Hi Tominbgi,

This sounds bizarre, someone hopefully will be along with more knowledge on this than me but I have never heard of "contraband" such as this (the shock absorbers were not stuffed with Marijuana, I assume) being destroyed. I have heard of this happening when contraband is sent in the mail but that makes sense (if it is prohibited how can the item be returned).

I do not know if BA would have authority to break your father's back open and destroy (rather than refuse to carry) the shock absorbers, however, airport authorities and police may if there was some statutory power permitting them to do so. Do you know who did the breaking/removing/destroying (BA, police, airport?).

Even if they did have that authority I would think that you would still have a claim against BA from a purely legal standpoint (assuming it is not pre-empted by the Montreal Convention) based upon the email reassuring you that the shocks would be accepted - the law recognises a tort of "negligent misstatement" which - without delving into matters - seems to apply here.

Anyway, from a customer service perspective I think BA should pay up here - regardless of the law. What they actually do is another matter..