May 28, 2008
$1 Million Lawsuit Over Delta's "Absolute Incompetence"
A Manhattan lawyer blames Delta Airlines for ruining his mother's 80th birthday celebration and is suing the airline for $1 million. Richard Roth says a Delta employee made them miss a flight to South America and losing their luggage for days, telling the Post, "It was the most outrageous experience I've ever had in my life. It was an absolute disaster. One catastrophe after another."
Roth's lawsuit lists a series of grievances, from a "nasty" stewardess who wouldn't let them know if their connection was on time (the family was flying from Westchester to Buenos Aires, with a connection in Atlanta) to a Delta agent who claimed their flight had taken off when it hadn't ("The pilot is not in charge here. I am. All the pilot does is fly the plane.").
Oh, and the family was also told, when they missed their flight to Argentina, that Delta couldn't fly them there for another 2 1/2 weeks. So, after two nights in Atlanta, the family drove from Atlanta to Miami, where they caught a flight to South America.
Roth, who used frequent flier miles for his tickets and misplaced luggage, says he just wanted $21,000 in compensation, but Delta was unresponsive. Now he wants that $21,000, plus $275,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and plus much more for punitive damages.
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I want $500,000 for reading about this jerk off.
ya know- i kind of don't blame him. he tried to get reimbursed and they wouldn't step up for their mistakes or even work with him to address the situation. f em.
I usually despise people who sue like this but in this case, i say go for it Richard Roth!
he doesn't deserve $1 mil, but he CERTAINLY deserves to be reimbursed every dime PLUS extra for the madness.
Flying has become one of the most unpleasant, uncivilized experience. I feel like ripping people's heads off at least twice or three times any time I fly the fiendish skies.
Yes, the employees are probably extremely disgruntled and the conditions are difficult.
but then
A. they shouldn't be in customer facing positions
B. this should clue people in to how desperately the industry needs a SERIOUS overhaul.
I agree that I usually hate lawsuits like this, but Delta needs to pay for it's idiotic errors.
yeah, i'm kind of with the plaintiff on this one. but who's to say if he was cordial with the staff or if he's also a bit of an ass. rude staff is one thing, but there are plenty of customers who are out of line which only exacerbates the situation.
How's these apples (from delta's conditions of contract):
"Carrier undertakes to use its best efforts to carry the passenger and baggage with reasonable dispatch. Times shown in timetable or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. Carrier may without notice substitute alternate carriers or aircraft, and may alter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket in case of necessity. Schedules are subject to change without notice. Carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections."
So essentially, when you buy a ticket from delta, they can screw you over for your connection. I doubt they consider the total travel to be only 'one' flight.
If you read more of their contract it appears that unless there is something in law, they *try* to do things. Which means absolutely nothing in the face of unreasonable dickhead airline employees (can you feel the love?)
Sorry dude, but you're going to lose this lawsuit. Next time use your fancy lawyer money to use a better airline with better contract terms.
All airlines have the same contract.
Travel is such a nightmare lately.
Serves him right for flying Delta. They're terrible.
GM - Two points.. one, just because it's in the contract doesn't mean it's a legal condition (I'm not specifically saying anything you pasted is illegal).
Two, this guy probably isn't trying to win a lawsuit. This is the new "customer service" paradigm. Instead of companies being reasonable and at least attempting to compensate you, they stonewall and hope you give up (as most do). A few people (generally lawyers) refuse to go down without a fight, and file an abnormally huge lawsuit. Usually due to the size of the lawsuit, there is a bunch of publicity, and the company quietly settles the case. See also the woman who filed a $54m lawsuit against Best buy (although that particular case was different as Best Buy offered a settlement. The suit was dismissed).
Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive.
Delta is the Greyhound of the skies, only less reliable. I hope he gets his money back plus a nice premium for having to deal with the airline's sub-human employees.
I agree with getting his money back plus some small amount for his troubles. However - leave it to an attorney to ask for $1,000,000! Gee, I wonder why lawyers get such a bad reputation.
My 1 year old daughter died on Christmas day so my Christmas was spoiled: I think I'll sue someone - get over it Dick, there are worse things than being late for a birthday party!
Delta has an excellent reputation for cheerfulness and on-time performance on all of its flights to Bosnia. This dumb prick just chose the wrong destination.