Matt.Cross Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Chapter One Friday, November 3rd - 4:00am Location: My House My alarm goes off and I consider shutting it off and going back to sleep. I'd finally wrapped up the packing & preparation at 2:00am and a meager two hours of sleep didn't seem to be cutting it. I force myself to crawl out of the bed; this event has been a long time in the making and I don't want to miss it. 4:30am Location: Charlotte, NC I arrive at the airport, no worse for wear despite not getting enough sleep. Guns and other luggage are unloaded from the truck and I head to the airport shuttle pickup point. My flight is supposed to push back from the gate at 6:00am sharp, and I should've been here when my alarm was going off, but I needed to get some sleep so.... I get to the airline check-in desks and check my firearms, the TSA Agent walks myself and one other passenger with declared firearms to the Checking Area, where I discover a line of about 12-15 people all with multiple firearm cases, all complaining about the wait. This isn't good. At 5:50am, the TSA Agent puts my case on the baggage belt and I take off sprinting for the TSA Pre-Check line, which in itself will probably be a saving grace considering the length of the regular TSA waiting line. As soon as I stroll through the metal detector, there is a beep and every head at the TSA Area turns towards me. Guess who the lucky "random checkee" of the day is? That's right, me. At 5:55 I resume sprinting towards my gate. As I arrive, the gate agent sees me approaching at a high rate of speed and calls out my name questioningly? I affirm, show her my boarding pass, and hustle onto the plane as she tells me, "You barely made it!". Not that it would matter, due to paperwork issues from overnight maintenance on the airplane, we wouldn't get to push back from the gate until 6:45am, resulting in me missing my connection in Detroit. 8:18am - Detroit Having rescheduled my connecting flight on the way to Detroit, I begin looking for the gate to my connecting flight to Phoenix, which pushes back at 8:21am. The Delta app shows me booked for the flight, but does not give me a Gate number. At 8:24 I arrive at the gate only to be told by the gate agent that the door has just been closed and I will have to book a later flight. This is starting to suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magwa Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 I got popcorn and a coke ,keep it coming I am betting with the wife you go bonzai in chapter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted November 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Chapter Two 8:30am - Detroit Thoroughly fed up with delays, excuses, and other BS, I head to the Delta service desk to talk to a CSR. There's a long line there. The CSR at the desk looks like he's unhappy about being awake at 8:30am, and he points to a bank of courtesy phones and says "You can all be helped much more quickly by using the phones over there!". Lucky for me, I'm at the back of the lines and closest to the phones. I pick up a phone and start explaining my known problems to a Delta CSR. CSR: "Sir, we will gladly put you on another connecting flight at no further cost." Me: "Of course, how soon can you get me there?" CSR: "Our next departing connection can have you at PHX at 8:30PM MST!" Oh joy, you mean I can get there just in time to have missed a whole day? Me: "I'm sorry, the continuation of this trip is contingent on me being in PHX in the immediate vicinity of noon today. Does Delta have any partners flying in at a more feasible time?" CSR: *Keyboard clicking* "Uuuuhmm, sir it looks like we can get you into PHX as early as 5:10PM MST!!!!" All said very excitedly and enthusiastically, as if charging me extravagant travel and baggage fees only to severely hamper my arrival time is the most uplifting experience humanly possible..... Me (Starting to feel a little less polite): "No ma'am, that won't work for me either. How much of my cost this far can be refunded? It looks like I'm going to have to cancel the trip..." CSR: "Sir, we can only give you a full refund for your trip if it was delayed for mechanical reasons." Me: "You were mechanically unable to get me to my destination on time, I want a full refund or to speak with your supervisor, whichever is easier to accommodate!" CSR: *Keyboard ticking furiously* "I understand perfectly sir, I'm fully refunding your ticket costs and baggage fees as we speak! Your refund will reapper on your balance within 7 days." Me: "SEVEN DAYS?!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! *slightly more calmly but menacingly* Ma'am, you know I billed this trip that your airline has ruined to the Credit Card your rewards program uses. You mean to tell me I can't even fly back home on your card because my refund will be showing up sometime in the next 7 days?" CSR: *Not at all enthusiastic or cheerful now, but I haven't been rude, just mean.* "Sir, we realize that we have really inconvenienced you and we apologize, is there anything further we can do to assist you?" Me: *Thinking 'Yeah, GFY...'* "No ma'am, you've done enough damage to this trip as an airline, I'll handle it from here. Thanks for the help." *click* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNP Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 I still laugh so hard about this whole deal...not at you or the pain you were going through...at Delta's unfortunate fate of this happening to you. From what I have seen, it is physically impossible for you to cuss, yet you're about as country as they come. If you're not insulting or cussing, they can't hang up! This had to be the most politely delivered ass chewing she'd ever recieved. I bet the woman took a break after that phone call just to try to comprehend what had just happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted November 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, DNP said: I still laugh so hard about this whole deal...not at you or the pain you were going through...at Delta's unfortunate fate of this happening to you. From what I have seen, it is physically impossible for you to cuss, yet you're about as country as they come. If you're not insulting or cussing, they can't hang up! This had to be the most politely delivered ass chewing she'd ever recieved. I bet the woman took a break after that phone call just to try to comprehend what had just happened. While this is definitely the abbreviated version, I was very careful to be as evil to her as I possibly could without being rude or loud, but the extreme vehemence was definitely there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted November 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 Chapter Three I leave the Delta service desk and head downstairs to the Delta Baggage Claim Office to collect my hard case, wondering if I can hop a ride with another airline and what it will cost to check an oversize overweight hard case onto an airline that is an unknown quantity. I arrive at the Delta Baggage Office and meet the nicest yankee lady I've ever encountered in my life. I told her my situation and asked if my case had arrived at the baggage office. "Just a moment please, sir." She delves into her computer, typing furiously and clicking the mouse intermittently. After a moment she looks up briefly and says, "It shows that it was transferred off of the arriving flight, but I don't see it's physical location listed. Let me go check on it in the back area, I'll be back shortly." True to her word, she reappeared after a brief interval shaking her head. "Sir, if you'll bear with me, I'll locate your bags ASAP, and in the meantime I recommend checking the baggage claim belt just in case there's been some mistake." Crap! Firearms are ALWAYS collected at the airline baggage office, and now it's possible my hard case with irreplaceable firearms are circulating on a belt where Joe Schmoe can develop an interest in them??!! I head towards the baggage belt feeling my pulse beginning to increase in the bulging vein in my neck. If I find my bag on the belt, there's gonna be trouble. I wait ~30 minutes at the belt for my hard case, checking intermittently with the nearby Delta Oversize Baggage office. After all the bags from my flight had been pulled off the belt, my hard case is still a no-show. Now I'm contemplating the possibility that some ramp monkey has gotten sticky fingers with my case, as if enough of the trip so far hadn't gone wrong. I stopped putting the brakes on the getting pissed off and decided that at this point blind rage isn't unjustified. Somebody had better start coming through for me or I'm going to stage a Canadian Protest!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 Wanted to take a look at that box the best look I️ got was when we toessed it in the back of my truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted November 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 10 hours ago, shepp said: Wanted to take a look at that box the best look I️ got was when we toessed it in the back of my truck It's a great case, I had wanted the Pelican 1770 case but due to an error I ended up with the 1740 case instead. I have to say I am not disappointed at all with it, it's tough as all get out. You can get specs and dimensions and more info here: http://www.pelican.com/us/en/pro/product/watertight-protector-hard-cases/large-case/long-case/1740/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 I'm not crazy about flying on a good day. Just got through putting on about 20 hrs. of ass time on a plane. Couldn't wait to get off. Did I miss it, ? Is you rifle missing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted November 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 3 hours ago, unforgiven said: I'm not crazy about flying on a good day. Just got through putting on about 20 hrs. of ass time on a plane. Couldn't wait to get off. Did I miss it, ? Is you rifle missing ? It gets found in Chapter Four.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 On 11/7/2017 at 10:40 PM, Matt.Cross said: Chapter Three I leave the Delta service desk and head downstairs to the Delta Baggage Claim Office to collect my hard case, wondering if I can hop a ride with another airline and what it will cost to check an oversize overweight hard case onto an airline that is an unknown quantity. I arrive at the Delta Baggage Office and meet the nicest yankee lady I've ever encountered in my life. I told her my situation and asked if my case had arrived at the baggage office. "Just a moment please, sir." She delves into her computer, typing furiously and clicking the mouse intermittently. After a moment she looks up briefly and says, "It shows that it was transferred off of the arriving flight, but I don't see it's physical location listed. Let me go check on it in the back area, I'll be back shortly." True to her word, she reappeared after a brief interval shaking her head. "Sir, if you'll bear with me, I'll locate your bags ASAP, and in the meantime I recommend checking the baggage claim belt just in case there's been some mistake." Crap! Firearms are ALWAYS collected at the airline baggage office, and now it's possible my hard case with irreplaceable firearms are circulating on a belt where Joe Schmoe can develop an interest in them??!! I head towards the baggage belt feeling my pulse beginning to increase in the bulging vein in my neck. If I find my bag on the belt, there's gonna be trouble. I wait ~30 minutes at the belt for my hard case, checking intermittently with the nearby Delta Oversize Baggage office. After all the bags from my flight had been pulled off the belt, my hard case is still a no-show. Now I'm contemplating the possibility that some ramp monkey has gotten sticky fingers with my case, as if enough of the trip so far hadn't gone wrong. I stopped putting the brakes on the getting pissed off and decided that at this point blind rage isn't unjustified. Somebody had better start coming through for me or I'm going to stage a Canadian Protest!!!! Flying out of O'Hare sucks to fukin big and you can ask anyone for directions. I was upset for you. Glad you found your rifle. Sorry about jumping ahead of chapter 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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