imnewhere

Long story short - my checked luggage was destroyed after a flight with CX. I reported immediately and the repair people came and picked up. Few days later CX called me and told me it is not fixable and would provide compensation.

It is a luggage that is less than 1 year old, but they are only offering 1/3 of the retail price of the bag as compensation. They also mentioned that I was never supposed to check it in because it is a smart suitcase that has a small battery inside so I am not sure if it is a reason to provide such minimal compensation?

I have no experience in this and would appreciate any advice from experts here. If the compensation is adequate, I will happily take the compensation and move on. It just seems that 1/3 of retail price for a less than 1-year bag is minimal.

Thanks!

kaka

Take them to small claims court if its under 50k claim

Fly Me To The Moon

9+ years ago, I bought a Rimowa which I happily used for 4.5 years. On a flight from Shanghai to HKG, Cathay (it was a CX flight, not KA) damaged my luggage. There was a 15cm crack on one of the corners. I noticed this right away at the luggage carousel and filed a claim. The next day, Cathay came to my office to pick up the luggage, and then called me in the afternoon and told me that it could not be fixed. They would give me a brand new replacement which was delivered to me the day after. I suspect that the luggage would have been within Rimowa's five-year warranty anyway, and that might be why a new replacement was offered so proactively.

Funny thing is, fast forward to just two months ago back in January, I went on a trip to Sydney (also on a CX flight) and used this same luggage. Waited at the luggage carousel and my luggage could not be found. Turned out that another passenger had mistaken my luggage for hers and had taken it home. She did not realise it and even took a screwdriver to pry open the lock. Long story short, last month, I took the luggage to Rimowa service centre to get the lock fixed. The rep there said to me "did you know that your luggage has a hairline crack here"? I looked at the crack, and honestly, I could not see it clearly even up close. It was indeed quite minor. The rep said that since there was still half year left in my 5 year warranty, they would give me a free replacement luggage on the spot. All I had to do was to go upstairs to the showroom and choose one of equal or lesser value. I chose the exact same color and size, but since they did not have the one without the electronic luggage tag (which mine didn't have either), they gave me the upgraded model WITH the electronic luggage tag and at no extra charge!

kaka

kaka

garykung

It is a SOP everywhere to lowball you unless you can show anything to substantiate the value claimed.

Whether your baggage could be checked was no longer relevant.

If you still have the receipt, provide it to CX and ask for the net purchase price you paid.

If not, provide a price printout of the same or similar bag from anywhere and ask for that price.

No need to go ballistic.

As I said above, it is a SOP to lowball. It does not sound like OP has ever countered the offer. So it may be best for OP to counter first and see.

If CX refuses, then go ahead to the court/tribunal.

rienhart87

last month I flew with CX from Toronto to Shanghai. During check-in in Toronto, the check-in agent tagged my Topas with two fragile tags and also labelled fragile sticker on one of the sides. I thought that was nice of the agent to do that. Upon arrival in Shanghai, lo and behold, the bottom part (where the wheels are attached) had about 20-25 cm long and 5 cm wide dent. The dent was so obvious that other passengers (unknown to me) who were waiting for their luggage commented in the likes of "ouch that must be costly to fix", "you better claim that to CX", etc etc. My Topas is less than 6 months old and I had traveled with it to Australia (with QF), to HKG (with MU), to Indonesia (with GA) and my Rimowa was fine. Maybe a few scratches here and there but not this kind of dent. So at that moment, the fragile tags and stickers were completely futile.

I went straight to service desk and filed a claim. The agent there had a worrying look when he inspected my Rimowa. Without saying a word to me, he immediately called his supervisor and they filled a lot of forms and then told me not to worry, they will pick it up at my residence the following day and if they cannot fix it, CX will replace it like for like. So with tonnes of paperwork in my hands, i went home. True to their words, the following day my Rimowa was picked up and after 4 days, I got a phone call saying that they fixed it and they had dropped it at the concierge in my apartment (i was at work). Indeed it was fixed and I didn't pay a single dime. Since it is still under warranty, while waiting for CX to fix my luggage, I also reached out to Rimowa and Rimowa actually told me to bring it to its store and replace it. Perhaps if CX damaged it again in the future, if it is still under warranty, i am just going to bring it to rimowa and ask for replacement.

blum81

In February both my checked in luggage's were completely destroyed from HKG to YVR, CX888. One wheel was completely gone, and the other cracked on the corner. My mistake was leaving the YVR airport and not talking to any staff before I left as I couldn't find anyone to talk to, but luckily I took pictures of it that showed I was in the YVR airport.

I called Cathay's Vancouver luggage department and originally they said they are not responsible since I left the terminal but since both my fiancee and I are gold members they would help us out. Again totally my mistake for leaving.

They instructed me to go to Westins luggage in Vancouver the next day and once the store saw my luggage it was obvious it wasn't repairable, so they told me to pick two equivalents and I left with new luggage. Now my luggage wasn't a luxury Rimowa and just two run of the mill Samsonite's which may be why this was an easy fix. I actually wasn't expecting anything at all since I left the terminal

cfyed

2 years ago, I flew CX LAX - HKG and they broke my luggage. Filed a report and they sent me a new one (same model) 1-2 weeks later.

kaka

FlyPointyEnd

I'm curious as to how OP's luggage was destroyed? Perhaps it would also help knowing the type of bag and what kind of smart bag it is.

Data point, in the past 7 years, CX damaged 3 of my Rimowas, twice it was replaced and once it was repaired.

sxc

So many stories about damaged Rimowas! What is the point of buying them if they are so easily damaged?

blum81

Nope.

SuloL

Might be that they get a bit of extra treatment? An acquaintance of mine worked as a baggage handler at one of my home country airports (same company also handles in HK), and he made it pretty clear that the handlers do know what Rimowas are, how much they cost, and how durable they are advertised to be. So the handlers often made sure to give a proper shake, bang and throw to all the Rimowas, just for the sake of quality assurance

That convinced me never to invest in higher than mid-range luggage options

imnewhere

Finally was able to get through to the luggage department after numerous phone calls. I said I am not okay with the amount that they are compensating and the person said the amount was low because I wasn't supposed to check in that bag since it has a battery inside.

I said with that the amount I can't even get myself a similar suitcase and hope she understands. So she said someone from the claims department will contact again shortly...