Damaged Bag
 

I am a Continental GOLD Elite member. Continental damaged my bag from on a recent flight from Houston to Newark. The flight landed late after midnight after a 30 minute delay at Houston. The baggage claims desk at the airport was closed by then. Anyway - Got home at 2 AM in the morning after a carousel change screw up by Continental. When I called Continental ELITE DESK the next day to report the damage, they acted like they were doing me a favor taking my damage claim.
They made me drive all the way back to the airport for them to examine the bag damage. The airport is over an hour from where I live. I asked them to have the bag examined at a local authorized luggage store (something I have had done before as an ELITE member) - but they refused. When I asked them for reimbursement for gas, tolls (or mileage) and parking at the airport, they refused stating that it is their policy to have the bag examined at the airport only and that it also their policy not to reimburse for the trip to the airport either. This makes no sense to me. This smells of a scam by Continental - they are hoping that folks wont make the trip to the airport and they wont have to deal with the problem. They damage my bag to begin with and then they put the burden on me to take it all the way back to the airport. Guilty until proven innocent is the Continental motto. Comments?

What kind of damage is it? Remember, if they broke something off it's considered 'normal wear and tear'. Short of nearly destroying the bag, they are not going to compensate.

Is that a disagreement? If so, how do you disagree?

I just went through yet another issue over the past week where I had to deal with a CO-inflicted problem where they refused to take ownership and resolve through multiple contacts. Only once I stopped being diplomatic with them and starting being very forceful, insisting that they are at fault and I would not accept any further buck-passing or wasting my time with this, was I able to gain some traction to get the issue resolved.

This is the third such item in the past year where I've had to deal with them in an excessively forceful manner for the nature of the issue, much like I may be forced to in a dispute with shady industry, such as an insurance company. Other carriers, we just discuss diplomatically, figure out a resolution, and move on, even for more difficult or serious issues. This issue with CO was simple, obvious, and well documented, so it shouldn't have taken the level of effort or resulted in the finger pointing that it did. Then again, if the employees believe they can do no wrong, then that's the service we get.

The notion of CO being always right is a very noticeable aspect of CO's culture.

It is CO's policy to have the local station examine the bag for damage. Most damage is considered normal wear and tear. We don't cover broken wheels, broken handles or straps, minor tears to the seams or dirt.

What you might consider damage isn't damage to CO. We will always take a courtesy claim but this doesn't mean that we will cover the damage. Some people need an 'official' claim to submit to their insurance company.

Right, and given that this is an Elite customer who arrived already late, and the bag office was closed, perhaps a different way of settling the matter would have been in order. Unless there was a history of bag damage claims on the OP's account, would it have killed CO to give the OP the benefit of the doubt and possibly tossed some miles our voucher his way to make him happy and not have to deal with this at all?

Why make the OP drive back to the airport to follow some rigid process given the circumstance? CO is already saving money by not staffing the bag office for their delayed flight.

At this point, there is no likely positive outcome -- he wastes time and money for gas/tolls/parking, even if they approve the claim it may be replaced with a bag not to his satisfaction. If they reject it, he just wasted more time because of CO's lack of staffing. Either way he's wasted time and money.

The chance of CO satisfying this customer is extremely low at this point, so from a CS standpoint, it's a lose-lose the way it was handled.

This i agree with.

At the minimum, CO should have had the baggage office staffed at least until the last bag came out.

I find it strange that CO didn't have someone available in the Baggage Service office, as I believe that EWR has a 24 hour shift for the baggage people.

There is a way that the OP could have filed a damage claim via BRC and it is too bad that the Elite Line did not refer him to this office. They can take the information via his PNR and send it to EWR's BS office. The customer still has to bring the bag in for inspection and resolution since the perception of damage varies from person to person. You do have 14 days after filing your claim to return to the BS office.

Did you know the bag was damaged before you left EWR that day? There are always CO personnel at EWR 24h so how could there not be someone to report the damage to, even if baggage desk is closed? Besides at EWR IIRC, it is not the baggage desk that processses damage to baggage but the customer service desk.

If though you either did not notice the damage till you got home, or you decided to go home anyway because it was late, then maybe it is not realistic to expect CO to transport you back to EWR for baggage inspection. It is also not realistic that they have you go to a baggage repair shop as the repair person does not work for CO and cannot evaluate the damage, ascertain whether it is covered, and issue you with a repair voucher. It is certainly not realistic either that they accept and process the claim over the phone without seeing the baggage. If so I have quite a few old bags I would have them fix or replace.

I am not certain also what being a GOLD elite has to do with anything here or do you suggest silver or non-elites are less entitled to have their baggage repaired if damaged?

It's an expression of your inability or unwillingness to add anything productive to this thread.

The OP asked for advice on what to do. He didn't ask you to repeat your same tired mantra.

Your constant belittling of CO probably hurts new posters who truly believe that your rants reflect reality. I know if I was new, never dealt with CO before, and read your drivel, I would probably give up and not pursue a resolution.

Thank god I know that most times CO will resolve issues to my satisfaction.

Amen ! Touche ! Well said !

What type of damage did your bag have?

Your policy is BROKEN. Period. You damage my bag and then put me through the ringer to make me prove that you damaged my bag? Nice !
And BTW - I KNOW the difference between normal wear and tear and REAL Damage. I am a GOLD Elite member with over 300,000 miles on CO.
Hey CO - I am sure you have insurance policies in place that cover the repair and replacement of the bags. So just extend the policy to include reimbursement of gas, tolls and airport parking - if it is your "policy" to have passengers come to an airport to have the bag examined for damage - because it is YOU (CO) that does not trust the passengers claim.
BTW just as an analogy (and I know it is not quite an exact analogy) - if a vendor ships me a damaged product - THEY (in almost all cases) pay for shipping to replace the defective/damaged product. They dont pass that on to the customer.

Bingo !

What is BRC? Elite Line - never referred me to this office.

I am sorry that you are angry and that you could not find someone the night you arrived to discuss this issue with.

Many people believe they know what damage is but yet I have to point out that there are things we do not cover. Yes, we have replacement bags or can offer you a ETC for the damage or actual replacement cost but all of these things need to be done in person.

What was the damage to your bag?