Originally Posted by
Shareholder
1. Before departure if booked with a TA, the TA is responsible for all dealings with the airline and passenger, so Amex should have called about the flight, not AC SE.
2. Last carrier is always responsible for checked luggage issues. DL should have at least provided the usual delayed baggage package (some money and an amenity kit).
3. All carriers advise not to pack money, jewelry, computers or other valuables in checked bags and thus limit their liability in this regard. I would include corporate papers in this category. BTW did you lock you bag? Since you were not flying via the USA this precaution should have been taken.
4. Since you used Amex as your TA assume you used an Amex card that had trip delay and baggage theft coverage so your target once more should be Amex, not AC.
Quite frankly, aside from the issue of AE miles for taking a non-STAR flight, AC has done everything it should have done and has no reason for doing any more.
Not sure I follow.
1. DL was the last carrier, but since he bought an AC ticket and AC rebooked him on a DL flight, how much liability falls with AC? It sounds more like a case of outsourcing, than a transfer of services.
2. Airlines advise, but do not ban, the carriage of those goods. Airlines are also liable, to whatever extent, under various conventions and government guidelines. Why would this liability not apply here? Someone has to be responsible for the luggage after its checked in (with or without limited liability). If the pax has paid an airline for checking in the luggage (as part of the airfare), I don't see why the airline shouldn't be responsible for it.
3. Furthermore, if AC put him on a DL flight (Note - he did not buy a DL ticket) then that was a decision made by AC, and any inconvenience he faces should be resolved by AC - since they put him on the DL flight to begin with. If anything, AC should be talking to DL about this, since he was a paying AC customer who was transferred onto a DL flight BY AC.
4. I dont think anyone who's travelled internationally does not lock their bags with (at the very least) a TSA lock. An SE missing out on that simple trick is pretty damn unlikely. However, and I want to emphasise this because this seems to be a recurring theme in Canada - whenever there is a problem, people tend to blame the consumer. I don't know why, but I ve seen it enough across industries to think its pretty damn rampant. Even you're doing it - by alleging that he didn't lock the suitcase. What if he had, and the lock was broken while in the possession of the airline, leaving no trace of the lock? I hope I m wrong, but I think many Canadian companies (and some folk here) would accuse him of lying about the lock being there in the first place. Theres a nasty habit of deliberately trying to undermine the consumer/complainant by suggesting he should have been more diligent - without knowing whether or not he was diligent. Obfuscation through doubt - we should make it our nation's motto.
5. AMEX has insurance for theft/loss, so he should claim it from AMEX. Which leaves one question - what if one doesn't have an AMEX card? Or the insurance that comes with it? Tough luck? Sorry, don't buy it. Airlines are liable to some degree regardless of whether or not you have insurance. Whether you choose to insure yourself above and beyond that is a separate issue altogether.
Like OP said - and many have stressed - this wasn't about $122. It was about the treatment meted out after. The callous nature in which the airline has dismissed the case - despite liability clauses being in place - is bound to irk pax.
And so, I must ask again:
Who is responsible for the luggage after its checked in?
If a pax is placed on one airline by another, despite buying services from the latter airline, who is responsible? The former or the latter? And if there is a problem with the service, is it a problem between the pax and the airline he bought the service from, the pax and the airline that provided the service (even though he has no contract with them), or between the two airlines, who obviously had a contract between them to transfer this pax?
And if the airline isn't then why is there a limited liability clause?