Delta flyers can get 3,800 dollars for lost baggage, influencer reveals in viral video. Airline reacts
Erica Kullberg, a corporate lawyer and an Instagram influencer recently pointed out a customer-friendly baggage rule, that was in the Terms and Conditions of Delta Air Lines. This particular rule could get passengers refunded upto $3,800 in case their baggage got delayed. As her reel went viral, the rules on the Delta website went missing. Here's what happened.
Watch the reel first:
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'Honour Your Word' is an essential, universal value that is taught to us in order to live a nice, respectable life and it is applicable in every walk of life. But in this era of over-information (and confusing technical words), it often happens that we as customers often sign long, lengthy contracts without really looking into the fine print and making sense of what all we are actually signing up for, as we trust the other party to honour their word.
Be it while downloading apps on our phone, or buying air tickets from our favourite airline, we just click on the check boxes at the end of the agreement that says, "I accept your Terms and Conditions." Then we move on like it was no big deal because what really can happen other than you boarding your flight on time and reaching your destination safely, right?
The only time we bother to check the "T&C" is when something really weird and unexpected happens and we feel unhappy about it. Like, when you land in another city for your sister's wedding and when your baggage is delayed because of your airline and now you have nothing to wear. Whose fault is it and what happens to my plans even when it's not my fault?
WHAT HAPPENED?
Erika Kullberg is a corporate lawyer and personal finance expert who shares money tips on Instagram and TikTok. Her main motto as a lawyer is to make legal knowledge simple and accessible for entrepreneurs and business owners. Her Instagram and TikTok videos are quite popular because she reads the agreement fine print and finds some valuable information that the general folk like us might usually miss.
But this Delta Air Lines fineprint revelation got customers super angry and made Delta Airlines remove a particular rule from their website.
SO WHAT *REELLY* HAPPENED?
Erica made a reel on the Baggage Rule 17 that talked about how Delta can refund you about $3,800 if your bags are delayed and you need to shop because of it. She also shared how the customer care usually tries to compensate customers with a cheap $100-$200 voucher, to satisfy customers for their inconvenience, even though a voucher of that value cannot support any of its customer's emergency needs. Talk about a cheap write off.
As per the fine print, customers were required to save all their receipts for each item purchased due to the delayed baggage to be reimbursed for the exact amount. Eg: If a customer bought skincare from Sephora, clothes from Nordstrom and shoes from Nike, and clothes from H&M, customers have to save all 4 receipts and then submit them for reimbursement. That was the process all this while.
Here's the second reel:
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But as she posted the reel and shared the link on her Instagram stories, a lot of traffic followed it, enough to ruffle the feathers at the Delta Airlines office. Within an hour, the link stopped working and link-goers got a message: 403 error – The link Is forbidden.
THE FINE PRINT
Here's the fine print of Rule 17 that was present on the website, which isn't available anymore:
"Under no circumstances shall the liability for loss, damage, or delay in the delivery of baggage exceed $3,800 per fare-paying passenger.”
You must present notice of a claim to a Delta office within 24 hours after the alleged occurrence of the events causing the claim (this means that you have to let them know as soon as your bag is delayed).
"Any notification received within 24 hours that informs Delta of the nature of the claim will suffice, and Delta may deny any claim not presented within 24 hours of the alleged occurrence. Written notification of loss must be received by Delta's system baggage within 21 days after the alleged occurrence, and Delta may deny any claim for failure to provide written notice within 21 days.”
This brings us to the question: are rules only applicable when they are airline-friendly? When customers abide by the rules of not carrying prohibited items and carrying luggage of a particular weight, and going through the questions posed by immigration officers, why are these customer-friendly rules hidden (and removed!)? Would sharing about it more openly and considering it to be a a measure of airline efficiency not make the customer loyalty go through the roof and keep a check on business efficiency?
Have you ever had your plans go haywire because of delayed baggage? Let us know.