by John Gaudio, Posted 11:30 AM. Found by Google, 6:16 AM, 2/28/08. (approx. 19 hours) Pat knows her stuff. She was able to route me with just one stop each way from Denver Colorado to South Bend Indiana, and to do it for 37,500 miles. She was pleasant, knowledgeable, efficient, and easy to understand. While I still disagree with Delta's "Rapid Redemption Fee" policy, which imposes a penalty of $75.00 for booking Sky Miles travel with less than 21 days advanced notice, I don't mind the $20.00 fee charged for making the reservation through Pat, rather than making it over the Internet. Her knowledge and expertise add more that twenty dollars worth of value to the process. The "Rapid Redemption Fee" adds no value, and strikes me as just one more way for Delta to reduce the value of the Sky Miles I've earned. Yesterday I spoke with a different Delta representative, a woman who seemed to have an Indian accent. It was difficult to understand her, and clearly she had nowhere near Pat's experience and expertise. The difference was enormous. With Pat I was clearly working with a professional who communicated clearly and understood how to use the system to find solutions for her customer. When working with the off shore representative I had to constantly repeat myself, and to constantly ask the woman on the other end to repeat herself. Worse yet, she offered no insights or suggestions. It was as if she simply went to a database and told me what it said. My conversation with Pat was delightful and productive. My conversation with the off shore representative was frustrating and fruitless. I still haven't heard anything from Delta's CEO, Richard Anderson, or his assistant, Alicia Watson, on my original post, or any of the comments to Delta Hell. I probably never will. Happily, Delta does have some outstanding people, like Patricia Smith, working for them. Perhaps over time the people at the top will learn from the people in the trenches, and the quality of Delta's policies will come close to the quality of some of their representatives, like Pat Smith. |
