Public Relations Disaster 4 Delta?

Charles writes:

"In August, 2005 I flew on Delta airlines from Newark, NJ to Springfield, MO. I was visiting family, and brought along my $250 Fuji Digital Camera, stupidly placing it in my checked luggage. When I arrived, the camera was gone. Thinking I had simply forgotten it, I enjoyed my vacation and then returned home to New York. Only the camera wasn't in my apartment.

I hopelessly called Delta, who told me they weren't liable for a thing. They said I could file a formal complaint to show to my insurance company, which I soon learned had a $250 deductible. (D'oh.) I knew someone had taken the camera from my suitcase, so I filed a complaint with the Transportation Security Administration. (TSA)

In a last ditch effort, I also checked on Ebay. I was surprised to find a camera with no case, no box, no instructions, and a 512mb memory card like mine, that had been auctioned the day after my outgoing flight. The "seller location" was listed as "God Bless America." I contacted the winning bidder and explained my situation, describing some minor scratches on the camera LCD that he could use to distinguish it. He hadn't received it yet, but promised to take a close look when it came. A week or two later, he emailed me and asked if I had the serial number. When I sent it to him, he recommended I call the police. Still unsure of which police department to contact, as I had a brief layover in Cincinnati, I asked him for the return address on the package, and he sent it along.

With a Jersey City address in hand, I contacted the Port Authority Police Investigation Unit and explained what had happened so far. The helpful detectives opened an investigation, but it moved slowly, understandably given their priorities and the fact that they had to buy it back from the winning bidder on Ebay. After months of persistent follow-up, I learned that a Delta employee had confessed to taking my camera. He had been arrested and fired, and I would have to wait until after his court date to retrieve my property. In December 2005, I borrowed a car, drove to Newark, and got the camera back. It had taken 8 months.

Now given that there was conclusive court room evidence that a Delta employee had stolen from me, given the amount of trouble and time it took to regain my camera, given the fact that I undoubtedly performed a service for Delta, who discovered and removed an employee who was stealing from their customers, I figured I was entitled to some form of compensation. Ideally, I felt I deserved a refund for my $600 trip, but I would have gladly accepted a voucher or two for a free flight. At the very least, a sincere apology, thank you, and discount on my next fare. Delta wouldn't give me a thing. I tried several times to work my way up the chain of their 800 number with zero success. I wrote the obligatory angry letter and received a firm denial. I called their public relations office and threatened to go viral. The response: do whatever you want. We don't care at all.

One other relevant detail. This was by no means an isolated incident. When I went to the auction history of the seller (which would have been another good thing to save), there were at least a half dozen auctions. The most recent was for a cell phone and charger, no documentation, box, etc. This guy had clearly made a habit of this, although the account was actually in his wife's name. The police got him to confess by threatening to bring charges against her."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"December 16, 2005

Delta Airlines, Inc.
P.O. Box 20706
Atlanta, GA 30320-6001

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you regarding a flight I took on your airline in August, 2005. While flying from Newark International Airport to Springfield, Missouri via Cincinnatti, I had an expensive digital camera stolen from my checked suitcase. I contacted your customer service department shortly after returning from my trip and was told that Delta is not liable for any lost property.

I now have definitive proof that my camera was taken by a Delta employee who has since confessed to his crime, been arrested, and fired. I know this because I found my camera being sold on Ebay, and contacted the buyer to verify the serial number. I then contacted the police, who conducted an investigation resulting in the arrest and termination of the employee.

I am writing to request a full refund for the cost of my trip, in the amount of $585.00, or else I will be forced to pursue other means to make me whole, such as litigation and public media exposure. In addition to the fact that I was unable to use my camera while on vacation, an extreme inconvenience, I also spent considerable time and effort tracking down my property and the thief who had taken it. I had to file multiple reports, engage in extensive web searches and email correspondence, and borrow a vehicle to drive to Newark Airport in order to recover my property. The result of my actions benefits your company directly, as you have been able to remove an employee who was stealing from your customers. It has caused me a great deal of trouble, as during a four-month span from August through December, I was deprived of my property on dozens of occasions during which it would have been useful.

My initial attempts to secure compensation from your ticket refund and lost baggage departments have been met not with apologies and gratitude, but with derision and stonewalling. I am extremely angry that I was unable to speak with or even secure the name of someone who had the authority to rectify this heinous situation. If I do not receive a prompt and satisfactory response to this letter, I will pursue legal action and contact the media about your remarkable lack of basic responsibility to your customers. I have already had an offer from a columnist at the New York Metro, which averages 850,000 daily readers, to publish this story. I also have access to a blog with thousands of daily readers. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Charles M"

Wow, that is so typical ... I had a bad customer service experience with Continental just recently that I could "vent" about. I had to take two planes to get to Miami. I drove to the city for the first flight, but it was cancelled. Spent the night sleeping in my VAN! because there were no hotels available because of some other shin dig in town, to catch the next flight in the morning. Got to Newark and the flight was delayed and delayed and delayed. Finally, we take off, I'm going to be late for my meetings but I've called ahead and made arrangements. Half way there the pilot comes on and says there is a problem with a fuel pump and we have to go back. Land in Newark again and the passengers are told to go to the desk at the gate for direction. But the staff at the gate has no clue what's going on, so they send all the passengers, on foot, to the other side of the airport to a customer service desk. These people also have no clue and send us back to the gate. We did that three or four times. Finally at customer service, everyone waiting in line, people getting antsy, and the staff starts getting rude. I witnessed them yelling and verbally abusing several passengers! Everyone is told nothing they can do, next flights are full, can't help you. When I get my turn I explain that is not good enough, I'm not from the US, I am in a strange town and need to get to Miami. Best offer is to go stand by the next day. Can I have help with accomodations? No. Meal? No. Phone to make arrangments? No. Get me on with another airline? No. Nothing is available anywhere. But a bunch of passengers went on their own to other airlines and got flights. I actually went to a different customer service desk of Continental and got put on stand by for a flight later that night! There was waaaaayyy more rigamoral, but the end of it was I got on a flight that night and got to Miami about 30 hours late. My luggage was another day or two.
When I called Continental when I got home, I got very similar response to the previous post. The best I got was an e-voucher for $125, about 1/6th the cost of the flight. Any appeals for customer service were met with apathy.
Ahhhhh, that feels better ... lol ... I guess when you are guaranteed x number of customers per day, what do you care if a few hundred get a little mad? There will always be more to take their place.