Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/01/delta-agent-refuses-to-communi.html
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There should be security footage, even if nobody pulled out their phone.
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I know all airlines seem to have incidents like this happen (i.e. none are immune/perfect). But it just seems to me that United and Delta have MORE than anyone else. Maybe it’s just my perception?
When are people going to just…I dunno…not book with them anymore? Or when you do book with them, just accept you are getting whatever they give you and do not expect good customer service; they’ve just shown they don’t care at any level and are not going to change. Just put them out of business.
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Personally i book with whomever is cheapest. Thankfully that means i rarely take United and Delta, but if they were affordable i would groan about it but i would take the gamble and hope they didn’t do something shitty.
This incident is really something else though, treating people who can’t communicate normally like they’re a huge inconvenience. Fuck off.
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I stopped booking Delta or United for my flights about 10 or 12 years ago based on the experiences of friends. Made my million mile, lifetime gold on American instead.
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I promise I’m not automatically taking the side of the airline in this particular case because I don’t know the details. And it sounds like the airline employee did in fact act horribly in this case. But, I’ve seen almost as many instances of passengers acting rudely and obnoxious to airline employees. Air travel is just all around fraught with tense frustration and annoying bullshit. I don’t know what the solution is? Just be more patient and understanding of each other.
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Nah, that can’t be it.
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so…I used to do that too…and sometimes I still look for the cheapest option for specific scenarios. That said, I also have begun to approach air travel the same way I approach inking myself. You pay for what your get. Cheap tattoos are exactly that. And I have found air travel to be no different.
So when my family of 5 is heading to Orlando which is a fairly short sub 3 hr flight…taking Southwest (usually the cheapest option) works fine. But flying BOS to LA which I do a couple times a year…yeah, give me first class on JetBlue or American.
I know not everyone can swing that, and no “paying MORE” should not be the difference between good/bad customer service on the airlines part. I just refuse to simply go for the cheapest option if that means Delta, United, Spirit, or Frontier (domestically)…which all seem to deliver terrible experiences more than anyone else. I’d rather pay a bit more for a better company.
@MildBill Agreed. I like American and JetBlue best…Southwest and Alaskan after that. American has always treated me well since my active duty days, I have been flying them for a long time. I hear great things about Virgin too, but they do not fly out of Providence at all, and rarely out of Boston for where I go.
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The lede is buried here, which is the all too common practice of airlines promising a seat or seat arrangement, then seeming to feel no obligation to do so.
So in addition to fucking up their seat assignment and not even bothering to reimburse for the inconvenience or even apologize, they double down on being shitty.
Oh course, the airline rep who has no power over either giving them their prearranged seats nor giving any sort of meaningful apology on behalf of the airline is not in a good position to do the right thing.
Awareness and accommodation policies are one thing, but you’re going to still get crappy treatment when employees are powerless to prevent or remediate fuckups yet are still held accountable for them.
Like maybe not overbooking flights so fucking much and people might actually get the group seating they were promised.
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It’s not really symmetrical. It’s the customer service person who is supposed to make more of an effort and be more patient. They’re paid to be there. And some customers will take more time and effort than others, for many reasons, only some having to do with overt disabilities. Some customers will want something the airline can’t give them and just be stubborn about it and take up the agent’s time.
What I wonder is does the ADA provide rules about whether they are supposed to have someone who can speak ASL available.
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Maybe this gate agent should watch this commercial a few times…
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"instead of giving us the paper we asked for, she crumbled it in front of us and threw it in the trash.”
and delta supports the stewardess? Delta needs a new slogan.
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delta fly with witches “cackle cackle” crumple, crackle “cackle, cackle”
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delta keeping all our customers happy (except the those that cant communicate but we didn’t think you’d hear from them)
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delta we fly real planes not paper planes, paper’s for crumpling up in deaf couples faces
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Delta you’ll enjoyyour flight and have peace and quite, if your luckily deaf , and can also compartmentalise abusive behaviour as well .
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Delta hey we haven’t gotten a complaint from someone with olfactory impairment, yet.
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Delta Treating people like people, almost, on a good day.
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Delta hey we’ve only killed three dogs . puppies don’t count.
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Delta hey we’re still making money thats great right
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Delta flying as simple as signing away your rights.
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delta Just get on the fing plane, except you you and you.
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That sounds like Delta is anxious to get their asses handed to them in an ADA curb-stomp of a lawsuit.
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Yes of course that is what happened.
They maintain a death grip on profit margins by means of combining routes (which two points their flights connect), flights (how often their planes travel any given route) and pricing. Customer service and comfort gets sacrificed just behind non-executive salaries to maintain shareholder dividends. By juggling these variables they position themselves as the least-unattractive option for many flyers. Unless and until every other airline gangs up to put these two out of business by somehow offering a measurably superior-quality flying experience at a significantly lower price than United or Delta can match, it’ll all stay the same.
Of course, another option might be to somehow get shares of dividend-paying stock into the hands of United and Delta hourly employees. Or voting stock. Or, hey, what about both? With a requirement that those stocks can only be owned by employees who are at or below the rank of airport manager; no ‘absentee executives’ allowed?
I mean, with any luck, these employees would suddenly have a sufficient income that they could work part-time (while voting to keep benefits), hire a whole other shift of part-time employees (who should ALSO get the same access to dividends and votes)… Yanno, makimg the airlines ‘employee-owned’?
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Speaking as someone who has spent years working with and for people with disabilities, yes, it most likely is. That’s what you meant, right?
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Working for a big corporation doesn’t automatically make one a liar.
Being deaf doesn’t automatically make one incapable of being an asshole.
Which story is true? The one that makes you the most angry.
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Insulting your fellow interlocutors will not bolster your argument, assuming you care about constructive discourse.
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While it’s possible the customers were doing so, it’s absolutely no excuse for using their disability against them. Take no shit, but take no shit in a way that doesn’t violate the ADA.
As far as I can tell, the airline doesn’t contest that the gate agent resisted accommodating their disability. Only that when they did something against the rules in an attempt to have a voice like any non-deaf customer, the agent pushed her. Even if the agent is telling the truth and she didn’t push her, there’s still an ADA lawsuit here.
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