TESTAMENT Guitarist ALEX SKOLNICK: 'DELTA Comes Through'

December 30, 2010

TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolick has added a new entry to the "Skonotes" blog section of his official web site. An excerpt follows below.

"It's not every day one reads a story about a positive experience dealing with an airline. However, I'm pleased to report that one does exist. Although believing in this outcome felt like believing in Santa Clause or The Tooth Fairy, this story has a happy ending in the tradition of a classic holiday tale.

"Many have heard the famous words, 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause,' right? Well, it gives me great pleasure to announce the following: 'Yes America, there is customer care at Delta Airlines.'

"Arriving home from tour the other week, I found, there in the pile of mail, a check from Delta covering the entire amount of a new Apple MacBook pro computer.

"I'd had to purchase this Mac immediately upon landing in L.A. after water had been spilled on mine by a flight attendant who, while pouring for a neighboring passenger, failed to take proper precaution. While this situation caused more internal stress than I can remember having in a long time, the outcome is a healthy reminder that the unexpected does happen and when it does, it's best to just stay calm and deal with it in as focused a manner as possible.

"I easily could have 'lost it' on that flight, but I'm glad I chose not to. The guy who spilled the water felt terrible and it wouldn't have helped if I blew up at him. I did, very firmly say, 'This is bad. I know it was an accident, I know you didn't mean for this to happen, but we have a big problem here. How are we going to deal with this?' I'm happy with how I handled it, and how he and the rest of the crew handled it, filing a report and giving me a reference number and phone number to call to determine the next steps to take.

"I can't say that the next phase was easy. There was a lot of work to do and time spent filing the claim, stating my case in a letter, gathering up the appropriate receipts, estimates and other documents. It was difficult to get someone on the phone to assist with the process. And then there was a long waiting period.

"So while I think Delta could really use some work fine-tuning its procedure for resolving incidents like this, not to mention its automated system and processing time, I'm pleased with the ultimate outcome. And I will say that whenever I was dealing with a live person I felt I was in good hands."

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