Originally Posted by
nacho
It's a 48h delay. If you are talking about a 5 days delay then it's totally another story but essential clothing doesn't cost hundreds of pounds. Also, why can't airlines just pay them in half? It costs money to hire someone to check the return items are what they actually are. If someone claimed he bought a shirt for $100 and he sent back a $10 - how can they tell?
Essential clothing to use for less than 2 days shouldn't cost hundreds of pounds. It is for use until you get your own clothes back. Airlines are not supposed to sponsor whatever you feel like to buy. If OP feels strongly about looking in a particular way they can buy some basics pajamas and get their clothes to wash using express laundry service overnight and send SAS the laundry bill instead (even if the bill cost similar which I seriously doubt unless OP needs to dry clean a wedding dress as it is very expensive to dry clean one).
It's like EU 261duty to care: SAS has a max amount for hotel reimbursement and F&B. You can't expect an airline to pay for your presidential suite at a four seasons and dine at a Michelin star restaurant. The limit is set to prevent things like this from happening because it is difficult for claim agents to know whether that hotel or restaurant has reasonable pricing.
I have no objection to SAS having a limit on how what's reasonable to buy as an essential item and what's not. I didn't dispute that. What I dispute is SAS refunding only part of what they accepted as essential items on the basis of customer keeping that clothes. The customer never wanted to buy them, they had to because SAS delayed his back. It's SAS' mess and they are the ones who should bear the consequences. If they wish, they can go the Lufty way and offer to pay the full amount on the condition that the customer returns the clothes to them. Again, they are the ones who caused the problem so let them deal with the clothes no one wanted to buy.
This is even more valid in the line of your argument. If customer is expected to buy a cheap crap for it to be accepted as an essential item, then SAS has to accept that the cheap crap may not have a value for the customer because they don't wish to wear cheap crap on a regular basis. If SAS forces the customer to buy something they don't actually want, then SAS should definitely be on the hook to pay for it.