CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Delta Air Lines Unable to Correct Lost Ticket Required Customer Assis

0703 -
0703 -    ..
0704 - Summary/Objective
0705 -
070501 - Follow up
070502 -
070503 - Somehow seem to have misplaced the return ticket.  I have the ticket
070504 - for the trip back to SF on 890117, but can't find the one for today.
070506 -  ..
070507 - Called Delta - 552 5700
070509 -  ..
070510 - Talked to Joe.  He verified I have reservations for 1635 today.
070512 -  ..
070513 - I can pick up the ticket at 433 California at Sansome, this
070514 - afternoon.
070515 -
070516 -
070518 -  ..
0706 -
0707 - Ticketing failure at Delta SF Airport
0708 -
070801 - Because of last minute gift shopping for Millie, didn't have time to
070802 - stop at downtown Delta ticket office.  Decided to get the ticket at
070803 - the airport.
070805 -  ..
070806 - Initially, the Delta ticket agent (Stephen, Steve), said they could
070807 - not verify I had a ticket, and so could not put me on the plane.  I
070808 - challenged this position on the grounds that since there is a record
070809 - of my ticket in the Delta system, it should be verifiable.  Steve
070810 - pointed out that my original ticket was written on American Airlines
070811 - "stock" and this prevented Delta from verifying the status because
070812 - there was not a Delta ticket number in the reservation data.  Steve
070813 - said that without a Delta ticket number, it is not possible to estab-
070814 - lish I have purchased a valid ticket.
070816 -  ..
070817 - Steve indicated I could purchase a new ticket  but I was unable to do
070818 - this because I didn't have a credit card, and had spent my cash on
070819 - Millie's gift.
070821 -  ..
070822 - I asked if I could exchange my roundtrip ticket for the 890117 trip
070823 - back to SF for a ticket to Montana today.  Steve said I couldn't do
070824 - this.  He noted that a one way ticket was much more expensive than
070825 - the value of the two way ticket I had purchased for 890117.  I do not
070826 - have a clear understanding of why a ticket could not have been
070827 - arranged on this basis.
070829 -  ..
070830 - As I was about to leave the ticket counter, Steve asked me to step
070831 - around to the back of the counter to view the information on the
070832 - computer screen pertaining to my reservation.  I noted there were
070833 - several telephone numbers and suggested that he call the Travel
070834 - Agency to see if they could supply the Delta ticket number.
070835 -
070836 -      [On 890112 another example continual bumbling on vendor shipping
070837 -      products to wrong location. ref SDS 2 0001
070839 -  ..
070840 - Steve called the travel agency and obtained the ticket nubmer after
070841 - about a 3 minute wait.  He then called the Departure gate (gate 44)
070842 - and requested that the plane be held for another passenger.  My watch
070843 - showed 1637, 2 minutes past the 1635 published departure time. Steve
070844 - said the plane had already left.  He advised that the soonest he
070845 - could get me to Helena would be approximately 1400 tomorrow.  I asked
070846 - that he make a ticket for the same flight tomorrow.
070848 -  ..
070849 - He prepared a ticket and lost ticket form.  I paid $50 for the lost
070850 - ticket.
070852 -  ..
070853 - Throughout the 30 minute exhange on this matter, Steve was courteous,
070854 - patient and business like.
070855 -
070857 -  ..
0709 -
0710 - Analysis
0711 -
071101 - It is not clear why the matter could not have been resolved more
071102 - quickly and at less expense.  Steve pointed out that airlines have
071103 - to be careful to avoid multiple use of lost tickets, and so have to
071104 - fill out a special form for $50.
071106 -  ..
071107 - This could be accomplished by merely including a field on the com-
071108 - puter screen that shows when a ticket is used.  When passengers are
071109 - boarded, an agent at the gate collects a stub showing a ticket was
071110 - used.  Thereafter, this information is in the system.  Thus, it
071111 - should not be a large step to provide this to ticketing agents with a
071112 - one character status flag that would permit the agent to simply issue
071113 - a replacement ticket.
071115 -  ..
071116 - The time required to prepare and administer a replacement ticket
071117 - does not appear to warrant a $50 fee, even if it were shown that the
071118 - form prepared in this case was necessary.
071120 -  ..
071121 - I was not on notice from Delta that a lost ticket would cost $50.
071122 - There is nothing prominately displayed in the ticket information that
071123 - advised of the $50 charge.  Had I been given such notice, more time
071124 - could have been devoted to searching for the ticket before leaving
071125 - for the airport, rather than relying on the good faith belief that a
071126 - replacement ticket could be issued on the basis of the records within
071127 - Delta that resulted in the intial flight on 881223.
071129 -  ..
071130 - The lack of notice and correlation between the charge and the
071131 - damages suffered by Delta appears to justify refund of the $50.
071133 -  ..
071134 - The failure of Delta to provide procedures to its ticket agents so a
071135 - timely repalcement ticket could be prepared without relying on the
071136 - ingenuity of customers to supply ad hoc suggestions  as required
071137 - here, further indicates Delta shares in the responsibility for the
071138 - extra expense incurred.  Delta should consider informing ticket
071139 - agents of the procedure applied in this case, and refund the expense
071140 - the customer incurred as a result of Delta's failure to perform.
071142 -  ..
071143 - This would save administrative expense to Delta, and improve service
071144 - to customers who rely on Delta's administrative expertise.
071146 -  ..
071147 - Therefore, Delta should refund the extra transportation expense to SF
071148 - and back to the airport.  This was $9.00 for the Supershuttle and
071149 - $26.00 for a cab, totaling $35.00.
071150 -
071152 -  ..
0712 -
0713 - Summary
0714 -
071401 - Should make a claim for $85 from Delta to recover the extra expense
071402 - incurred as a result of Delta's performance.
071403 -
071404 - Commend Delta's Ticket Agent for courteous handling of the matter.
071405 -
071406 -
071407 -
071408 -
0715 -
0716 -
0717 -
0718 -