel at which I was staying that night. Then the next day I had to spend another $20 to take a taxi back to the airport for my rescheduled flight. The hotel was not cheap either. It cost me an additional 640 hriven/night ($80) extra to spend another night at the hotel. Moreover, calling from Ukraine to the US to reschedule my flight and to get my electronic ticket number was an expensive experience. Before I ever got any representative to talk to me on the phone, I had spent over an hour waiting on the phone. Then, when a representative finally answered, I spent another hour with her on the phone trying to solve this issue. I still can’t understand why is it so hard to get in touch with any representative from Ukraine! My phone call bill was 184 hriven ($23).
Because my flight was finally rescheduled for the following day, I was able to arrive in the US on March 16. I arrived a day later to work, and therefore, I lost one additional day of work for which I was not paid (it is 8 hours of work multiplied by $26/hour). Finally, I thought that I would have a pleasant flight, but there were some other problems at the JFK airport of which I am not going to write about.
I paid in advance to confirm my reservations. I had a bad experience with Delta Airlines. However, since it was my first very frustrating experience with Delta Airlines, I think that you can help me in this situation. Please, advise whether the following can be done. Any suggestions are welcome.
As compensation for my experience, I would like you to provide me with additional sky miles that equal to two round-trip domestic tickets to any location I choose in the next year and $300 in cash (only the amount of money I lost because of this experience, not including my work expenses – $208). Nothing can compensate me for the loss I sustained, but I want to ensure that you are aware how bad this experience was for me.
Please contact me at the above address or by phone at (801) 555-5555 by April 30, 2010, to confirm that I will be compensated for this distressing experience. I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem. I will wait until May 15, 2010, before seeking help from the Better Business Bureau and/or filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.
Sincerely,
Vitaly Kirkpatrick
Product Manager
PS: Since it is typical for places in Ukraine to not issue any receipts on the day of purchase, receipts were not included with this letter. I may need to request receipts to be sent from Ukraine via fax per your request.
