Delta airline

General Discussion
1

I woke up this morning excited as can be. I have surfed only one legitimate session since january 1, I had the chance to have two legitmate session but I had class. Anyway the reason for my excitement was I leaving this wave starved stretch of coast(South Eastern NC) and headed to the land of the right hand point, Santa Barbara. An additional reason for my joy was I was finally going to get to put my coil which I have had since October and put it through the paces. I have surfed it a few times but it was so inconsistent this year I was not able to really get a good week of surfing on it.

       A team mate of mine ( I am a rower) dropped me off at ILM wilmington NC’s airport on his way to practice. I walked up to the gate and the guy looked at me and asked me my name and where I was flying to.  “Sunny Santa Barbara California!” I replied with a smile that a college age boy only gets when he is getting guaranteed tail or getting to surf some of the best waves of his life. The tired worker looks over the counter when he sees my surfboard bag and says “I’ve got some good news and some bad news” I roll my eyes,“Let me guess the bad news is it is 100 bucks each way for my board?” “No,” he replied. “You can’t take your surfboard on the plane”  “Since when? I booked my whole flight with Delta due to the fact that they carry surfboards and I need my board to come with me on my surf trip.” I said a bit perturbed and confused. “you see Delta doesn’t fly out of Wilmington it’s subsidiary HATINGONSURFERS does, and they don’t carry surfboards” He answered “But the good news is you can drive to Raleigh and fly out of there on us” As if is that is good news, let me drive two and a half hours each way have to pay to keep my car in long term parking and buy a tank of gas.

“Well can I am guessing you don’t carry boards due to the risk of damaging them?” I inquired. “Yes that is right” he responded. “Can I sign a waiver and not let you worry about the damages?” I asked " If you could I would have already offered that to you. We used to fly the boards with US air," he stated signaling to the next kiosk down." But we had several boards not arrive at their final destination so we stopped." 

“Great so my non refundable ticket and I am stuck not being able to take the only F****** reason I am going on your airline with me?”

“I’m sorry sir”

“Give me my GD money back!”

to their credit they did give me my money back and the guy was civil the whole time but this is the biggest BS ever. I am about to call their corporate headquarters and yell at them, my springbreak went from more awesome than winding up at girls gone wild in southern florida on an awesome swell to awful. Thanks delta.

2

Hey, RoW, I can feel your pain, man. As another of the 'damned rowers who surf', I can really understand it all.  

Had a similar situation - Continental to Panama. They had an unannounced baggage embargo going, where 'oversized and excess baggage' like surfboards were simply not being carried or if they were the stuff would be delayed for up to two weeks ( the length of our stay). I didn't find this out until about midnight a couple of days before I was supposed to set off.

So, in this case Continental wasn't taking boards, but Delta was. Typical surf rat, I didn't have the dough to spring for a second set of tickets, so I had to get my non-refundable tickets with Continental refunded.

So there I was, late night on the phone. Continental phone answerer #1 was nice enough, offering to reschedule ( "but, you see, I am meeting a dozen friends in Panama City and I can't ask all of them to reschedule on two days notice. ") or ship my boards 'space available' ( "They show up within two weeks? Ahmmm - I'm only there for two weeks,okay?") and when we reached a deadlock I was relentlessly nice ( "Look, no reflection on you, I know you're not authorised to do more than you've offered, so could you switch me to your supervisor please?") ....and the supervisor listened to my explanation ("I'm going there on a surf trip, you see, but this baggage embargo means I can't take my boards" - etc) and electronicly zapped my refund out, so that within a few minutes all was well and I was able to book a flight with Delta, no problem.

So, some things to consider and use.

Remember, unless you're talking to the president or CEO of the company, the f~ked up policy isn't the fault of whoever you're talking to. So being relentlessly nice and understanding will get you a long way. Blaming them for the policy that they didn't make and may not have heard of, that gets you nailed to the wall. Mention that "I'm sure you get a lot of people screaming at you" and make absolutely sure you don't. Get them on your side. 'Cos they want to be, if you give 'em the opening.

Whoever you're talking to at first, their 'powers' may not extend to what you need to have done. But they have a supervisor who is authorised to do more than that, and if they can't then they in turn have another supervisor who can. And again, relentlessly nice, let them want to help you.

Remember, it's not all their fault. After all, you didn't take the time to contact the local office and check out the specific details of the 'code share partners' that fly the single-engine bamboo bombers from your local airport to the local hub city. And they don't post all their policies with the main airline website either. Not that I'm blaming you, more like this is something to remember when you're about to blow your top, help you calm down a little.

Meanwhile- try Jet Blue next time. Lower costs and from what I've seen they really try to please.

Hope that's of use

doc....

3

doc I’m talking with them right now. This is helping me calm down and deal with the Peeons. I did check to make sure I was flying only one carrier when I booked and checked delta’s policy. ILM is a tiny airport, I would not fly the big carriers if I could avoid it.

4

Next above the supervisor, is the city manager.    The supervisor does not want it to get that far, so ask for the CM if things are stalling, it may move thing in your favor.   If not, the CM's sure don't want it to go beyond them, and will likely resolve the issue.

5

Stay cool with 'em, man. Remember it's not their fault, the phone-answering folks.

Besides which, you did get your $ back, so it's at least break even. And the next time......

doc...

6

first time I called I was livid, I had not read doc’s post yet. When I was on hold the second time I read doc’s post and posted my reply. I continued talking and they made an offer to honor the price of my ticket and reschedule my flight. The problem still persisted with the Subsidiary (the official name is South Eastern Airlines) and getting my board on the flight. They told me to call cargo. I called cargo no deal. I called back calm the second time around and could not get back with the original people I had spoken with delta refused to honor their word at simply rescheduling me. Being pleasant and calm got me no where. the money is not the whole issue this being able to take your board with you on an airline that says you can then uses a loophole to not allow you to take it. BTW if you book today on delta 200 each way for a surfboard. It is almost cheaper to buy a board there.

7

http://www.flyingfees.com/Default.aspx

Might help…check these fees with your carrier!

8

just got your vm and came on here to check… what a sack of sh! t

 

if you still want to come you can borrow one of my boards while youre here, dont have a coil but they’ll get the job done.  and if its any consolation, its cloudy here today, gonna rain all weekend, and the swell outlook for the next week is pretty mediocre…

9

ROW,

that sux so bad, if you make it out here and you have a rental car, i can loan you a board or one of my friends can ,  have a vintige twin you would like.

you are welcome to use one of my hulls, good choice for SB

10

tons of used boards for cheap out here, only downside is the feel like you are draging seaweed compaired to a coil.

11

   Howzit Proneman, What gets me is I checked  airlines and none of them charge for golf clubs. Aloha,Kokua

12

I had boards to use that belonged to my friend who I was staying with but by the time accepted everything as being the way it is it was too late, I had been refunded and a new ticket was about 200 more. I am going to rebook for december Thanks for all the offers. Knowaloha, I might take you up on that offer and give a hull another chance in some point breaks.