Delta has reported that customers have been overcharged and
undercharged for the same seats due to a glitch in the Delta Airlines computer
system. It is uncertain to how many customers it has affected.
The discrepancy was found after two Minneapolis business
executives were given two different prices for two seats side-by-side in the
economy class on an outbound flight to St. Louis. Patrick Smith was logged into
his SkyMiles account and paid 300 dollars more than Steve Lisle, who was not
logged into his SkyMiles account.
The two executives pursued the issue further and booked 5
more flights with the same dates and flight numbers and found that the frequent
flier actually paid more 3 out of the 5 trips.
Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec released a statement to Today in
the Sky:
“We
have been investing in our website and the technology that supports it for over
a year. Recently, we updated our search function as part of a phased approach
to improve the site. Shortly after making the updates, we discovered that it
produced inconsistent results for logged in and non-logged in customers. We
evaluated the situation carefully and rolled back to our prior search function
which resolved the issue."
Delta is handling refunds on a case-by-case basis. Customers
affected by the glitch must contact Delta and provide proof of the discrepancy.
Pothos CEO Michael Patton believes that this is a prime
example of why companies should use professional travel agents. Pothos assures
no chance of any price discrepancy or erroneous charges. "Our GDS software provides access to the published
tariff's without prejudice each and every time".
Those who book travel alone are vulnerable to these errors
often without knowledge that they have been overcharged.
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