A Response from Delta Airlines

The short version of what happened to my cat in my letter to Delta:

"My husband took a flight out of Seattle on Jan. 17th, 2006 and landed in Milan on Jan. 18th, 2006 without our cat and another piece of baggage. The cat was not placed on the outbound flight from Seattle to Atlanta and was placed on the next outbound flight. The cat missed my husbandÂ’s connection and had to wait in Atlanta for the next flight (8 hours later) which was due to leave Atlanta the evening of the 18th and arrive in Milan on the 19th of Jan. A Delta representative in Milan called us the morning of the 19th to inform us that the missing bag had arrived but once again, the cat did not arrive. I was told the cat was still in Atlanta as of the 19th of Jan. but was due to fly to Milan on DL#74 on the evening of the 19th and arrive in Milan on the 20th of Jan. He did not make that flight and was left to spend another night at Atlanta kennel due to a miscommunication."

The condition of my cat when he arrived:

"When he arrived in Turin the afternoon of the 20th of Jan., his kennel which had a cat bed in it, had been layered with shredded paper and newspaper (not by us), all of which were soaked with urine. His front and back legs were stained black from the urine soaked newsprint. We proceeded to immediately to take him to the veterinarian who informed us he was dehydrated, and looked very stressed out. In addition to this, his bowels were filled with compacted stool; he was given a laxative at the vetÂ’s office and I am to give him another syringe-full the next day. His nose and lip were raw, we (the vet and I) assumed from constant rubbing against the kennel."

The compensation I asked for:

1. A reimbursement of the $110.00 extra baggage fee, plus $60.00 (the total I spent on 3 calling cards that I used to call the U.S. from Italy, I spent approx. 3 hours on the phone on the 18th and another 3 hours on the phone on the 19th of January.), plus $ 30 dollars for the vet visit, plus $100 dollars a day that my cat and I were inconvenienced, (the 17th, 18th 19th and 20th ), $400 total for the 4 days. The grand total for all the grief suffered is $600.00. I await your reply.

I looked on various websites to see what I should ask for in compensation but there were no guidelines. So I just winged it.

I received a letter from them yesterday with this response.

"They were sorry to learn" the cat did not arrived with Demetrio in Italy as planned and the difficulties my cat faced were "disturbing."

"They try to ensure that pets arrive with the passenger but irregularities can occur."

"Your comments were helpful in the review of the service we provide."

All in all, "We agree that a refund of the excess baggage fee is in order. However, we respectfully decline your request for reimbursement of your phone calls and decline payment for your inconvenience. As a gesture of goodwill they gave us 2 $150 transportation vouchers, valid for future travel. Not redeemable online and that expire in a year."

They thanked me for writing and apologized. What do you think? Is this fair and resonable? Thoughts?

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