Flame Mail to Delta for Lost Luggage

Well, here is what I want to know. . . We will be travelling twice more this year from Europe to the US, and if we are to use Delta & its affiliates, we want some consideration . . .


When we realized that our luggage was missing, I tried simply to expedite our experience by going to the next step, but the official inside the customs hall insisted we should wait longer "because more lugguage would be coing out onto the belt, once it had cleared out some-- it was too full".


This was obviously a stall, since there were several of us standing around waiting for luggage that was missing, altho' the belt was fairly full -- obviously luggage lost on some other flight and misdirected to our belt . . .


when finally this official admitted our luggage was not coming we were directed to clear customs and wait on the other side, so we did, where then we were yelled at by some customs guy for blocking the doorway -- now I'm not sure how to convey the irritation factor of this incident in a few words, so I won't try, and I reckon the airline does not control the customs officials, but to get off an overseas flight, have missing luggage, get put-off and brushed off, then to be bothered by some officious jerk, well! Thanks for nothing. So we were pushed out of the customs hall, into the next foyer, where ANOTHER officious jerk harrassed us about malingering. I mean really! I was just working up to telling this moron how the cow eats the cabbage when the airline flak-catcher showed up to walk us the not-inconsiderable distance, around several corners to the lost luggage claims office.


Now. They had difficulty registering our claim because it was KLM and they had only DELTA software . . . obviously your cost-cutting has out-raced your customer-service competencies.


So the flak-catchers told us another lie, in order to "move us along". They said that our luggage would be on DELTA 81, arriving that night and would be delivered, then. I admit that they did give us a valid claim number (filled out manually since the computer systems were not up-to-scracth), but aside from the 800 number in the pamphlet, this is all wasted information since it's all lies, too. The online baggage trace is down half the time and incomplete the rest.


It turns out, I don't know how, that our missing bag would be coming in on the same flight as we had taken, only a day later, then you generously give yourselves 12 hours to deliver it (from the time the delivery people sign for it of course, not from when it arrives in the airport -- a service level agreement made entirely for the airline's benefit, not for the customer).


So just to list our petty greivances, we were spending 2 days in new york, but we have been hampered because we have been waiting close to home, rather than enjoying the city as we had planed, for the expected delivery of luggage based on the prevarications and evasions we have been given over the last two days. Thanks again, for nothing.


Your phone people and for that matter, all of the airline personel havebeen nothing but courteous, however, they have also been unhelpful, evasive, un-responsive, and untruthful . . . maybe that is what the airline requires by its policies, maybe that is the only economical way to deal with the inevitable errors in baggage handling, but it is not the way to build customer loyalty, IMVHO.


I remember back before 9/11 there was some loose talk about Airline Passenger's Bill of Rights -- common courtesies to be enforced by law since airlines seemed unwilling or unable to do it voluntarily . . . tha'ts all gone by the board. . .


the 12 hour time-limit is now expired, so now I will call the baggage hotline and see what other stories I will here. . .