What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

By Rita R. Robison

Which consumer happenings cheered you this week and which ones made you want to scream or weep?

Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:

My best: Good seats on Delta Airlines

For my recent trip to Madrid, I got lucky. I was assigned bulkhead seats on both the flight to New York, than also on the connecting flight to Madrid.

It made the trip much better. I was able to get more rest because I was able to stretch out.

My worst: Misinformation at the airport caused long, unnecessary walks

On my return trip from Madrid, the stopover was in Atlanta.

At the Information Desk, the attendant said my gate was B1. I found Terminal B and walked to one end pulling a rolling suitcase with my backpack on top, a heavy load.

When I arrived at B1, another trip was schedule to depart from it. When I asked if my flight would be next, the Delta ticketing agent said she didn’t know. She told me to walk back to the middle of Terminal B, and ask someone else.

Since I was tired, I stopped about 10 gates down. A helpful ticketing agent said she would call the tower to find out the correct gate. It was B 31, way at the other end of Terminal B.

I told her I was tired, so she hailed an electric cart so I could get a ride.

That was helpful. But when I arrived at Gate 31, I realized I’d paid for a bottle of water with my salad but didn’t receive it. I didn’t have the energy to walk all the way back to the other end of Terminal B to get it.