Unauthorized “babies” can’t board Delta flight — now what?

Here’s what happens when an airline can’t get its story straight. It ends up with a passenger like John Campagna, who nearly forced to abandon his “babies” in Honolulu.

Campagna is an Army physician who was transferring duty stations from Hawaii to San Antonio. His airline of choice is Delta. He and his wife have two chinchillas, which are small, rodent-like mammals (photo above).

When Campagna moved to Hawaii, he brought his babies with him in the cabin. But, knowing that some pet policies had changed in the recent past, he asked his travel agent if chinchillas were still allowed. Yes, he was told. Just to be safe, he called Delta’s 800-number.

Initially, the agent was unsure and transferred me to the military desk. The employees at the military desk researched it and decided that, yes, I could bring my chinchillas with me. They also told me that there was no fee for military at this time.

Campagna called back twice to verify the answer. Both times, Delta said yes — Chinchillas are fine. Then he checked in for his flight.

The agent said chinchillas were not allowed. I told them I had been approved for them by the 1-800 agents. I also told them that I had brought one of them to Hawaii through their airline. I was flat-out told that I was either lying or that I had lied at that time because chinchillas were never allowed.

That didn’t go over well with Campagna and his wife. Now they were faced with two choices: Not flying or abandoning their pets.

At this point, my wife and I had no idea what to do. I mean, these are our babies, and three hours before we had to move we were expected to find some way on our own to send them to Texas. My wife started crying, and I guess the manager felt bad. She decided that yes we could send them, but now we had to check them in and pay a $200 fee as well as a new kennel that was $46. We really had no other alternative.

After the flight, he made further inquiries, and was awarded 5,000 SkyMiles for his inconvenience. Unhappy, he phoned Delta.

I spoke with perhaps the rudest supervisor ever, who basically called me a whiner and agreed with the initial response from the e-mail. After about 30 minutes discussing the case — two hours total of my time from holding and speaking with the representative who gave me that number — I was told that I had just wasted the supervisor’s time and that we were done. He refused to give me the e-mail or address of anyone higher or look into the matter further.

But Campagna wasn’t done. Flying Chinchillas may not seem like a big deal, but if Delta really cares about customer service, it wouldn’t be telling him that it wasted his time or sending him a form apology with a few frequent flier miles. It would address his problem.

(And if it really cared about customer service, this wouldn’t have become a problem in the first place.) He contacted a few key executives at Delta, asking them to reconsider his case.

That is where your website came in, and I was able to see the e-mail address of the director of customer service. I e-mailed her with this same story. Her representative looked into it and Delta decided that I was correct — there were absolutely no restrictions on animals leaving Hawaii (only on entering) and that it was unfortunate that I had been forced to pay for fees and a new kennel. Delta refunded my money for the fees and the kennel.

A happy ending for Campagna and his Chinchillas. And a lesson for the rest of us: If you’re right, don’t take “no” for an answer. Keep appealing until you get the resolution you deserve.

(Photo: mike hazelden/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Brian C

    Before people start posting about why bother taking a rodent with you when you move, chinchillas are not just your average hamster or gerbil. They are intelligent, affectionate animals, and can be trained to perform tricks. With proper care, they have been known to live for 15 to 20 years in captivity.

    For those of us with allergies to traditional pets, they are a great alternative to cats and dogs. (You wouldn’t dream of unexpectedly giving up your dog or cat a few hours before you move overseas, would you?)

    The only thing I could think of that could be done differently is to get whoever researched the issue to e-mail confirmation that they are allowed to fly and what fees apply. If an agent had to go research the policy, chances are it’s not something that a ticket agent or gate agent would know off the top of their head, and having it in writing from the airline could have helped avoid the confusion.

  • Liz

    I like stories where the person in question does everything right.

  • Thalassa

    Good for Compagna! And thank you to every member of the Armed Services!

  • Monica

    I totally understand their frustrations about the pets. And if I got told yes on multiple occassions by more than one employee, I would fight it at the gate. They deserved to get their money back for sure.

    I agree with @Brian C that the only thing that might have helped is if they had something in writing when they boarded the plane. The agents can’t really say no when you are waiving their own policy under their noses, even though they won’t like it.

  • Chicky

    Agreed, Brian C. Having it in writing might have helped.
    I would never ask why someone would take a “rodent” with them, regardless of the species. Pets are pets and they are important to people. It never occurred to me they might leave them behind.
    Anyway, I’m glad the Campagnas were able to bring their babies with them. And again I ask, why do airlines have to make every situation a THING? Why not just do the right thing to begin with?

  • http://www.travel-babel.com Claire Wallter

    Remember the O.Henry story, “Pigs Is Pigs.” Protaganist wanted to ship a pair of guinea pigs via rail. Freight agent wanted to charge the shipping fee for pigs. In the course of the story, the pigs reproduced..

  • Mary Graham

    I wonder what happened to the rude supervisor. Did he get a pat on the back with a, “You did the right thing, that was just a tough customer. Usually those marks, I mean customers, don’t take it that far. Keep up the good work!” Sorry, it just so disgusting what we have to go through to get good customer service.

  • Jake

    I hope the Director of Customer Service’s response also included a portion about how, due to the supervisor’s unprofessional behavior in this matter, they are no longer with the company.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    If I was Mr. Campagna, I would have done the following:

    1. Ask the Delta agent to put a note in the PNR that there will be two chinchillas, they will be in cabin and there is no fee for them due to being a member of the military. Ask for the policy #, page #, etc. where it stated that there is no fee for military as well as chinchillas can be allowed in the cabin. Call two days before departure to see if there are notes in the PNR.

    2. Ask the Delta agent to send an e-mail to confirm the conversation. Or send an e-mail with the understanding of the conversation and asking for confirmation.

    3. Ask for the names, location, phone number or extension of every Delta employee that was spoken with during this process. With customer service being outsourced; the current overall level of customer service; etc., it is vital now days to keep a log of your phone calls, who you spoke with, etc.

    4. If Delta can’t send an e-mail or letter, ask the agent if you could record the conversation. There is legal stuff that you need to say upfront in order to be legal, etc.

    It has been my experiences that if a customer service rep won’t confirm their promises by e-mail or letter and won’t let you record the conversation, it is very likely that the CSR was full of BS; you will have problems; it is not true; etc.

    Back in 2003, we took a 30-day vacation trip to Europe which included a 21-day land tour. We were restricted to one piece of 30″ luggage or smaller per traveler on the tour we took. Each of our 30″ bags was packed to the max for this trip and weighed more than 50 lbs but less than 70 lbs. We were flying America West from PHX to LAX where the weight limit was 50 lbs; however, the weight limit for Virgin Atlantic for our class of service and at that time was 70 lbs. We had separate PNRs for each airline.

    I didn’t want to pay a heavy luggage fee for both bags for the America West legs of our trip. I called America West and a CSR told me that since we are taking an international flight, the higher weight limit of Virgin Atlantic will apply for the America West segments. Our only requirement was to show our itinerary, tickets or board passes to the America West agent when checking in. He gave me the page # in the manual, the ‘policy #’, etc. as well as made a note in our PNR.

    We arrived at the ticket counter at PHX to check in for our America West flight, the agent wanted to charge us for having heavy bags. I gave her the ‘policy #’ and told her to check the notes on our PNR and we weren’t charged. On our return segment, the America West ticket counter agent at LAX wanted to charge us for heavy bags and I gave him the ‘policy #’ and told him to check the notes on our PNR and we were not charged.
    Virgin Altantic.

    It is my preference that all of the airline employees know the rules and policies of their airline instead of me doing this ‘extra work’. However, I don’t like to have problems when I travel so I do this ‘work.’

  • Ed

    So? What’s going to happen to the agents who created this fiasco? It is obvious that the customer was in the right, but some idiots who felt that either they were the last word on the subject, or too lazy to actually find out the real answer caused a ton of headache not only for the customer, but also for the airline!
    For this to be a happy ending, United needs to first find out who said what, and once that is determined, they then need to implement a training program to assure the public that their customer service reps are more than a call center in India!

  • Jason

    Sometimes we deal with incompetent customer service agents and when we contact the higher ups they may give us what we want but I don’t think they actually fix the issue. I have been in sutuations when the agent was wrong and after I contacted management I asked if they provided additional training to the agent and/or had any disciplinary action taken, their response was that information is confidential and they won’t share it.

  • Tracy

    I’ve only flown once with a pet and that was with my Ferret about 14 years ago on United. I was going from DC to Thailand (govt transfer) and they were excellent. Most of the employees had no idea what he was and checked his crate (I used a very large dog crate for him since it was such a long flight) and had me carry him to the gate with me. When it was time to board the plane a baggage handler came up to the gate to get him and brought me down to put him in his crate and watch him get loaded on the plane (I believe this was mainly because he was scared of the ferret and didn’t want to touch him). When we arrived at a layover I had a baggage handler come up and ask me if I wanted to get him out his crate so I could feed and water him. That was truly some of the best service I have ever received from an airline. Too bad the service isn’t as good still…

  • Bill

    Different people having different stories at an airline or hotel has got to be one of the more frustrating travel issues. They did their due diligence, checked ahead, etc. The 800 reservation agents and the gate agents should be putting information into the passenger records and making sure it all is right. That’s what these big computer systems are for.

    The rude supervisor should be let go, they are in the wrong job.

    Glad to see it sorted out, but sorry to see it has been such a pain.

  • MVFlyer

    I can tell you what happened to the clueless agent: nothing. First, I doubt it even got down to him/her or the supervisor; even if it did, the person (might) get a reprimand. Remember, these folks are unionized–unless the commit murder on the job (which doesn’t do much for repeat business…), they don’t get fired. That’s why are there are incompetent ones running around. Those few people make all the good ones look bad.

  • Scott

    Some of you guys should really check your facts.

    @MVFlyer: Delta’s employees are NON-UNION and Delta is a notorious anti-union company. Furthermore, the supervisor in question would not be a union employee even if the work group was unionized.

    As far as the “clueless” employee goes, there are two possibilities…

    1) Just because you may have gotten something from Delta management for the situation does NOT mean the agent was wrong. I have seen several cases where someone got compensated for complaining even though the agent did nothing wrong. Of course, this is another reason that sometimes people believe you are making things up if you do not have any documentation. When talking about clueless agents, it is just as likely that the agent on the phone gave wrong information (probably more likely, if outsourced overseas) than the agent at the airport.

    2) Realize that the reason for “clueless” employees anywhere is twofold: Airlines are changing their policies almost weekly, and more importantly, they do not care a whit about training. After 9/11, all the major carriers slashed their training budgets and programs. So you are left with employees who are expected to just “figure it out” as they go along. As usual, blame the corporations, not the people.

  • Ernest

    I have experienced the diffierence of ‘knowledge’ between airline policy and the gate agencies many times. It seems that often the gate agent does not know what a policy is and decides what is right depending on their personal views. I am sure we all do it to some extent although in our own pesonal lives it does not impact quite as much as a gates agents might.

    My ‘favorite story’ about airline gate agents deciding what is right is when I was traveling from DC to Missouri (pre 9-11). It was before the modern TSA and screeners were airline employees. I was returning from a protection detail and had all the necessary documentation to carry my firearm in the cabin. I was a credentialed federal agent so I didn’t see a problem. The airlines allowed me to carry in the cabin but would not let me keep my handcuffs. They were afraid I could use them to unlawfully restrain someone. My carryon had several sets of flexicuffs (the nylon one time use cuffs that look like a zip-strip) and then allowed them but I suspect it was a case of them not knowing what they were. The arugment was that on my documentation for transport inside the cabin, no mention was made of the handcuffs. The captain offered to carry them in the cockpit which satisfied the screener.

    So guns, ammunition, badge, yes. Handcuffs no. Another example of the airline employee deciding policy. Got to love American Airlines. I could write a book about the things American Airlines has done that defied logic but I would be forced to include information about the one trip that they were actually on time. Unfortunately, no one would believe it, the part about being on time once.

  • Joe Farrell

    Any even BETTER resolution would be:

    “Mr. [rank?] Compagna: We at Delta would like to apologize for the uninformed employee. We have researched your passenger record and identified the employee who gave you the incorrect information. We have docked that employee for the $400 they collected from you and referred that employee for additional training and reassignment on the mainland to a busier station so they can learn more about Delta’s contract of carriage and terms under which we transport our customers and their possessions, including their animals.

    Next, we also identified the supervisor you spoke with and pulled the call from the call center tapes. We agree with you that this person acted as if you were wasting their time. This person also has been given additional training and placed in a mainline customer service role so they can better see that all customers do not lie, and that without customers they would join the ranks of the unemployed.

    As a gesture of our personal and corporate disgust with these employees, you will find a personal check from [employee name here] for the fee you were charged, along with a letter of apology from the supervisor. We have stopped the practice of awarding frequent flier miles and have decided that in circumstances where our employees are wrong, that they will personally bear the cost of the financial mistakes they make for customers. We believe this will be strong incentive for them to do their jobs properly and to ask questions if they are not sure. In situations where non-financial errors are made, we find a personal note of apology is better received than a token amount of miles that may never get used.

    Sincerely, A Delta Manager”

    Think that would change the attitude of most airline employees?

  • Joe Farrell

    The converse also needs to be true:

    Dear Mr. Passenger:

    We have reviewed the events of [insert date] at [airport] and would to let you know that we stand behind the actions taken by our employee. Your calling them a ‘stupid idiot airline dweeb’ did not help the situation, however, we note that Flight #213 was canceled for mechanical reasons. By the time a repair could be affected, it was too late to dispatch the flight because we would have had pilots exceed their maximum duty day.

    The mechanical defect occurred on the prior flight and the captain insisted that the repair be made to safely conclude the flight. We called in a reserve flight crew once it became clear that there was no chance the current crew could complete the flight legally. That crew arrived within the 2 hours permitted by our guidelines and the flight took off five hours late and arrived four hours late.

    This was an event that was entirely not foreseeable. We were unable to accomodate you on any other airline because of their flights were full due to [insert lame excuse here]. We regret we cannot accomodate your request for a full refund and the insane demands you are making for compensation. We see that you took your return trip home, and that operation was on time and in fact arrived at the gate 12 minutes early. Therefore, your threat to never fly Delta again is just that much hot air; you already did.

    All the airlines have similar policies and I’m sure you do not want to fly an airplane with a defective cabin pressurization system, or with a tired pilot. We fixed the airplane and got a new pilot – what more could we do? We know you’ll pick the cheapest fare so next time, if you hate us so much, we’d really like it if you decided to . . .

    Regards – A Delta employee”

  • http://justwemoms.blogspot.com Mandie P.

    Ha! I was told that if we wanted to fly with our chinchilla we’d have to be wearing him as a coat. Can you imagine if the same customer service agent told us this about our DOG? It would have been an outrage and on the news.

  • http://thewalkthroughpetgate.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss Joey @ walk Through Pet Gate

    I had a similar problem on a European airline flying between the Spanish islands and I kept up the pressure on them and eventually was allowed to fly my pet ferrets. You really have to be a pest to get what you want. Great article!