To Whom it May Concern,
I would like to express my extreme displeasure over my recent experience in flying with Northwest from XXX, Wisconsin to Richmond, Virginia. My original flight, which had an e ticket number of XXX and confirmation number XXX made it to Detroit with a minor delay. The connection from Detroit to Richmond was canceled at 8pm, six and a half hours after its intended departure time. I accepted a flight to Charlottsville (NW3045 E-ticket # XXX) as an alternative, and this flight was canceled two hours after its scheduled departure time. I then accepted a seat on a flight to Norfolk the next morning (NW1956 XXX) which was canceled. I finally arrived in Richmond on flight NW3680 early on the afternoon of December 22nd. I understand that this was a difficult travel situation for all of the airlines and much of the difficulty was out of your control. However, the desk agents working at this time were frequently rude and disgruntled and gave false or misleading information about where we could go to resolve our problems. Additionally, the equipment vital to resolving the situation quickly and effectively including computers and printers failed more often than not.
My major grievance with this experience, however, is with the treatment I received from desk agent Deltasha Jackson in Richmond while waiting in line to file a lost bag claim for my missing checked bag. The computer crashed while she helped the person ahead of me in line. While waiting for it to come back and complete the claim, Ms Jackson sent the agent assisting her to tell me that she refused to help me because of my “attitude” while talking with other passengers in the line. Ms Jackson interrupted my conversation with the other agent to insist that I go upstairs to another line because she “did not have to put up with you.” When I asked to see her supervisor, Ms Jackson threatened to call security and have them arrest me. At this point the gentleman in line behind me spoke up to say that I had not been inappropriate, or in fact behaved in a manner different from the other passengers in line. Ms Jackson again sent out the other agent to inform me that she changed her mind and would be willing to help me after all.
At no time was I rude to Ms Jackson, any other employee of Northwest airlines, or the other passengers in line. Nor was I improperly loud, disorderly, or otherwise inappropriate. I did discuss the difficulty I’d had in reaching Richmond, in response to similar stories from the other passengers in line. Refusing to assist me was uncalled for on Ms Jackson’s part, and threatening arrest when I did not immediately comply with her request was not only inappropriate, but in a time when our security enforcers need to be alert for threats to airline safety, abusively intimidating not only to me, but every passenger in that line.
I expect to receive a compensation package for both of my eligible cancellations (my original flight to Richmond which was canceled well after a 4 hour delay, and the flight to Charlottsville which caused an overnight stay in Detroit, both for lack of crew) and a personal letter of apology both from Northwest, and Ms Jackson. In addition, I expect that Ms Jackson will receive additional training that will clarify for her the appropriate response to a long line of unhappy customers, and when it is appropriate to make threats of arrest to those passengers. I am confident that you will comply with this request in a timely manner, and will be forwarding this letter to various places, including the Consumerist (consumerist.com).
Sincerely,
Anaea Blue.
Anaea Lay 