Trying to get in contact with Delta

[Gitelfor]

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Please see revision of original post.

 

[wiggy500]

Please see revision of original post.

Thanks. I'm trying the text option. It looks very much like the messaging on the chat on the website, which didn't yield a response waiting an hour and a half. I may try the callback approach next time it is a convenient day.

 

[Flossbolna]

Singapore (as mentioned by previous posters) worked like a charm for us. We called using Skype. The agents were great and spoke excellent English.

 

[SarahWI]

For those recommending or who are planning on trying text, chat, or Twitter, here’s my experience from last week and other people report similar results on twitter and flyer talk.

my issue: delta changed my flights, I was unhappy with change, and website told me I had to call them and could not fix on my own.

direct text through delta app - get automatic response and every hour get a question of “do you still need assistance?” If you don’t type A in within a certain amount of time you get booted and have to start again. I made it 5 hours with no response until I got booted.

chat via website - see above. If you get an agent, it takes at least 20 minutes between each answer of “how are you today?” “Fine thank you. Can you help me with X?” Then 20+ minutes later they ask a clarifying question. I gave up after 5 hours of waiting and 1 hour of exchanges like that.

DM via Twitter- this is the past has been a great option. I received an automatic message that they were not assisting people via social media and to try above options. The next day I was able to send DM. Never got a response.

sending a tweet - no response at all.

non medallion phone line - 9 hour wait. Hung up. I had called from work and it didn’t automatically recognize my phone number.

medallion line - 6 hour wait was quoted. I placed myself in the call back queue and 7 hours later got a call back, flights fixed in under 20 minutes

I wish I had known about the Singapore line when I started that last week. I only found that option after I had everything fixed and was trying to figure out what was going on with their help line.

 

[EACarlson]

Hopefully this works, or else it is going to the airport or calling in the middle of the night or calling SIngapore. I don't really care to just accept the credit for the future flight for something that is Delta's fault.

What is it you are trying to get? For a two hour bump up in time I don't think you're going to get a full refund if that is what you're after.

medallion line - 6 hour wait was quoted. I placed myself in the call back queue and 7 hours later got a call back, flights fixed in under 20 minutes

I wish I had known about the Singapore line when I started that last week. I only found that option after I had everything fixed and was trying to figure out what was going on with their help line.

At least you have access to the medallion line. I would expect many of the people getting caught in this have no status.
For those that don't know, Delta calls their frequent flyer statuses "Medallions" starting with Silver and going up to Diamond.

 

[SarahWI]

At least you have access to the medallion line. I would expect many of the people getting caught in this have no status.

I agree completely. It’s ridiculous the things I am seeing on the flyer talk thread - people with flights in the next 12 hours needing ASAP assistance and being given 10+ hour wait times.

Here’s another tip: delta does their flight changes on Saturdays, so there’s generally a higher volume in the early part of the week. Wait times might be better on a Thursday or Friday.

another option - for those desperate or frustrated enough - is to just go to the airport and deal with a check in agent. The problem with that is it screws up the people in line who are trying to check in/drop bags for an actual flight.

it’s insane that people have to call Singapore from the US for help. Apparently those agents speak great English and are excellent- per flyer talk, wait time is creeping up because word is getting out.

 

[disney_kings]

My experience - flight booked back in Feb kept changing and eventually the original flights showed back up. Said online I could change for free but gave me an error when I tried.

Sunday morning, I called when I woke up - around 6:50am. Allowed me to do call back option and quoted the time as 1 hour 8 minutes. Ended up getting a call back at 2:07pm(!!!). Was able to modify my flight and was told the reason I couldn't do it online was because it was a basic ticket and they aren't normally able to be modified.

 

[Tiggerette]

Last week, I had been trying for two days and got the 3+ hour hold times. Trying the "Existing Reservation" did not make a difference in the hold times. This morning I tried again with a stated call back, "within 3 hours". No call back yet! It makes me very nervous to book anything further with Delta.

 

[wiggy500]

For those recommending or who are planning on trying text, chat, or Twitter, here’s my experience from last week and other people report similar results on twitter and flyer talk.

my issue: delta changed my flights, I was unhappy with change, and website told me I had to call them and could not fix on my own.

direct text through delta app - get automatic response and every hour get a question of “do you still need assistance?” If you don’t type A in within a certain amount of time you get booted and have to start again. I made it 5 hours with no response until I got booted.

chat via website - see above. If you get an agent, it takes at least 20 minutes between each answer of “how are you today?” “Fine thank you. Can you help me with X?” Then 20+ minutes later they ask a clarifying question. I gave up after 5 hours of waiting and 1 hour of exchanges like that.

DM via Twitter- this is the past has been a great option. I received an automatic message that they were not assisting people via social media and to try above options. The next day I was able to send DM. Never got a response.

sending a tweet - no response at all.

non medallion phone line - 9 hour wait. Hung up. I had called from work and it didn’t automatically recognize my phone number.

medallion line - 6 hour wait was quoted. I placed myself in the call back queue and 7 hours later got a call back, flights fixed in under 20 minutes

I wish I had known about the Singapore line when I started that last week. I only found that option after I had everything fixed and was trying to figure out what was going on with their help line.

Exactly my experience so far only I've given up faster than you did.

 

[wiggy500]

What is it you are trying to get? For a two hour bump up in time I don't think you're going to get a full refund if that is what you're after.

I'd take either the full refund or there's another flight they have that would be willing to switch to. You may be right. It'd be nice to talk to them at least.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'd take either the full refund or there's another flight they have that would be willing to switch to. You may be right. It'd be nice to talk to them at least.

In my experience (pre Covid) Delta has been flexible in changing us to other flights.

 

[Marrila]

I'd take either the full refund or there's another flight they have that would be willing to switch to. You may be right. It'd be nice to talk to them at least.

It helps to have looked at possible flights and have one or two in mind you wish to ask for.

 

[EACarlson]

I'd take either the full refund or there's another flight they have that would be willing to switch to. You may be right. It'd be nice to talk to them at least.

In my experiences with Delta, if you call them and tell them what flights you want to be on, they are pretty good about getting you on those flights. I was able to use that to get my family changed from connections to non-stops in 2019. They may decide a two hour change is "substantial" and give you a refund, but I wouldn't count on that right now. In the before times the standard was 4 hours.

 

[sam_gordon]

I thought it was two hours for Delta.

 

[wiggy500]

I thought it was two hours for Delta.

I believe you are right. In my case it is just under two hours.

 

[SarahWI]

In my experiences with Delta, if you call them and tell them what flights you want to be on, they are pretty good about getting you on those flights.

Agreed - we were long term Northwest Airlines and now delta loyalists. They generally do a good job fixing stuff. I have never seen or experienced this level of customer service chaos with them. I know their staffing is way down because of covid and it sucks. They will try to make it right.

 

[wiggy500]

I called the Singapore line using Skype. Before calling I signed up for a one month free trial for their international calling plan to Singapore. I tried calling from the desktop and got right through, but my mircophone didn't work. I trying calling again from another device and got right through and I got my flight switched to the flight I wanted no problem. Nine minute phone call.

Thank you everyone so much for your help! Calling Singapore...I wasn't going to come up with that solution.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't remember the exact details, but I remember one time my family was going on a trip, and we were booked on Delta out of an airport 2 hours away (our close airport is always more expensive). I can't remember if Delta changed the flight or they called us wanting to bump us to a different flight. I asked and they agreed to change us to using our close airport. While I've flown Southwest & Allegient, my primary choice is Delta.

 

[Tiggerette]

Update on trying to reach Delta. I used the "call back" feature yesterday morning around 10am EST and was told the call back would occur in around 3 hours. I received two voicemails about 7 hours later around 4:40p and 4:50p EST. (Of course, I had stepped away to handle to a family need and returned to find they called.) When I called the number back, it was the general queue with a 3-4 hour hold. I had used the email feature over a week ago, and was told in an auto reply to expect a response in 10 days.

This morning I called about 7:30aEST, and the "call back" feature said a return call in about 45 minutes. I'll update here with the actual call back time frame.

EDIT 11:30a EST Delta called back. I answered. It asked me to press a button. I did, and it hung up on me.

EDIT 11:55a EST Delta called again about ten minutes later. This time I both spoke and pressed a button. I think it only registered the button. I was transferred to another hold for about 6-8min. The call was only about 5min, because the person was very efficient. They also apologized for the difficulty in reaching Delta, giving no insight when they will have adequate staffing levels for timely service. (I was told that it may take 30 days to update my SkyMiles account to the current, accurate information.)

So my take away is that the call back feature works, but expect it to be much later than the time they say the call back will occur. Do not rely on Delta for an urgent situation without these extraordinary wait times, or work-arounds as listed upthread.

EDIT 2:30p EST. I got a notice that Delta adjusted my Skymiles account to the current, accurate information. Considering it didn't take anywhere near 30 days, this is an excellent example of Under-Promise, Over-Perform! Good job Delta!

 

[maxiesmom]

FYI it is not just Delta having the uber long wait times. It is a combo of not enough employees and massive amounts of people trying to use their points to book flights.