26 December Both checked bags missing upon our arrival from LON in Marrakech (RAK). How they manage to lose 2 bags on a nonstop flight, I’ll never understand. Telex sent to LON by RAK to find the bag. Informed that most likely the bags will come on next flight tomorrow.

27 December, RAK Go to RAK airport. No bags. Telex sent to LON.

28 December RAK. Go to RAK airport. One bag received, not the second one. Send Telex saying that it is imperative that bag be sent on next flight, as we are leaving on 30 Dec, other wise keep bag in LON.

29 December RAK. No reply to telex, after 20 hours. I lose it with RAK staff. I ask them to call LON,they say LON does not take their calls. Tell them that they have a short window of opportunity to prevent the bag from being loaded to RAK tomorrow since we’re leaving RAK in the morning. Bag does not arrive in the evening, but telex replied saying bag will arrive after we leave on 30 Dec. Furious. Sent urgent telex asking for bag not to be loaded on 30 Dec LON-RAK flight.

30 December Leave RAK. Telex from last night not answered by LON. We hope to be able to stop the luggage from being loaded onto the LON-RAK flight, since we land at 14:00 and the RAK flight leaves at 15:30. We run to luggage services. They say they’ll look for the bag. They can’t find it.

31 December 2003 First day in LON. Called Marrakech. They have received a Telex from LON saying that the bag will now leave LON for RAL today (!???).The message was sent at 14:36, at the same time we were at the baggage counter asking for the case to be removed from the flight leaving to RAK.
We’re in LON and have been for 24 hours, and for the past 48 at least have told them NOT to snt the luggage to RAK. They don’t read their telexes.

So there we are. At BA, the left hand does not talk to the right hand. We can’t get anyone to react and be proactive. It’s been 5 dyas of this saga now, and we’re nowhere close to solving it. We’re in LON for 3 days, we know the bag’s there, but their deep lack of organization prevent them for finding it. They don’t take calls from their own employees, don’t reply to telexes for 24 hours ( what’s the point of a telex, then? Why don’t just send message by pigeon?).

Terminally incompetent jerks. Nice people for some of them, but working within a completely dysfunctional system. Countless hours at the RAK airport, frustration in dealing with every single one of them, what’s the compensation for THAT?

[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited Dec 31, 2003).]