Simply going off the gas receipt(s), $300 US would be approx 135l of petrol (assuming petrol, not diesel). Let's assume a speed of 110 km/h for the entire 3 hours, giving 330 km. Are you really saying your vehicle consumed 40l / 100 km? That's more than an HGV might use! indeed you may have a receipt(s) for that much, but I can't see how you could have used that much fuel in 3 hours, and I don't blame KLM for throwing this out as it's simply ludicrous.

Any sensible person, seeing something like that which doesn't seem to make any sense at all, i.e. out by almost a factor of 10 (maybe you were driving an HGV and haven't said so?!) would then instantly doubt other things in the claim. 300 NOK maybe, not $300 US.

Regardless of who booked the tickets, it's up to you to get travel insurance for yourself. Are you saying you haven't knowingly purchased any travel insurance? What if (hopefully you don't) you fall ill and need medical assistance?

I don't see a form to complain about a baggage mishap. Is there a EU agency I can contact, aside from Norwegian or Dutch authorities?

First of all, if I remember correctly it was approximately $300 in fuel we used as a result of their negligence and having to drive round trip to the airport. I could be wrong on this. I only have the receipt for the fill up, which came to 1705.53 NOK which I filed with them. Please forgive me if my miles to kilometers, to liters, to miles, to dollars, to euros, to Krone is off. It has nothing to do with my story being bogus, just that I am approximating.

PS the name of the city was Lyngdal.

Or worse what if the airline leaves your bag in Detroit for three days...

Well 1705 NOK is about $170 US, so if you did indeed claim for $300 then even that's almost twice what the receipt is. So 1705 NOK is about 78l, still 23 l /100 km, which is extremely high for a standard car (into Hummer territory now). It's not about how much you managed to fill the vehicle with, it's about how much is reasonable to use for the trip. Nothing here at all makes sense - 1705 NOK becoming nearly $300? Fuel consumption twice that of a gas guzzler?

Maybe this is the problem, you're making approximations and these are unfortunately way way off. I'm not doubting your story and do have sympathy having now had 2 summers in a row with lost / delayed luggage :) But if you've made such bad approximations and this is what you sent in your claim, then surely you can see why they won't accept this after checking it?

So you drove 3 hours R/T and you are claiming worth $300 of gas ?
And you spent nearly 9000 euros on replacement clothing ?

your story is really too weird.

EU261 is a law that has been created to protect travellers. Of course it covers up to 1300 euros but it has not created to make false claims and easy money on the back of airlines.

Agree. 3 hours of driving may be 300 km or 30 liters of fuel (and then I am generous in terms of the speed you can realise in Norway and the fuel consumption of modern cars). A liter of fuel is 2 Euro in Norway. As some posters indicate, there may be situations where the harm of delayed luggage is serious. Seeing an important family reunion spoiled is obviously no fun. But this kind of stories that cannot be placed in the realm of normal things make the whole case difficult to follow. For people here on the forum, and obviously for KLM that is asked to compensate in hard currency.

.....I have never seen or touched a 2k suit and 5k dress in my life. That is hand-made Gucci stuff. Even there is a mistake and if the numbers are in NOK (200 Euro suit, 500 Euro dress), that is expensive for Norwegian standards, particularly if you consider this is replacement clothing (I lived there, and saw clothing is not as overpriced as say alcohol). Gas for a 3 hour or at best 300 km round trip.....see previous post.

And according to Google maps Lyngdal-Kristiansand is about 75 km....hmmmm

100k NOK is 10k in Euros.......?????

People can pick apart, and play detective on my story if they choose to, and if it makes them feel good, I'm glad I can help. Seems like some might have too much time on their hands, nonetheless it's not my business. If I can entertain and help someone fill their time and feel better about themselves, then I am happy too.

But at the end of the day this did happen. My wife is still very upset about this whole ordeal, and the ruining of our trip celebrating the life of her mother who just recently passed away from cancer. You can say this didn't happen if that makes you feel better I'm glad I can help someone feel better about their day.

In any case, back to reality and actually helping people who post on here, since KLM is not cooperating. What next steps can I do? Who can I contact? I have contacted Dutch and Norwegian authorities. But I don't think there's anyone else apart from bringing them to small claims court/regular court (likely).

We're digging into seemingly obvious anomalies in your case to try and better understand what actually is going on.

If you do indeed find a regulatory board to take this on, do you not think they might also examine closely these strange numbers and then side with KLM? The point is, whilst your story and numbers don't seem to make sense, you aren't going to have much success pleading this to KLM or any regulatory board.

We've questioned things here, can you not yourself double check the facts, check you haven't indeed got a currency conversion error somewhere?

Your own personal travel insurance.

As someone who seems to travel a lot, I find it hard to believe that you have neither an ongoing annual multi-trip travel insurance product, or a separate standalone policy taken out just for this trip (particularly when travelling with checked luggage whose value was far in excess of the airline's liability)

So you have traveled approx 200km to the airport, assuming leaving from the far side of Lyngdal.
Your cousin has filled up to the tune of $170. Which makes about 78 liters of petrol or 90 liters of diesel. That's a fully filled fuel tank and then some. Not even the thirstiest, most outlandish, specially-imported barely-legal vehicles consume that.
Yet you claim that KLM should pay you $300 for this. Not $170. Not something reasonable like $30.
A full tank and then twice that.

You have decided that this family event is so very special, you have to purchase a suit and dress from the most expensive shop around.

Your wife is very upset, because she could not celebrate the life of her mother appropriately without putting on something that cost more than most Norwegians entire wardrobes.

You pack apparently not only thousands of dollars worth of clothing, but also all your methods of payment into checked baggage, you travel intercontinentally, but you don't even care to ask if there is any travel insurance included with the ticket, let alone arrange your own.

Then you submit a ridiculous claim to an airline, get rejected, ask why you got rejected on a forum, and get angry when told exactly what all in your story doesn't add up at all. First you claim you have receipts for this, receipts for that, then when pressed for details, you pull out a number half that claimed originally. You get angrier when questioned on that.

Seriously, take your ridiculous unsubstantiated claim and find some dime-a-dozen lawyer to fill your suit so it can be thrown out. You won't find purchase with any Dutch or Norwegian authorities, they are meant for consumer protection, not for consumer abusing the airlines.