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July 17, 2017
Commentator Ann Coulter addresses the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) in Washington on Feb. 12, 2011. Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Ann Coulter is a snowflake.

She bought an upgraded seat on Delta, the upgrade wasn’t honored, and she unleashed a Twitter tirade against the airline that accused it of everything short of genocide.

This is the behavior of a delicate, entitled, easily wounded, and overly sensitive toddler-woman – what some on the Right would call a “snowflake.”

How am I so sure she misbehaved?

Because the exact same thing happened to me, three weeks ago, and Delta handled it flawlessly.

Last month, I had bought an upgrade on a Delta flight, just like Coulter. Mine cost $49, for a bulkhead seat. This was a ten hour non-stop flight to Japan, and when you’re 6’2” every little bit of legroom matters.

When I boarded the plane, my seat was just another coach knee-cruncher, nowhere near the bulkhead. I asked the attendant why that was, and she explained that there had been an equipment change. That is, we were flying on a different aircraft than the one depicted online.

At that point, I suppose I could have thrown a hissy fit like Coulter. But the plane was packed, and I thought it was unlikely Delta would switch everyone to the original plane because I spent an extra $49.

So I smiled when the flight attendant said, “Have a nice flight,” and I took my seat and read, “The Black Widow” and watched a couple movies and tossed and turned and landed safely in Tokyo.

A week or so later, I emailed Delta’s complaint department. It took me a few seconds to find the address on the company’s web site.  I explained what had happened, listed my ticket number, and waited – for two whole days.

Then I received this email:

RE: Case Number 24573609

I’m happy to help with your request regarding a refund.

We processed a refund on July 14, 2017 as follows:

Ticket Number/Amount/Form of Payment

0071502001622 / $49.00 / AX

For credit card purchases, we generally transmit our credit instructions to the credit card processing company within one business day of the date the refund is processed. However, it can take up to 2 billing cycles for the credit card issuer to show this credit on your statement.

Please allow the full handling time for the refund to be processed. After that time period, you may check the status of your refund as follows:

– 800-847-0578 within the U.S. or Canada.

– 404-715-5417 within Atlanta, Georgia or outside the U.S. and Canada

We appreciate your business and hope you’ll continue to choose Delta, our Connection Carriers and our SkyTeam partners for your future air travel needs.

Regards,
Martha Deal
Refund Solutions Specialist
FORTUNE 2017 “World’s Most Admired Companies®”

The entire complaint took me about ten minutes to handle, from start to finish. Coulter tweeted that her issue “cost” her $40,000 of her time. Unless she has the computer skills of a chimpanzee, I don’t understand what the big deal is.

I guess I could have vented  all over Twitter, like Coulter. I could have posted a picture of whoever sat in “my” bulkhead seat, and Tweeted an insult about them, as Coulter did, and thrown in some gratuitous insults about immigrants and Delta employees, as Coulter did.

But this wasn’t a matter of venal corporate greed or discrimination.   Stuff happens, and no person or business is perfect. Part of being a grown up is understanding that things don’t always go your way. You can suck it up and move along. Or you can carry on like a four year-old being dragged out of a toy store.

In my case, Delta handled the problem quickly and easily. Thank you Delta.

And Ann, grow up.

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