Delta isn't having the best Memorial Day Weekend … and that's putting things mildly. Heading into the busy travel weekend, they began proactively canceling flights all the way into August to avoid an embarrassing meltdown. But that wasn't enough: Delta has scrapped more than 900 flights and counting since Friday, the second consecutive weekend with mass cancellations.
As travel plans get wrecked and customers face lengthy Delta call wait times (again), tempers are understandably running high. But even among the countless complaints flooding Delta's social media accounts this weekend, this exchange on Twitter Friday night from a customer pushing for help stands out.
Let's get this out of the way: This is probably not how Delta (or any airline, for that matter) wants its service representatives interacting with customers. Airlines from American to Ryanair have been spicing up their social media presence in recent years, but this is another level.
The customer in question had repeatedly tweeted at Delta throughout the day Friday, demanding help after the airline canceled a flight for Saturday morning with less than 12 hours notice. Delta gave the customer in question occasional updates as they tried to find a solution, but not before things boiled over. Telling a customer to “calm down” is rarely a good look – especially after a problem that the company itself caused.
… but we're all human, and that includes Daisy from Delta. The response lit up the internet on Saturday, with readers alternately scorning Delta for the unprofessional response and others declaring themselves #TeamDaisy. The customer in question initially responded: “Calm down? Been on hold for over 2 hours, Daisy. Really trying.”
Fortunately, it all has a happy ending.
If nothing else, let this serve as a reminder: When things go wrong with your flight…
- It's not your flight attendants' fault.
- It's not the gate agents' fault
- It's not the pilots' fault
- It's not the fault of the customer service agent on the phone
- And it's certainly not the social media representative's fault, be it Daisy at Delta or any other airline.
The problems we're seeing with air travel lately are bigger than Delta: Mass cancellations are bound to continue as airlines struggle to catch up with surging travel demand. Like it or not, this is going to continue happening.
Let's be clear: Daisy's snarky response doesn't excuse Delta's woes over Memorial Day, nor for repeatedly failing customers by overpromising and underdelivering over the last year and change along with every other major airline in the U.S. That's why we've called for greater passenger rights and protections when airlines cancel or delay flights.
But that frustration doesn't give you and I license to get angry or lash out at others when things go wrong. Kindness and patience can also go a long way to reach a resolution when things go wrong. It might not be their fault, but many airline employees have tremendous power to solve problems and make a bad situation much better.
Plus – and this is the important part – kindness and patience are always free.
Read our tips on what you can do when flights get delayed or canceled!
Quick Tips for Reaching Delta this Weekend
OK, so maybe you don't want to hit up Daisy from Delta on social media. Or maybe you do, I don't know.
At any rate, if you're dealing with headaches from Delta and trying to reach the airline, you're certainly not alone. Here are some helpful hints:
- Flying within the next 48 hours? There's a dedicated number for travelers with urgent needs: 1-855-548-2505
- Is your flight further out than just a few days? It's not a bad idea to follow Delta's advice and try again another time. The airline is clearly focused on digging out from the mess this weekend. You're bound to get a better (and quicker) response later on.
- If you're trying to change flights, cancel them, or use Delta eCredits, try online or via Delta's smartphone app first. It's not a slam dunk, but Delta has made great strides in improving its online self-service options over the last two years.
- Delta killed off a “secret” customer service number with short hold wait times recently, but there's still no need to sit hold for hours: Send Delta a text instead!
- DM'ing Delta directly on Twitter is no longer an option. But if you tweet at Delta publicly, the airline will sometimes open up a messaging channel to chat and solve your issues more quickly.
Check out the rest of our tips on how to contact Delta!
Bottom Line
Please induct Daisy from Delta into the Customer Service Hall of Fame immediately.
Unprofessional? Maybe. Understandable? Probably. Legendary? No question.
I was on hold for 60 minutes, finally got to speak to someone that only a phone call could resolve, we we half way completed and she told me I had to be transferred to a different person. I then was given a message that it would be 166 minutes before I could speak to someone. Left my call back number and 3 hours later got a call back which resolved the issue. But it took 5 hours of my day.
at one point not many years ago delta was the best there was. Now its full of fast food employees that are lazy and don’t know their jobs at all.
Delta has steadily been disappointing me since before the pandemic. Could this be since the departure of Richard Anderson? Maybe Ed Bastian should focus more on running this airline than on politics. Mr. Bastian, you customers are your business.
I’m glad you think a sparky customer service agent is “legendary”.
I completely disagree with your conclusion here. Surging travel demand shouldn’t result in flight cancelations. They need to increase flight availability. There’s planes available. There’s people willing to pay ridiculous prices to fly. They need to hire more people and provide the service they were created to provide.
Also, 2 hour wait time is ridiculous. Hire more customer service representatives also.
What conclusion? We wrote this: “Daisy’s funny response doesn’t excuse Delta (and other airlines) repeatedly failing customers by overpromising and underdelivering. That’s why we’ve called for greater passenger rights and protections when airlines cancel or delay flights.”
As for scaling up and adding more flights, you’re absolutely right. They may have the planes but they do not have enough people – and hiring flight attendants and especially pilots is a process that takes months (and in some cases, years), not weeks.
“Hire more customer service representatives also.” The job is listed on the careers website. They can’t help it if no one wants to work, as other businesses are facing too (how many fast food places are still not open for dine in because of staffing issues?). Hey here’s an idea. Why don’t you apply?
Nobody seems to want thankless jobs that don’t pay great. Go figure?
Made me laugh. Remembering the old saying:
Never in the history of “Calm down.” has telling someone to calm down ever resulted in them calming down.
The FA’s are OUT SICK due to COVID. Unmasked pax are infecting them.
Wear a mask on the plane, or regret it later.
1, maybe they should wear masks then. 2, I just flew Air France CDG-LYS, and on the information email, AF talked about how the air is cycled, goes through HEPA filters that kill 99.99% of viruses. 3, I have flown every week since masks were not required…haven’t gotten it, so you’re lying. If they are “out sick” it’s because they don’t have to prove they have it…
Do you really think that if you’re having an interaction with someone that their breath is filtered before it reaches you? Flight attendants are constantly in close proximity with passengers whether it be greeting passengers at the boarding door or assisting passengers with their luggage. Remember the 6 foot rule is not applicable on an airplane. As a current flight attendant I’ve had 5 friends of mine catch covid in the past 2 weeks and have to be quarantined in random cities away from their families. So no its not just flight attendants calling out sick and not having to prove it.
Maybe it’s time we regulate the airlines again until they get their act together
Kyle,
I had my flight disrupted by Delta on May 20, 2022 from RSW to MSN via ATL. 20 minutes after checking in they sent notice I wouldn’t make my connection in ATL due to delays due to weather in ATL. I asked at the gate if I could get on earlier flight to Atlanta (same gate C8) that was boarding and agent gave the company line – NO YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL WITH YOUR BAGS ON THE SAME PLANE.
Let’s call it what it is – A LIE.
TSA rules require that for international flights, but not domestic. In fact I’ve flown Delta many times in past year (long time Platinum Medallion) and quite a few times my luggage was sent on earlier flights. When you arrive at your destination wait 40 minutes for bags only to have none come out, and go to the baggage claim to report lost luggage it doesn’t leave a good taste in your mouth to be told, “oh, you’re bags are already here, they came in on an earlier flight”. So that puts the “must fly with checked bags on same plane” as a lie.
And thus, as I was refunded my ticket as Delta’s disruption had already destroyed the weekend activities, it took two more days to get my luggage back which did make it to Madison and wasn’t pulled off the flight with more than 2 hours before departure and a solid hour and 20 minutes before the plane even arrived at RSW for the flight to ATL.
The MELTDOWN is already here, and the summer season was a week off as of May 20th.
As of May 30th I still have not heard from Delta on the complaint I filed on-line.
Gives whole new meaning to DELTA – DON’T EVER LEAVE THE AIRPORT
Years ago, when flying was “fun”, my Delta flight home was cancelled. My husband and I called our sitter and waited until all those who “had” to be home had been helped. We were next to last to be served. A new agent came to the desk, and I asked what could be done. I was polite, and almost happy to get another night away. The agent snarled at me, told me she was working as hard as she could, and told me that we “weren’t getting home so make some decisions.” She was rude and hateful. When I got home, I called Delta to let them know how ugly their employee behaved. I was completely ignored at 4 different levels. I have not flown Delta since that trip.
Lol, “Legendary”. Good click bait article. Sure Daisy is a nice person and yeah no one deserves to get treated like crap but are people allowed to get frustrated anymore or are we all supposed to be zen buddhists when things go wrong? The world unfortunately isn’t a utopia.
Lets get real. Delta is not good. Period. I would not run my business this way and if I did I would deserve a customer lashing.
Me and wife got a email (no text or call) mentioning our return flight was cancelled and that was just shy of 24 hours notice. The app suggested rebook or refund and we needed to go home so we rebooked for another flight (with much difficulty and no explanation for the cancellation) the same day but a bit different route with worse seats. Fast forward, we show up early and check through TSA and sit down waiting to board and the wife notices now at the gate that the flight shows cancelled on the app. No email, no text, no call and even the display board with flights at the airport is not showing cancelled. We try to talk to front desk Delta and there’s no help at all with rescheduling, the app doesn’t even allow rescheduling now and the phone service is mentioning return flight will now only be available 2 days later. Somehow in a busy area during memorial day weekend we were going to be forced to find a hotel and force to pay and stay out of pocket ourselves somewhere because of deltas poor planning. The wife found tickets for American airlines back home for the same day with really bad times but at least it was something. We then confirmed with the front desk and the lady was able to readjust to a better flight no extra charge easily. I’ve always thought Delta was good and top tier but this experience was so shitty and so disgusting that it’s as bad as sprint imo. I will be avoiding Delta because the lack of clarity or help was just beyond disgusting
The chat option – well, no good on Friday – nobody would respond and they claimed they were overwhelmed. Had two flights canceled – second one resheduled for Saturday morning. Ended up buying a ticket on another airline. Then took 4 hours on the phone to get a refund. Chat didn’t work, Twitter didn’t work. Didnt want to get stuck with a no show for the rescheduled flight. Had to wait for a manager after waiting 2 hours to talk to someone because the changes they had made because of my first cancellation meant the regular agent could not process a refund. Theyn 40 minutes of keyboarding work to get it processed. So yeah, while Daisy may not be at fault, it’s understandable why people get irritated.
Made reservations for a flight to Zurich in January. Eighteen hours before departing on bucket list trip, flight cancelled. Rerouted through Amsterdam and still trying to get there. It has been two and a half days of cancellations and late flights. NOT what I expect from Delta.
This is a complete non story. Airline customer service has been non existent for years. Hold times for all major carriers push an hour anytime/every time you call. “Due to High call volume you may experience longer than normal hold times.” I was hung up by Lufthansa for being so bold as to point out their b-s. They didn’t even give me a chance to be rude, they just hung up. The imbecile answering phones at United(another hour plus hold) gave me a number to reschedule a flight that went to their current and retired workers line requiring a pin to access. I write this sitting at LAX waiting to board my flight after my initial connecting flight was cancelled and rescheduled with another leaving me a seven hour layover before my 14 hour flight. Bulldoze the entire industry into the landfill and start over!
The airlines shouldn’t be booking passengers that they cannot comfortably handle. They know their needs and allocations well in advance. You have to blame top management. As my first boss use to say, “The fish stinks at the head.”
We travel very frequently and every single flight we’ve been on has been grossly delayed and twi canceled. They are so incompetent they have to change the new departure times 3 or 4 times. Their 1000’s of cancelations leave ten of thousands of passengers stranded. This practice is nothing short of gross abusive, negligence and incompetence. They often blame the whether. As a pilot, I check the weather and never find any significant weather that would affect a flight.
Thousands of people are put out at with a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and great stress. Don’t book passengers when you don’t have the crews and the equipment to fly them.
Recently we were in Israel, Egypt and London all non American based airlines and not a single one was delayed. The problem is American incompetence.
Delta Daisy saying aloud what everyone in customer service would say if they could. Thank you for the reminders that this customer service reps, gate agents, etc, who are probably making less than the people flying and being treated harshly for situations out of their control are just people trying to do their best with the limited power they have. If they could do something to make people stop yelling at them, they would. No one likes being yelled at, so if you see someone treating them harshly, be the person that chooses patience and kindness, not for a reward or favor, but because it’s right.
This is what you get when an entire nation say no to high speed trains as a travel option.
Delta GREED….nothing more.
It’s airfares are 50 to 55 % more than pre pandemic pricing. Just look at future travel….very few basic fares being allocated with over 90 % of those flights being empty..
Pay management somemore CRAZY
Bonuses they deserve it…
DELTA GREED…..SIMPLY…….
In the early 1970s, the US Congress deregulated the US Air travel industry and threw the door open to CHEAP air fares. This force the major airlines to fire people by getting rid of whole departments, offering buyouts to older experienced employees as myself, since we were paid more. Much maintenance was contracted out to Mexico and China!
The CEO, Ron Allen set out to make Delta one of the biggest airlines in the world.
Ask yourself this..Where is Eastern, Northeast, NWO, Continental, Pan Am, Western, and more?
Tickets got cheap and people stopped showing up for their reservations, so now you lose your money if you no show.
Per seat mile costs went up, so the airlines packed the seats as close as the FAA would allow. Soon the number of passengers filled those seats, but the planes couldn’t carry the weight so airlines cut back on free luggage allotment!
The Congress and the passengers have caused this mess! Welcome to the USA where nothing works right the first time!
When are you all going to wake and realize it’s a pilot and stewardess shortage because they would rather quit their jobs rather than compromise their health with a mandated toxic COVID shot!
There is absolutely nothing, no proof, to support this claim.
Delta is selling a product it cannot deliver. This is borderline fraud. Downsize until you get the trained help you need
“Unprofessional? Maybe. Understandable? Probably. Legendary? No question.” Legendary? Legendarily unprofessional. Just because it’s social media doesn’t mean a company can simply excuse unprofessional interactions over problems they themselves are creating. Especially when their costs are doubling in many areas.
My wife’s 600am Tuesday flight to ATL from SRQ was canceled and we were notified on Monday, about 20 hours before departure. She was automatically rebooted on a Tuesday night flight at 714pm, but she had to get to work in Atlanta on Tuesday morning. I attempted to change her ticket at Delta.com to depart from TPA at either 525a, 625a, or 725a. TPA is less than hour away from our SRQ, but Delta wanted us to pay an additional $130.00. So we called the Delta Amex number and there was a 90 minute wait time. We did request a callback. So I called the Medallion number and the wait time was only 5 minutes. The Delta rep was very helpful. She rebooted my wife on the 625am TPA flight and waived the upcharge. Dya could have remedied thus situation by flagging my wife’s rebooked 714pm SRQ departure, as a rescheduled reservation, and allowed us to rebook the flight out of nearby airports at no additional charge. But Delta is not alone. My sister and brother in law had reservations on United to fly PWM-IAD-TPA on Good Friday to spend Passover with me and my 90 year old uncle and family. My nephew, a NYC public school teacher had reservations on Spirit to fly from LGA to TPA that morning also. United canceled their PWM-IAD flight. Spirit canceled their LGA-TPA flight. UA’s solution was to get my sister and brother in law to TPA at 1130p on Saturday, only to return to PWM on Sunday morning. Spirit didn’t have a solution. Both airlines just refunded the tickets. Just giving someone their money back is not enough. The airlines are knowingly engaging in fraud. When they book these reservations, they know they do not have the personnel to operate them. In the regulates days, they had to actually compensate passengers for 50% of the ticket price plus provide alternative transportation or refund 150% of the ticket price for over booking and denying transporting, which is exactly what they are doing. They are jacking up fares beyond the increased fuel costs. Our family was short 3 people for our seders all because of greed and fraud. The government shod put a stop to this.
Daisy didn’t create the problem, she’s trying to fix it. It really isn’t Daisy’s fault for corporate decisions and Daisy isn’t ever consulted on how to resolve all the issues you mentioned. She likely is paid minimally and has to work another job, or more likely, overtime to make ends meet. And to respond to the point of, then she needs to find another job…. She’s the person helping resolve THEIR problem. Standing on Daisy’s head isn’t going to get it completed any quicker, and honestly, to the contrary. She’s having to type needlessly. Cheers
Dear Kyle,
Thank you for writing this. I’m in customer service myself and got a good chuckle from your article and certainly the responses. The person who answers the calls didn’t cancel or delay the flights, EVER. 99% of my coworkers sincerely want to get people where they need to be and on-time. YES… weather CAN delay your flights even if “it’s not raining on your head” and, NO, the agent doesn’t control the weather either. It’s not a conspiracy against the customers and that we are just “out to ruin your trip”. We aren’t always feeling cheery because we, as well as family members become sick as well. Airlines are not understanding of employees absenteeism even if the agent has continued to work MANDATORY overtime, every week for almost a year while their immediate supervisors are constantly telling them, they aren’t doing enough. Both of my parents are past so to the customers who have told me “I hope”, DONE. The point I’m trying to make here is Daisy is indeed awesome. She achieved a positive end result, regardless of what challenges she may have been facing. To those who posting anything to the contrary…. You’ve never been in customer service and do not ever need to be. And finally…. the remaining 1 percent as mentioned fun the top… They are the people who call who do not want help. They merely call to take out their frustrations, waste valuable time to make ridiculous demands, ALWAYS refuse to listen to any alternatives and create hours of wait time for all the reasonable people. Safe journeys!
Hal,
I understood and appreciated your comment. I’m in customer service/support as well. Yes, Daisey is human and although I agree that she did a good job, but I wouldn’t call it awesome. I’m also surprised that you didn’t give Edo any recognition for what he was going through and the severity level of his rudeness to Daisey. Like Daisey, Edo is human too. Edo also didn’t cause the airline problems and is frustrated. And I’m certain very stressed out as well that he/she is not going to make it to their destination in the time they need to. If you ask me, Daisey and Edo are both in similar positions but from different perspectives. Additionally, people that go into customer service should have stronger patience, better than above average people skills and excellent communication skills. It’s not a career path for everyone. Daisey’s training (including her previous employment experience) should have also prepared her on how to handle these types of stressful incidents with customers. That is customer service, isn’t it? Working in customer service, you know and expect that handling and resolving customer complaints is a part of the job, not the same experience with each customer, there will be disgruntled stressed out customers and our job is to make it as easy for the customer as possible. And by putting ourselves in the customers shoes is the trick. That alone does makes it much easier for us to do our job. Edo wasn’t even on a phone call with Daisey or in person at the gate which is a lot more stressful when dealing with an angry customer…it was messaging over Twitter! Lmao
My point: Both Daisey and Edo are human and they both let their emotions get the best of them. Edo was frustrated (understandably) waiting for so long plus the two hours over Twitter so he was rude but I doubt he meant it. It’s not like he was vulgar and talking trash. His response just shows he was obviously very frustrated. Daisey, a trained customer service representative lost her cool and she probably could have communicated a little more frequently with Edo by sending him chat status updates at least every 3-4 minutes like they do over the phone when they have to put you on hold for long periods and several times. I’m sure that would have helped keep Edo more calm. Daisey probably hardly ever responds to customers that way. Normally, I’d give her kudos for standing up to a customer that actually crossed those boundaries, but I don’t think that’s what Edo did. Not giving short status updates regularly can cause unnecessary customer anxiety. Long hold periods without updates, isn’t customer service oriented at all regardless of the type of communication they were using. Neither of them handled it like professionals IMO and neither of them behaved better than the other where one would be “awesome”. But at least nothing escalated and the end result was a positive outcome.
Tip: In addition to the obvious listed skills and requirements one should have for a customer service role you’d see in a JD, you should also be able to easily imagine yourself in situations or circumstances of other people, so as to understand or empathize with their perspective, opinion or point of view. This will distinguish between a good or average CS rep and a great or above average CS rep, which definitely leads to reward and recognition in the workforce.