Two days before Cindy Alvarez was to depart for Paris, her business class seats were downgraded to economy.
A month after she’d returned from Paris, her price for those downgraded seats remained up there in the clouds.
Alvarez — who splits her time between Madison and Naples, Florida, and reported her age as “between 70 and 90” — said she and three of her girlfriends had booked flights to the City of Light to take a river cruise that would ultimately take them to the Normandy coast. Alvarez was to fly with Delta.
But Delta had to make a last-minute plane change to partner Air France, and it was that switch that resulted in the downgrade, Alvarez said. No matter, Alvarez said Delta told her, she would get a refund for the difference between business and economy class.
Alvarez said she followed up on that promise with American Express, which she used to buy the original ticket; then Delta, which said to call Air France; then Air France, which offered her a $300 travel credit to use on Air France.
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“And I said that doesn’t do me any good,” she said. “I purchased this ticket. I want it on Delta.”
Air France then transferred her to Delta, she said, and she talked to someone with Delta for a while before she was disconnected, and never then heard back. She also tried to address the issue online, where she did a fair amount of “trying to jump through the hoops” — but to no avail.
“And that’s when I called you,” she said.
“I don’t care if it is in e-credits or cash,” she said in an Oct. 29 email to SOS, “but I think Delta should reimburse at least half of (the) ticket for the inconvenience.”
That seemed fair enough to SOS, which on Nov. 6 filled out one of those “contact us” forms on Delta’s website and emailed Grant Myatt, with Delta corporate communications.
Myatt and Delta spokesperson Samantha Moore Facteau responded that same day with pledges to investigate and later that day Alvarez reported that “I heard from Delta today and will be getting a refund and voucher.” Total value of both, she reported Tuesday: $2,147.06 for the refund and $1,250 for the voucher to be used within a year on Delta.
“Delta teams were able to provide the customer with a refund for their change in service,” the airline said in a statement. “We apologize for the inconvenience.
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