The Lost Art of Reading

Am I the only one who gets tired of having big companies tell me to "Use our Web site" only to be told by some stupid automated email reply system the same old canned poop over and over again?

Case In Point

Long story short, our baggage was off-loaded in Dakar before we left because the plane was, and I quote, "too heavy". But that's another blog post for a future date. Due to the ineptness of the check-in clerk in Dakar, 3 out of 5 bags were incorrectly associated with the wrong ticket. When our baggage finally did arrive a few days ago, my folks had 3 bags delivered to them and I had 2 bags delivered to me. 1 of their bags actually belonged to them, 1 bag belonged to me, and 1 bag belonged to my nephew. I, on the other hand, was given 1 bag that was mine and 1 bag that belonged to my folks. At least they were now in the States.

Being the good technocrate that I am, I followed Delta's specific advice and sent the following email message to the published email address. I have hidden some information for pusposes of protecting identities:

Original Message Follows:

------------------------
Claim Number: JFKDL[number]
Claim Number: JFKDL[number]


To Whom It May Concern:


I am in need of further advice on how to resolve our ongoing problem with getting all our luggage delivered to the proper places. This is a bit complicated so please bear with me.


Our luggage was off-loaded in Dakar on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 due to some problem with the plane being overweight. Unfortunately, the Delta representative in Senegal did not properly tag all of our baggage making it extremely difficult to match up our bags with our tickets. This morning, 3 of our bags were delivered to [names] in [city], Colorado. Only 1 of the bags actually belongs to [names].


One of other two bags belongs to Kenneth Brayton who lives in [snipped], Oregon. The other bag belongs [nephew], who lives in [city], Colorado. All four of us were traveling as a group so the ticket agent just randomly assigned bags to tickets. The three bags that were delivered are related to reference number JFKDL[number].


Most likely, the other 2 bags, which are related to reference number JFKDL[number], will be delivered to Kenneth Brayton in [city], Oregon in the next day or two. Of these two bags, one of them does actually belong to Kenneth Brayton, the other one belongs to [names] who live in [city]. I assume we'll have to deal with this mix-up when these two bags arrive in [city] unless you have a way of intercepting them while in route. My bag is a red and black half cloth/half plastic shell. The other back is black, all cloth. I believe these two bags have name tags on the handles which would help identify whom they belong to.

In the meantime, we need to arrange to have 2 of the 3 bags which were delivered to [city] picked up and re-routed to their proper destinations like this:


Baggage Claim # 7006DL[number]

Pickup from: [names]
[address]
[city] COLORADO [zip]

Deliver to: KENNETH BRAYTON
[address]
[city] OREGON [zip]


Baggage Claim # 7006DL[number]

Pickup from: [names]
[address]
[city] COLORADO [zip]


Deliver to: [nephew]
[address]
[city], COLORADO [zip]

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. We appreciate all that Delta is trying to do to get our bags delivered to us. Please let me know what we need to do to help this process along.

Sincerely,


Kenneth Brayton

Okay, all that just to set up the next part. This is the reply I got back from Delta 3 days after I sent my original message:

Dear Mr. Brayton,


Thank you for your e-mail to Delta Air Lines.

Please accept our most sincere apology for all the inconvenience caused due to the delayed baggage and for the time it has taken to respond to your e-mail.

Our records indicate that your baggage was located and delivered to you.

If this information is incorrect and you have not received your baggage, please let us know as soon as possible via e-mail or by calling 800-325-8224.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience this situation has caused.

The Delta Baggage Service Center

Is that just classic or what?! Does anybody read any more? Think I should try "e-mailing" them again? I think not. I called last night and was promised a return call today but so far, nothing. Whatchagonnado???