Lawyer sues Delta for ruining family vacation
NEW YORK - A New York lawyer is suing Delta Air Lines for $1 million, saying his family vacation turned into a nightmare after they were stranded in an airport for days and treated disdainfully by airline employees.
Richard Roth, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and his mother, said he planned the Christmas 2007 trip to Buenos Aires to celebrate his mother's 80th birthday. She had grown up in the city, but had not returned in years, he said.
Instead, Roth, his two teenage children, his wife and mother spent three days in airports, went days without their luggage, were treated rudely by airline employees and were forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs.
"Through its gross negligence, malfeasance and absolute incompetence, Mr. Roth holds Delta responsible for ruining his vacation," said the lawsuit, filed in New York state court.
Delta Air Lines Inc had no immediate comment.
Roth said that he has been in touch with Delta about getting reimbursed, but was repeatedly rebuffed. He told Reuters on Wednesday filing the suit was a last resort.
After the initial flight from New York was delayed by more than two hours, the family was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Atlanta, Roth said.
A Delta employee "literally walked away chuckling that he had left them stranded," he said.
After waiting in the airport for hours, Roth was told the next available flight would depart more than two weeks later.
He then booked a flight through a different airline and arrived in Argentina three days later than planned. The family was not reunited with their luggage for more than five days.
"Suffice it to say, Mr. Roth's elderly mother was a mess. And she has been suffering ever since. The kids are all upset. And it was Christmas Eve. Mr. Roth had spent one-half of his vacation in Buenos Aires chasing Delta and its incompetent representatives," the lawsuit said.
news.yahoo.com
Comments
Ah, poor baby.....I'm sure this never happened to anyone else ever in the whole world. *rolling eyes* Get over yourself. The airlines have Tariff Regulations they follow so you are outta luck. It's also not only Delta, it happens on ALL airlines. It sometimes pays to be polite & patient as they can offer to give meal/hotel/car rental vouchers out & rebook you on the next flight. As long as you arrive within 4 hours of your scheduled time, they don't owe you a dime. I'm surprised this "Lawyer" doesn't know that or hasn't read the Tariff.
Unfortunatly, I too have had a very bad experience with Delta
due to a mistake on their part that they would not take responsibility for. It cost me one day of my long planned dream
trip to Egypt and hotel accomodations in New York due to a missed
flight.
The flight was missed due to Delta not checking my bag all the way
to Cairo fom my departure city causing me to have wade through
JFK airport where it was chaotic and the staff was rude and unhelpful in claiming my bag.
This caused me to miss my flight to Cairo and I had to overnight in a New York hotel. I arrived in Cairo late the a day late missing
a very important part of my tour which my tour company did not
reimburse me for because it was Deltas fault.
Delta refused to take responsibility for this.
I will never fly with them again.
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