Delta was a nightmare!

[Disneyhenry]

We just returned from our WDW vacation, the vacation was wonderful! 2 1/2 weeks long, 10 days at WDW then DCL on the DREAM, then a short stay at Daytona Beach.
DELTA talked me into checking my new stroller, when we got to MCO it was damaged, the DELTA agent could tell it was new she asked how much we payed for it and wrote up a report. We paid $120 for this stroller, she asked why in the world would we pay so much money for a stroller and why would we bring such an expensive stroller on vacation. She must have never bought a stroller in her life because $120 is not that much for a stroller LOL, I told her that I am on vacation and I need a stroller that fits my needs, that is why I brought my stroller.
She tried to replace it with an umbrella stroller that was old, dirty and cheap. I refused! We had to tape toegether this stroller to make it through the trip. Now I need to purchase a new one and take the broken one to the closest airport that is 55 miles away to get a refund. The wheels ended up braking off due to the damage DELTA baggage agents caused to the stroller.

THEN on our way home, our flight landed 20 minutes early and we sat and waited 55 minutes for a gate. Not fun when you have a 2 year old yelling I want out of the plane for 45 minutes!
I will never fly DELTA again, I don't care how cheap the ticket is.

 

[nkereina]

So sorry that happened to you!!!! You're lucky you're getting a reimbursement, they seem pretty stingy about that. I once flew Delta on 2 hour direct nonstop flight to Atlanta and they lost my bag. My bag was found 8 hours later - and I found this out because I called them to check on it, they didn't call me - and I had to pay a taxi $40 to deliver it to my hotel. They told me I could "come pick it up" but they were not willing to deliver it, or reimburse my taxi cost. I sent an email to Delta when I got home including my name and flight number/times and got a response a week later saying they could not find me on the passenger manifest from that flight and they would need my baggage claim number. Of course I no longer had that. I responded and told them this, and never heard back again...

 

[robinb]

We just returned from our WDW vacation, the vacation was wonderful! 2 1/2 weeks long, 10 days at WDW then DCL on the DREAM, then a short stay at Daytona Beach.
DELTA talked me into checking my new stroller, when we got to MCO it was damaged, the DELTA agent could tell it was new she asked how much we payed for it and wrote up a report. We paid $120 for this stroller, she asked why in the world would we pay so much money for a stroller and why would we bring such an expensive stroller on vacation. She must have never bought a stroller in her life because $120 is not that much for a stroller LOL, I told her that I am on vacation and I need a stroller that fits my needs, that is why I brought my stroller.
She tried to replace it with an umbrella stroller that was old, dirty and cheap. I refused! We had to tape toegether this stroller to make it through the trip. Now I need to purchase a new one and take the broken one to the closest airport that is 55 miles away to get a refund. The wheels ended up braking off due to the damage DELTA baggage agents caused to the stroller.

THEN on our way home, our flight landed 20 minutes early and we sat and waited 55 minutes for a gate. Not fun when you have a 2 year old yelling I want out of the plane for 45 minutes!
I will never fly DELTA again, I don't care how cheap the ticket is.

I'm sorry your stroller was trashed and you have to drive a long way to get a refund. I do want to gently point out that kind of thing can happen with any airline. Also when you gate check something it goes in the same cargo hold, so that's not a magic bullet either. When I used a stroller I bought a special stroller bag for it to protect it. Even so, an airline (Southwest, I believe) managed to crunch it inside the bag after being gate checked!

 

[andymattmom]

We just returned from our WDW vacation, the vacation was wonderful! 2 1/2 weeks long, 10 days at WDW then DCL on the DREAM, then a short stay at Daytona Beach.
DELTA talked me into checking my new stroller, when we got to MCO it was damaged, the DELTA agent could tell it was new she asked how much we payed for it and wrote up a report. We paid $120 for this stroller, she asked why in the world would we pay so much money for a stroller and why would we bring such an expensive stroller on vacation. She must have never bought a stroller in her life because $120 is not that much for a stroller LOL, I told her that I am on vacation and I need a stroller that fits my needs, that is why I brought my stroller.
She tried to replace it with an umbrella stroller that was old, dirty and cheap. I refused! We had to tape toegether this stroller to make it through the trip. Now I need to purchase a new one and take the broken one to the closest airport that is 55 miles away to get a refund. The wheels ended up braking off due to the damage DELTA baggage agents caused to the stroller.

THEN on our way home, our flight landed 20 minutes early and we sat and waited 55 minutes for a gate. Not fun when you have a 2 year old yelling I want out of the plane for 45 minutes!
I will never fly DELTA again, I don't care how cheap the ticket is.

I am sorry about the stroller BUT the bolded part is in no way Delta's fault. They arrive early and there is no gate at the airport. That is an airport issue and also can happen on ANY airline. Yes, it is difficult traveling with small children and trying to keep them occupied but that is out of Delta's control.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

And yet, somehow, horrible things that "can happen on any airline" somehow seem to happen more often on Delta Airlines.

OP, there are a multitude of reasons no one in my office will fly Delta. You've only encountered 3.

 

[DebbieB]

I am sorry about the stroller BUT the bolded part is in no way Delta's fault. They arrive early and there is no gate at the airport. That is an airport issue and also can happen on ANY airline. Yes, it is difficult traveling with small children and trying to keep them occupied but that is out of Delta's control.

The gate is probably Delta's fault. Most likely a plane of theirs that was delayed departing was in the gate. Delta has dedicated gates at every airport, the airport does not assign them when the plane comes in.

What might not have been their fault is if the gate was closed due to a thunderstorm.

 

[Sugarlumples]

Delta has delayed both my and my husband's luggage on two separate flights. On the flight where my bag didn't make it to Seattle, my husband's bag made it fine. I was without my bag for over 24 hours.

On a different flight (that was delayed for hours due to the common "mechanical issues" problem) my husband's bag didn't get delivered until almost a day later. It was on the van for delivery the next morning and he got it after dinner.

We have literally never had a smooth, on time flight with Delta. Always mechanical issues, delays, and/or lost luggage. The last two flights we booked with them resulted in our delayed luggage and that was the last straw. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We will never fly Delta again.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The OP's flight arriving early is Delta's fault too - but nobody's criticizing them for that
The OP hasn't indicated what reason there might have been for no 'docked' planes being able to leave the gates during the 35 minutes following her flight's scheduled arrival time, or how many/few gates Delta has at that airport. We know there was no gate available for the first twenty minutes because the flight wasn't expected yet!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

And yet, somehow, horrible things that "can happen on any airline" somehow seem to happen more often on Delta Airlines.

OP, there are a multitude of reasons no one in my office will fly Delta. You've only encountered 3.

Really

Want my horror stories. Well you probably don't but....

Longest delay in the last 12 months....Southwest

Longest lost luggage (over 2 days).... Southwest

Gate agent without a clue....AirTran. (told me flight was on time, when I pointed out that on time was now and we had no plane she said "are you sure?")

Flew a flight to Rome Italy and forgot to load the luggage....USAir

Could not find an empty gate at airport after more then an hour..it is a 3 way tie..Delta, American, AirTran

Started screaming at passengers "leave me alone I don't know what is going on". AmericanAirlines


And so on....

I guess based on the "only fly good airlines" view on here I will have to stay home from now on

 

[kaytieeldr]

OrangeCountyCommuter - looks like you could still happily flyjetBlue

 

[dis_guy]

OrangeCountyCommuter - looks like you could still happily flyjetBlue

And United/Continental too, I suppose.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Personally, I don't care for Delta and don't fly them. That said, I agree with others here; this could have happened and does happen on EVERY airline. Never flying Delta again isn't going to make a difference to them or to you; this could happen again on United, Southwest, JetBlue, etc.

Actually, I agree that I would not take a $120 stroller on vacation. Too easily damaged as you have discovered.

Your flight wasn't even close to making nightmare status.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

OrangeCountyCommuter - looks like you could still happily flyjetBlue

Except that they don't service ANY of the airports I fly in and out of. I have never even had that option on my travel agency site.

I have had the opportunity to fly Virgin America, but it cost too much.

I won't fly Spirit if they paid me.

Otherwise I think I have flown every scheduled carrier in the US (including the "commuter" lines farmed out to the airlines, Mesa, etc..)

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

And United/Continental too, I suppose.

Got several stories for United. Not much on CO, but have only flown them a few times.

Honestly if you fly a lot you discover the difference between Delta, SW, USAir, AA etc... the "manure du jour" Any and ALL of them can and will have a bad day/flight

And just a hint.. standing at the counter screaming "I AM NEVER FLYING THIS AIRLINE AGAIN" is not a good way to get your problems resolved. Why should they care to assist you after that? You already told them they "lost" you as a customer (of course the great majority of "screamers" change thier mind when push comes to shove and airline X is cheapest)

 

[maxiesmom]

I would be more than a little unhappy about the stroller too. However both that and the gate delay can happen on any airline. Honestly, if everything runs on schedule I am very happy. I pretty much expect to be delayed when I fly now.

My airline horror stories:

Being stuck in an aiport for 9 hours due to my first flight being delayed a long time, and then not being allowed to land due to the President being in the area. And I was still better off than the people who had to share the same plane to my home airport, and then be bused home from there. (US Air)

Stuck in MCO for 4 hours due to a broken part (United)

I have to say, any time I have had a delay on Delta, they seem to be able to swap out equipment fairly quickly. My last trip from MCO to home we got shuffled to a larger plane, one that judging by the screens in the seatbacks, and the pillows and blankets, they usually use for long hauls. And what was really great is that we had space, and I had a whole row to myself! Free movies and lots of space, it was awesome!

 

[mom2brooke76]

My worst flight delay was on Southwest (love them!) a few years ago. I was flying from Chicago back to Birmingham and there was horrible weather to the South like there is often (I fly to Chicago almost monthly and encounter it often). Unfortunately, our flight got delayed AFTER we were on the plane away from the gate. They wouldn't let planes take off due to the weather and we had to sit on the plane for FOUR hours! It started getting hot, etc, but the FA's were great!

I suppose it could have been worse............this guy had a SEVEN hour delay on Delta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R06dAgpmmbg

 

[gamerlovesdisney]

Also live in Washington State...Tri-Cities area. I usually go to WDW about once a year (and sometimes 2-3 times a year!) and have been for 2 decades. Always fly Delta since it's the only airline to serve this rural area. We have to fly to Salt Lake City and then transfer to the plane to continue to Orlando. NEVER, NEVER have I had any problems with baggage or late flights (except for weather delays). Once or twice, my baggage was late, but it was delivered by taxi at no charge within a few hours.

Anything that's not a normal sized luggage/item can be damaged when things shift in the cargo hold. And waiting for a gate is not an unusual thing these days. All airlines have these problems! It's not just Delta. Especially these days when the airlines are just making small profits, or even loses.

 

[Disneyhenry]

Thanks for all the comments and support. I understand this could happen with any airline, but I think that maybe if they didn't contract their employee's in Seattle to a company who can not keep employee's and pay's low wages with no benefits that the service in Seattle would be better. Sitting and looking at 5 empty gates in Seattle, all in which Delta uses, and not being able to park at one of them was just horrible.
When a company treat's their employee's well, then the employee loves their job and does well at it.
I just need to stick to an airline who use's their own employee's and I think all will be better.

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks for all the comments and support. I understand this could happen with any airline, but I think that maybe if they didn't contract their employee's in Seattle to a company who can not keep employee's and pay's low wages with no benefits that the service in Seattle would be better. Sitting and looking at 5 empty gates in Seattle, all in which Delta uses, and not being able to park at one of them was just horrible.
When a company treat's their employee's well, then the employee loves their job and does well at it.
I just need to stick to an airline who use's their own employee's and I think all will be better.

How do you know about the ramp workers pay and benefits?

Many airlines outsource ramp workers at airports where they do not have alot of flights. Their ontime ratings are based on when the blocks go under the front wheels, so they would be charged with a late flight in your circumstance. If that's happening pretty often, they would do something about it.

 

[Rabscuttle]

And yet, somehow, horrible things that "can happen on any airline" somehow seem to happen more often on Delta Airlines.

OP, there are a multitude of reasons no one in my office will fly Delta. You've only encountered 3.

We choose to fly Delta and have never encountered a problem and in fact, on this trip we were upgraded to First Class, which made for a pleasant flight down. The airlines have no control over the gate, so I don't even understand how that is a valid complaint. Most flights on most airlines arrive ahead of schedule so they can have a little more leeway which regard to their on time flight stats. As far as crushing luggage, strollers, etc. That can happen with any airline and the only damaged article we have ever had was with Southwest. They refused to replace the Oakley sunglasses that were inside of the suitcase as well.
In terms of the stroller? We are here now and one thing that is evident is that strollers have grown in size over the years. They take up space on Disney transportation, buses and boats, in the parks and in the shops. Somehow 20 years ago guests managed quite well with $25 strollers with a small canopy and sunscreen. Now strollers look like royal chariots.