fassy

Ok, so spell it out for the mentally challenged like me. What do you expect here?

mikimedic

...and consequently a compensation, of course.

fassy

Tyrolean

mikimedic

So?

Thanks Tyrolean!

SebFra

Well, it is basically very simple!:
If you have to check in a big stroller, put it into a "gate check bag":
This one is very light and fits into your carry-on bag: This one is a little bit heavier but more durable: I would go for the red one.
And just not to be clear: It will damage after 5-10 flights. But it protects the stoller very well. So better order 2-3 ones.

Or: Take a lighter stroller, e.g. the Recaro Easylife, which is perfect for frequent fliers: It folds very small and you can attach a Privia onto it.
There is also a great bag for it: The bag is nicely padded. And you can fold the bag and put it under the stroller, which means you can take both to the gate.

As a result, your stroller is proteced very well against damage and water etc.

After some time, the bags will be dirty and damaged. But you can't change it. Just take it as a fact and get yourself a new bag from time to time. It makes travelling much easier!

OS has always been very generous to us if some items were lost or damaged. But you always have to be nice to them as well. And publishing names is not a nice move as well.

Maybe the above mentioned things do at least help others!

mikimedic

Total [redacted].

My question was: what would you do if you discovered the damage next morning - the damage that was clearly not visible previous night at the airport.
If you can't answer this question, then please [redacted].

If I wanted to go your way, I could say don't buy (cheese) from Amazon, go to a normal department store. Or even better - buy from a farm directly.

But I won't.

Ok?

Often1

If that happened to me, I would say to myself that I would never send a child's stroller into the hold of a commercial aircraft without first putting it into a stroller / gate check bag, not only because that would have avoided the oil stains but more importantly because it would have meant that my child was not sitting in the cesspool of dirt which lines the inside of the hold.

I would then accept responsibility for my own omission and move on with my life, having learned a lesson.

mikimedic

If the stroller was kept closed as delivered to them and in upright position, there would have been no damage. If they exercised a minimum care there would be no damage. Instead, I was given it back in front of an aircraft during pouring rain with a canopy completely detached! How on earth did they manage to open the stroller and detach the canopy?

Then you can only imagine the hassle of re-assembling back the stroller with a crying baby in hands on a tarmac under the pouring rain.
Instead of a stroller being delivered at the belt, dry, like all other suitcases on the same flight.
But it takes [redacted]. Obviously.

So again - spare me of your non-solicited advice, and if you wish please try to address the key general question that this thread is all about:

What one can do with Austrian refusing to compensate for the baggage damage that was not visible at the airport at the time of delivery, but only discovered subsequently?

LondonElite

The gift that keeps on giving.

[redacted]

craz

OP I would do exactly what you did/are doing. BUT with 1 main difference it would be hoping that the carrier would step up but not Expecting it to. I have found damage to my bags after leaving the airport sometimes they accepted liability others not.and said since it wasnt reported at the airport per their T&Cs.

I know folks who damaged their own bags and yes strollers after wards and claimed the carrier did it (not saying this is your case) while others took along a known damaged bag or stroller and claimed the carrier did it

Ive been in your shoes way too often but I understand fully OSs position as well, sometimes I got lucky others not so

Presently waiting on a checked bag that did not arrive on my flight and the carrier has no idea where it is, the line at the baggage office at midnight was at least an hour long another person on the flight only got 1 of 2 bags when they saw the line they simply said they had no patience to wait and left.Its now on them to go back and pick it up or if its lost like mine the carrier will tell them to whistle Dixie since they never reported it lost at their office after arrivimg. .If they have ins that company will want the info from the lost bag report but there is none = SOL

Cant count the times that due to the miles long line I got to the counter a couple of mins after the bag cut off time and yep told to pound sand or ditch the bag if I must be on that flight and had the checkin agents not been small talking with everyone I would have made the cutoff. SOL

I wish you luck with OS but cant help but feel you are SOL it STINKS, I know as I said Ive been in your shoes plenty of times

mikimedic

[redacted]
This thread however is on the issue of an airline refusing to compensate for the damage that was not visible at the delivery of a luggage but only subsequently discovered, and what one can do about it.

[redacted]

LondonElite

Actually, I have a little experience with the Montreal Convention in this respect. We need to look specifically at Articles 17 and 31.

Article 17.2 states that:

As we have said upstream, the OP has not shown that the damage to the checked baggage was caused by the carrier, or that the damage took place on board the aircraft. It could have happened before or after. Nothing was reported at the airport immediately after receiving the baggage, which brings us to Article 31.1, which states:

So once you've taken delivery, you have accepted its condition, unless you file a report. The timely reporting period of seven days is not a reference to the time allowed to inspect the bag for damage, but rather the time to report the damage that was documented upon receipt of the baggage. @:-)

You must be drowning in constructive advice given to you by people who fly hundreds of thousands of miles every year.

At one point we had a total of twelve strollers, buggies, cribs, in our different houses, and still travelled with one that was constantly getting banged up. That's the way it is.

Let me spell it out again. Austrian. Will. Not. Pay. Move. On.

Repeating your one point over and over will not make it come alive.

fassy

@Tyrolean

That is just an uphill battle you cannot win.

The problem is not the 7 days. You have 7 days to file the report but you have to report the damaged happened right away to obtain proof. The Montral Convention says:

And
1) Common understanding of above quoted is, that the proof that it happend on board is by reporting the damage at the airport. Every lawyer working the case for the airline would just say what I said before: "Well, there were 11 hours with ground transportation and storage somewhere, how do you bring proof my client broke it and it didn't happen in that time under other circumstances?" Than they will claim 'in dubio pro reo' applies, the case gets dismissed and the Op will have to carry all associated fees and costs. See also 31.1

2) Also, as the OP reported he got the stroller back at he steps of the aircraft, it was obviously not checked-in baggage and OS is only liable to compensation according to the Montreal convention if the OP can bring proof OS damaged the stroller (" In the case of unchecked baggage, including personal items, the carrier is liable if the damage resulted from its fault or that of its servants or agents."). See 1), even harder to prove.

3) Also airlines in general do not take any liability for unsuitably packed baggage. A stroller where easily parts could get lost or could get stained belong in some protective enclosure. Imagine someone checking in a guitar (or hand it at the gate for delivery at the aircraft) without any protective case? For sure they airline will not accept liability for that and claim it wasn't packaged correctly.

Just to sum this up, the OP should just suck it up and take the best advise here:

1) Always inspect your luggage at the airport, file a damage report there.
2) Bring some protective enclosure for things which could get damaged or break
3) Be nice to customer service agents might get a long way, being rude shut's down your case immediatelly
4) Be nice in public internet board and stick to the rules. Yes, you do not know those other guys but being nasty and borderline offensive won't help you raising any sympaties

mikimedic

The law is not based on 'a common understanding' but on the norms, like the one you quoted above.
There is nothing in the norms that you quote about an obligation to report the damage at the airport. This is an invention by the carriers, as this what suits them best trying to minimize the effect of compensations they would otherwise be forced to pay.

The rest of your comment [redacted]. The fact that it was given at the aircraft on a tarmac only proves the lack of care by the Austrian staff who couldn't care less to keep it covered with the rest of the luggage and be delivered at the belt.

The stroller was checked as regular luggage (with a luggage tag attached to it) in Larnaca airport like all our other luggage that was delivered with no problems.
So as you are the one who suggests to stick to the facts, pls apply this advice to yourself and don't conclude/impute unless you know the facts.

If this a proof, the luggage tag number is 0257 OS 670900.

See attached, if you don't trust me.

luggage tags