Deltaな夏休みのできごとの・・・その後

 あれよあれよという間に、もう9月も半ばを過ぎました。このまま、ハロウィン、サンクス・ギビング、クリスマスで、すぐ年末ですねえ～。。もうかれこれ2ヶ月も前のことになりますが、夏休みに日本に帰国するときDeltaで帰ったのですが、今回は本当にひどい目に会いました。あんまりひどかったので、日本に着くなりアトランタのDealtaのカスタマー・サービス宛てに苦情レターを書いたものです。Deltaから返事がきたので、今日はそのフォローアップをしてみようと思います。

そのひどい目事件については、下の記事にくわしく書かれております（う～、思い出したくもないけども・・・）

VerizonでDeltaな夏休みのできごと（１）

VerizonでDeltaな夏休みのできごと（２）

VerizonでDeltaな夏休みのできごと（３）

ほぼ一日半遅れでげっそり疲れて着いた日本で、勢いで書いた苦情レター。苦情レターというのは、本当はなるべく具体的に書きながらも、極力、短く書くのがよいのだそうですけども、わたしの場合、あまりにアッタマに来ていたのでえらく長くなってしまいました。だって、あまりにひどいことが多すぎて、とても1枚じゃ収まりません。誰も苦情レターなど読みたい方はいらっしゃらないとは思いましたが、何かの参考にでもなればと思い下に添付してあります。

苦情のポイントは、「サービスが悪いとか、アクシデントがあったというかいうレベルのことではなく、非人道的な扱いだった」ということ。ひとつふたつ不運なことが起こるのは仕方がないにせよ、それが４つも５つも重なればそれは不運ではなくBad Managementだと思いますと・・・。とにかくほぼ20時間ほど、何も食べられない状態のまま空港のチェアで寝ざるをなかったのが怒りの根源です。列挙するとこんな感じ・・・

–      飛行機（この便そもそも１５時間遅れです）に乗客を乗せたままで5時間も待たせ、挙句の果てにキャンセルというのはお粗末すぎる（もっと早く決断して欲しかった）。

–      キャンセルされてからの再予約作業にひとりあたり20-30分かかったのは遅すぎ！夜中まで待ち行列で待たされた。

–      わたしたちのようにあまりにひどいキャンセルのされ方をした人も、自分で飛行機に乗り遅れた人も、同じように待ち行列に並ばなければならないのは解せない。

–      バッゲージは出てくるといわれたのにとうとう出てこなかった。係りにきいても誰も把握しておらず。

–      そして、何よりも食べ物と水がなかったのが許せない。飛行機に乗り込んでから、そのまま空港で夜を明かし次の朝まで、飲み食いすることができなかった。機内食でもいいから配って欲しかった（とくに、子ども連れだったので）。

–      ホテルの部屋がないから、空港で寝てくれ・・・・はひどい！

–      せめてラウンジを開けてそこで寝かせて欲しかった。

–      ラウンジもだめ、空港のチェアで寝るしかないのなら、ピローとブランケットくらい配って欲しかった。

このレターを書いたのは7月末。ま、のど元過ぎればなんとやら・・・ですし、わたしはもともと怒りが長くもたない（すぐ忘れてしまう）ほうなので、手紙には「Full refundしろ！」なんて書いたのですが、すっかり忘れておりました。というか、前にVerizonに苦情レターを書いたときはそれこそ、まったく無視されたので、そんなものだろうと思っておりました。

そしたら8月末に、「ちょっと調査・吟味に時間がかかっておりますので、お返事はもう少しまってください」の手紙が来ました。あらら、まだちゃんと考えてくれていたのか・・・と思い、いったいどういう返事が来るのだろうと少し楽しみに。。。そしたら、9月になって、Customer Careの人からメールが来ました。そのメールは一番下に添付してあります。

こういう人を「あやまり係さん」とでもいうのでしょうね。きっと会社のために、怒っているカスタマーに対してただひたすらあやまるのでしょう。わたしの（自分でも何を書いたか忘れてしまったような長い）手紙のひとつひとつの項目をすべて言及しつつ、相手の立場を同情する姿勢であやまるといいますか・・・きっと、こういうのってトレーニングされるんでしょうね。こういう仕事をしている人もいるのだなあと、変な感動。

結局、「Full refundはできませんが、Travel Voucherを発行します」とのこと。実は、最初の便が15時間遅れた時点で、ひとり$100のVoucherは発行されていたのですが、それに加えたひとり$200追加しますとのこと。ま、実際使えるかどうかわからないけど、一応もらっておきましょう。2ヶ月もたって、すっかり怒りはおさまっていたので、なんだかトクした気分。使いやすいように、ひとりあたり$300のVoucher一枚にまとめてくださいとお願いしたら、そうしてくれました。

ところで、ひとつ目からウロコの発見が。。これは苦情レターとは何も関係がないのですけども、わたしたちの羽田便がキャンセルになり、最初に再予約で提示されたルートはデトロイト経由成田便でした。「デトロイトなんて行ってられません！」とネゴのうえホノルル経由成田便になったのですが・・・

最近うちに泊まりに来て下さった自他共に認めるワールド・トラベラーのある方が、「それはデトロイトのほうが早かっただろうね」と一言。よく聞いてみれば、「地球は丸いからね」だそうで、ホノルルなんかに下るより、デトロイトに飛んでアラスカの上を通ったほうがずっと早いのだそうです。なるほど～。。ものごとを３Dでとらえないとこういうことになるんだわ～と納得した２Dなわたしでした。

今回の発見は、一応（？）Customer Careを考えている会社にはあやまり係りさんがいること（ちなみに、Verizonにはいませんよ）と地球は丸いということでした・・・

_＿＿＿　苦情レター　＿＿＿＿＿＿

Dear Customer Care Manager;

You speak about your commitment to safe and comfortable flights, and if you REALLY mean it, you need to know what we have experienced.  Described below is the time line.  As you read it, you will know it was not only a disservice to us, but was an abuse neglecting our basic human rights.  You did not only fly us on the scheduled day, but also deprived us of very basic human necessity such as a safe place to sleep and an access to food and drink.

Timetable;

7/18 daytime	Received an e-mail that there will be a 13 hour delay on DL 635 for Haneda, Tokyo, originally scheduled to leave at 1:10 AM on 7/19
7/18 daytime	Received another e-mail informing the delay will be 15 hour, so now the flight is rescheduled to leave at 4:45 PM on 7/19
7/192:20 PM	Checked in for DL 635 scheduled to depart for Haneda, Tokyo, at 4:45 PM
7/194:20 PM	Boarded on DL 635 (and was forced to stay in the aircraft for almost 5 hours as described below)
7/198:30 PM	After a series of announcements about hydraulic system trouble, the aircraft was ready to take off and left the gate.  After it traveled 1 mile, the problem reoccurred and it went back to the gate.
7/199:00 PM	The flight was canceled and we had to leave the aircraft.  No food or drink was served, other than peanuts and pretzels, from the time we boarded to the time we departed the aircraft.  Instantly there was a long line formed at the gate counter for rebooking.  Only two agents were there and we were told to go out to the check-in counter for more agents.  We were also told that the baggage will be out at the carousel #4 for pick up.
7/199:10 PM	I was told to go to the Special Service counter for rebooking.  There was a long line already.  While I was waiting for 4 hours with my two kids in the line, I had to go to the carousel #4 to check on the baggage a couple times, because I did not want them to be lost.  No staff knew when they would be out.  Going back and forth between the carousel and the waiting line while keeping the spot in the line and asking someone to watch for kids was not an easy task.
7/201:00 AM	Finally I had my turn.  The agent offered me a flight via Detroit which was not acceptable for us especially after all these long hour abuse.  I negotiated for a flight to Narita, Tokyo via Honolulu, departing at 8:45 AM on 7/20.  I asked for a hotel room and was told there is no more hotel room.  I asked if there will be a reimbursement if I find a hotel room myself, and was told there is no guarantee and I would have to make a request to the Delta HQ in Atlanta.  I then asked to let us at least rest in one of those airport lounges, and was told it was not available during the night.  I begged the agent for a safe place where I could let my kids eat something and rest, and he said he wished he were able to help but could not do anything.  I requested for speaking to supervisor.  He called for PSA Robert Goubil, for whom I waited for another 15 minutes, but he did not show up.
7/201:30 AM	With no more energy left, my two kids and I settled for airport chairs.  We had not eaten for 11 hours at that point, so tried to go through the security, hoping that there were some open snack stands inside for late flights, but we were told we were not allowed to go in until 4:00 AM. We thus slept in chairs in front of the checking counter.  We were without food for 15 hours.
7/208:45 AM	We were finally able to leave LAX on DL 2365 connecting to DL 579 in Honolulu for Narita.  On DL 2365, my daughter’s seat did not recline, and the headphone which I paid $2.00 for did not work (I exchanged it for a new one but that did not work either).
7/215:00 PM

We arrived in Narita, with 36 hour delay.  My husband who was already in Tokyo and ready to receive us in Haneda, had to make numerous schedule changes and cancelations.

 

8 basic things you could have done to treat us more humanely:

１．Made a timely decision to cancel:

5 hour waiting on board was way too long.  You need to have a clear decision making system, so that even with a cancellation, the smooth rebooking/accommodation arrangement/access to food could be assured and passengers can have a reasonable life.

 

２．Had a more efficient system for rebooking:

It was taking 20 – 30 minutes for an agent to perform a rebooking per passenger.  An agent had to check a series of alternative flight for a passenger, and had to repeat the same process all over again for the next passenger.  In case of a big flight cancelled, you need to set up a bulk rebooking system set up.

 

３．Given us a priority handling:

Why should we be in a waiting line with folks who missed their flight?  We did not contribute in any way to this mess.  Since international passengers like us were taking longer to rebook, they started to make a separate line for domestic destinations for which there were still flight at late hours, pulling them out of the line so that they could catch them.  This may be totally understandable business decision, but it was extremely difficult for us to be that understanding when you were put on a wait with kids for 15 hours without food or drink.

 

４．Given us clearer information on our baggage:

The baggage never came out that night, even though we were told by the gate agent to pick them up at the carousel #4 as soon as we left the aircraft.  Many of the canceled passengers had to go back and forth between rebooking waiting line and the carousel.  You could have simply arranged someone to check on the status and let us know so that we were at peace at least for the baggage.

 

５．Provided us food:

If you force us to be in the waiting line for 4 hours after 4 hours waiting onboard, you could have sent someone to bring food to the waiting line.  You are the one who know how long the waiting line will be, and when the food stands will close, so if you are a reasonable airline company, I would expect you to ensure us an access to food and water!  We were simply helpless.

 

６．Increased the hotel quota for that night:

Since there was no Delta reserved hotel rooms, the agent could not give us a hotel room.  I guess you have a set number of hotel rooms pre-booked, but as soon as you learned there was a big cancellation like this one, you could have increased the allowance so that you could have accommodated all the cancelled passengers, which should not be difficult.

 

７．Opened the lounge:

Even if it is the policy that you close the lounge during the night, you could have opened the lounge for us, especially when you cancelled on us twice and could not provide us accommodations.

 

８．Provided cushions and blankets:

Ok, so you told us to sleep in the airport chair.  Couldn’t you at least give us cushions and blankets?

 

I regard myself as a fairly reasonable person.  I do not complain for the sake of complaining.  I understand unfortunate things could happen, and I can easily swallow a bad luck or two without a second thought.  If a multiple of unfortunate things happen at a time, however, it is not a chance or coincidence, but it is a bad management.

 

As a world traveler, I experienced flight cancelation or delay many times over the past couple decades, but this one was definitely the most horrendous experience.  I, as a parent, felt so helpless not being able to protect my kids.

 

I, as a passenger, did everything on my part in a good faith.  You did not make reasonable efforts to make the unfortunate occurrence less unfortunate.  Your neglect resulted in the deprivation of basic human rights and waste of 36 hours of our time.  I hereby request for an official apology and a full refund for our trip; flight confirmation # XXXXX, which I believe is a very modest request given what we had to go through.  I now simply wish that our flight back to the US on 8/14 will be without problem.  Lastly, I strongly believe you owe the same apology for every single passenger on DL 635 on 7/19/12.

 

Sincerely,

Junko Iwasaki

 

___________以下、Deltaからのメール_____________________________

Dear . Ms. Iwasaki

RE: Case Number XXXXX

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the service provided while
traveling with us with your children to Haneda.  On behalf of everyone
at Delta Air Lines, I sincerely apologize for our flight disruption on
July 19,  the customer service provided,  the rebooking options and your
baggage issue.

Please know I understand the frustration you experienced when your start
of your trip from Los Angeles Flight 635 was canceled due to mechanical
reasons and the alternative rebooking was unacceptable. Later you choose
the option to be rebooked on Flights 2365 via Honolulu and 579 the next
day (July 20).  While these exceptions are rare, they can occur.  I know
that these unforeseen delays of our flight caused you to arrive at your
destination more than a day later than your original arrival time.

It was also concerning to know that no hotels were available and the
food service areas were already closed.  We know travelers need an
airline they can count on, and I recognize how upsetting it is when
plans are disrupted especially traveling with children. I know in this
instance you did not receive the service you expected and should have
received.

Moreover, I understand your disappointment with the handling of
alternate arrangements provided during a flight irregularity and there
were was a limited amount of staff to assist with all the passengers.
Be assured our goal is to route you to your destination in the timeliest
manner possible and your comments regarding rebooking assistance and the
overall handling of your disrupted travel have received close attention.
Also, our goal is to provide timely information to our passengers in
case of a delay or cancellation.

Further, as our customer, you are in the best position to point out
areas that need attention.  Our goal is to provide consistent and
accurate information to our passengers at all times.  Additionally, I
realize the long lines you encountered at our ticket counter, lack of
baggage information, available blankets and pillows to rest.  We strive
to assist passengers in the timeliest manner possible and provide the
most efficient priority rebooking where possible, and I apologize,
again, that your experience was to the contrary.

We would like to be able to offer special consideration in such cases.
However, we collect the applicable fares for transportation actually
used.  Under the circumstances, I hope you will understand that we
cannot grant a refund of your flown tickets as you suggested.
Please know, our records indicate the following vouchers were issued for
the three of you:

00XXXX – $100.00-IWASAKI/JUNKO
00XXXX – $100.00-IWASAKI/XX
00XXXX – $100.00-IWASAKI/XX

The vouchers are valid for one year from the date of issue and,
respectfully, they cannot be extended.

As an additional gesture of goodwill, I have issued an Electronic
Transportation Credit Vouchers (eTCVs) in the amount of $200.00 for each
of you.   Please note the voucher numbers and associated Terms and
Conditions will be arriving in a separate email within 24 hours.  I
encourage you to add Delta Air Lines to your receiver list so the
voucher documents are not misdirected to your spam folder.  Please keep
the voucher numbers and the Terms and Conditions since the numbers are
required for redemption.  It is also important to mention that there is
no Direct Ticketing fee for reservations confirmed online at delta.com.

Ms. Iwasaki, I want to thank you, again, for taking the time to write
about our flight irregularity, the service you received onboard our
flight to Japan and our most sincere apologies to you and your children.
As a valued SkyMiles customer, your future business is important to us,
and I hope you will give us the opportunity to restore your confidence
in us.

Sincerely,

Peter Oliver
Coordinator, Corporate Customer Care
Delta Air Lines