Cancelled trip - Kudos to Delta Airlines

dougef · Apr 5, 2020

We had a trip reserved for this month to Canyon Villas and then on to Grand Chateau. Already cancelled the MVC timeshare reservations and have the points in the holding account for use by the end of 2021. Hopefully will find a way to use them.

Our flights were on Delta from JFK - to Phoenix and return from Las Vegas. While the outbound flight had numerous schedule changes over the past month or two, I was waiting to see if it got cancelled so I could a refund instead of a credit. Overnight last night I got notice that my original flight to PHX was cancelled and we were now on a connecting flight through Atlanta. Yay! Called Delta this morning and amazingly had no wait for a rep to pick up. The rep was friendly and professional and immediately took care of a cash refund for my ticket and a return of my SkyMiles for my wife's ticket. I was blown away by the whole transaction.

Theiggy · Apr 5, 2020

I had a similar situation, yet I’m still waiting for my refund to post to my credit card. I noticed a credit show up in our accounts even though we were eligible for refund and customer service placed request for refund. We have emails confirming the refund transaction. I figured I’d give them a few days (this was March 30) as I’m sure they are backed up. But the credit in the account isn’t a good sign to me. I wasn’t happy, bc Delta had not actually informed me my flight was canceled I had to look in my account. Even then when I contacted customer service, she confirmed it was canceled and offered credit. No... I want a refund! I’ll let you know how it pans out. Lmk if you actually get your cash refund.

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dougef · Apr 5, 2020

Theiggy said:
I had a similar situation, yet I’m still waiting for my refund to post to my credit card. I noticed a credit show up in our accounts even though we were eligible for refund and customer service placed request for refund. We have emails confirming the refund transaction. I figured I’d give them a few days (this was March 30) as I’m sure they are backed up. But the credit in the account isn’t a good sign to me. I wasn’t happy, bc Delta had not actually informed me my flight was canceled I had to look in my account. Even then when I contacted customer service, she confirmed it was canceled and offered credit. No... I want a refund! I’ll let you know how it pans out. Lmk if you actually get your cash refund.

My confirming cancellation email shows the amount and that it has been refunded to Amex account #xxxxx. Did yours have similar wording? I'll be checking my Amex account daily watching for the credit.

Theiggy · Apr 5, 2020

No actually. It did not list amounts which I thought was strange. It says “unable to calculate estimate”. The transaction was completed through Facebook messenger with a Delta CS rep. Ugh.. I can see this is going to take another phone call to Delta. I’m unhappy with them. I feel they are doing everything possible to avoid giving refunds.

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dougef · Apr 5, 2020

Theiggy said:
No actually. It did not list amounts which I thought was strange. It says “unable to calculate estimate”. The transaction was completed through Facebook messenger with a Delta CS rep. Ugh.. I can see this is going to take another phone call to Delta. I’m unhappy with them. I feel they are doing everything possible to avoid giving refunds.

I guess I just got lucky!

Theiggy · Apr 5, 2020

Yes I thought I was too but I guess not! When I plug in the refund request number and the ticket number into Delta (check status of refund), it still says pending. And I can see the ticket amount and the credit card listed there. So there is that.

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bnoble · Apr 5, 2020

Theiggy said:
The transaction was completed through Facebook messenger with a Delta CS rep. Ugh.. I can see this is going to take another phone call to Delta. I’m unhappy with them. I feel they are doing everything possible to avoid giving refunds.

We had a similar situation interacting via Twitter DMs--credit not refund. But it was fixed very quickly with a phone call. My sense is that they are happy to do the right thing but it's likely that the online people are less experienced than the phone staff, and mistakes get made.

dougef · Apr 7, 2020

Am update to my OP. Call to Delta was on Sunday. Today, Tuesday, the credit for the full refund appeared in my Amex account. Maybe I just got lucky, but I am very pleased with the whole experience with Delta. And, FWIW, MVC and Marriott could learn a few things from them. Just saying!

emeryjre · Apr 7, 2020

Delta has become my go to airline. I will avoid using American Airlines whenever possible. Delta is not arguing about refunds where required by FAA regulations as is the case with American and United. I had a flight credit from Delta my cancellation in early March that was only good for a year. Just received an email that my flight credit has been extended until the end of 2021.

My flight credit from American is still limited to December 2020.

I realize that all of these take time to implement in the computer systems, but their attitude is one of "take care of the customer".

Yes dougef, Marriott and MVC could learn a few things about retaining customer loyalty from Delta.