

Delta told me I “didn’t look disabled enough” to need a service animal - tnorthcutt
http://www.annalisekaylor.com/2013/09/delta-told-didnt-look-disabled-enough-need-service-animal/

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patio11
So, if something ever happens to any of y'all at the hands of the agent of a
multi-billion dollar company and for whatever reason you really, really want
someone to apologize in such a way that you're sure an actual human is
involved, I would not suggest blogging or tweeting about it. (Desiderata may
be different if you are a social media consultant.)

Instead, write a short, professional letter the CEO. Briefly outline the facts
and ask for exactly your desired resolution. Send it to the Office of the
President or Investor Relations [+]. You can generally find their exact title
and postal address in a few minutes of Googling.

You have a really good chance of getting that paper letter opened and read by
an executive's secretary, then forwarded to the VP of $RELEVANT_DEPARTMENT
with the note "Bob would appreciate if you resolved this."

I used to draft these letters for folks (weird hobby, I know), and they were
routinely effective at Fortune 500 banks, insurance companies, airlines, etc.

[+ The words "I am a shareholder of $COMPANY and ..." excuse almost any
communication to Investor Relations. IR are typically fairly high up on the
org chart, have few day-to-day responsibilities, and are institutionally
biased to making investors ecstatically happy as opposed to e.g. prioritizing
calls-handled-per-hour. If you feel you're not actually a shareholder of
$COMPANY, consider whether you beneficially own any of it through e.g. a
mutual fund or ETF in your IRA. The answer is "probably" (and you certainly
should, but that's another post), and yep, that counts in every way that
matters.]

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EpicEng
This is a quote from the comments section:

 _" I travel with my emotional support dog, Lola, everywhere I go. She has all
her documentation and is allowed to sit on my lap during flight."_

..."Emotional support dog?" Really? Yeesh.

I don't know, maybe I'm just a jerk, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for
either of them. This person rants on and on because of a misunderstanding
between her and a Delta employee. She got on the plane, right? Who cares?

My gut feeling is that this woman enjoys playing the victim. My initial
reaction would probably be the same; why does this woman who can seemingly get
around just fine require a service animal? Is she playing the system?

Perhaps the delta employee was rude. People are often rude. It happens. I
think the writer gets off on feeling victimized, which is annoying.

~~~
Va1uE
She didn't have a problem with one Delta employee, she had a problem with
multiple Delta employees who harassed her, ridiculed her, and questioned her
disability. If I had been treated that way by employees of any organization
I'd be livid, and must less restrained than she was.

By your logic, Rosa Parks still got on the bus right, so who cares?

If people don't stand up for their right to be treated equally, then we all
lose.

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EpicEng
You lost me when you compared the civil rights movement to a couple of rude
airline employees questioning this woman's right to carry her dog onto the
plane. False analogy much?

Also, you're setting up a straw man here. I need once excused the behavior of
the employees past their initial skepticism. I was commenting on the way in
which this woman presented the interaction.

~~~
Va1uE
They are both examples of discrimination, and I compared one specific incident
to another, not the entire civil rights movement to this (and I'M the one
setting up a straw man?). Not sure what you meant by "I need once excused the
behavior"...I typo a lot too so I get it (see my first post). What was that
point you were trying to make?

~~~
EpicEng
Yeah... That's what I get for typing responses on my phone.

My point was simply that I left that article with the feeling that the author
gets off on feeling victimized. I could be wrong, and I said as much, but that
was my gut reaction

I tried to preface what I said because I'm not the most empathetic person in
the world and sometimes I judge prematurely. My girlfriend reminds me of this
fact often.

The rosa parks analogy is a false one because of both severity and
circumstance. Discriminating against a person solely because of their race is
far worse than questioning the reason for which a person is trying to bring a
dog onto a plane.

People can be jerks, but I am not convinced this was an act of discrimination.
To suggest that I am fine with racism because I suggested that the author
enjoys feeling victimized is ridiculous.

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joezydeco
So now all large corporations must handle customer problems through "social
media" even faster than calling them? How is this supposed to work? Legions of
CSRs manning a dozen different streams looking for trouble?

I sympathize with this woman's treatment, but I really really would not expect
to get relief by making a tweet at the gate while the problem is still
happening. That's something a local manager should be handling.

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mikelanton
Sorry, but I don't think you should be allowed a fucking pet on a flight,
unless you are blind.

~~~
zck
Let's assume, for the second, that both the law and Delta rules state that you
can't have animals on board the plane. Then, is it okay to treat this person
as she says she was treated? You can tell someone something they don't want to
hear while still treating them as a person.

Then realize that both the law and Delta rules state that she is allowed to
bring her service animal on board. So she was treated incredibly badly, while
trying to do something she was legally allowed to do, and within the airline's
rules. An awful experience.

