uoficowboy

I flew SJO-MEX-GDL-SFO on Saturday. At MEX the gate agent told me my carry on was too large for the plane (puddle jumper with small overhead bins) and had me gate check the bag. She printed out a baggage tag that had final destination of GDL on it. I told her I was going to SFO with a very short connection in GDL (40 minutes) and she said that was fine as the baggage claim was right next to the gate and I would not have to leave security to grab bag. None of this made sense to me so I double confirmed it with her.

Surprise, surprise - at GDL visiting the baggage claim requires you to leave security and they were boarding my SFO flight by the time I got off the flight from MEX. I talked to a gate agent for my SFO flight and he radioed down to baggage claim where they said they found my luggage and were forwarding it on to SFO.

Surprise, surprise - at SFO my baggage never showed up. Looks like a half dozen or so other people were in same situation, some of whom I recognized from my MEX-GDL flight.

This was midnight at SFO and there were no Aeromexico employees in the building as far as I could tell. I called their 800 number and a person on the phone told me to email all info to [email protected] so I did that and got an auto response. I called again Monday afternoon (yesterday) as I had not heard anything and they told me to expect a response 3 business days after my email.

So - my questions:
1. Is this normal for lost luggage with AM?
2. Is there any way to escalate my issues with the airline? Multiple days of radio silence suggests they are putting absolutely zero effort into fixing this problem.
3. What could I have done better here? I think maybe I should have pushed MEX gate agent to tag my bag for SFO instead of believing her that I could pick up my bag in GDL.

Thank you!

fifty_two

it seems 40 mins is a bit too optimistic for transit in GDL .

i know your first intention wasnt to check luggage but 40 mins - 30 mins for boarding = 10 mins for luggage handling . i have never seen service that quick (unless disruption) and dont expect anything similar in mexico

yes as with any other airline , but i would add that airline is just the front office (iceberg's visible part) of the entire process , as they usually sub contract one (or the only) local provider to handle luggages .. usually one provider handles all airlines in small airports

You should reach the luggage handler for AM in SFO and ask them to open a worldtracer case for you (most likely AM use worldtracer but it can be another system) or check if luggage might be in SFO already

whatever they tell you , its up to them to keep track and inform you when luggage as been found

Only thing to do is to give all details for agent to fill-in worldtracer about your luggage , how to reach you and where to deliver luggage and wait while checkin your phone/emails regularly

beware that worldtracer emails can be flagged as spams

Even if you do not find an AM agent or employee, there should be an office for left/delayed luggage before exiting luggage area, so go disturb anyone if needed but you need this case to be opened

If not found after certain amount of time , the montreal convention will apply (in your case its most likely this one) . It defines your rights and airline's duties/liabilities

Yes , in a nutshell , here are golden rules
.

1. absolutely never leave the airport without the worldtracer case ID .
2. always check hand luggage rules (size/weight/quantity/volume) for each airline before and stick to these rules
3. always pack your stuffs in a way that if checked baggage is lost you wont be in troubles
4. always be ready to have your luggage checked , even if you dont want
5. never book a flight with such short connection
6. always label your luggage (inside/outside) efficiently (name/surname/phone) so it can be identified if lost
7. never loose luggage sticker until you get your luggage at final destination
8. always check the state of your luggage and the content before leaving airport

.
You are welcome

uoficowboy

Thanks for the response. See inline!
How do I figure out who the luggage handler for AM is in SFO?

There were no employees at the baggage area - only security/customs. There was a baggage counter near the baggage carousel that was labeled as being for a number of airlines (though AM was not among those) but there were no employees at that counter and I waited for a while. I went upstairs to the international terminal and there were a couple air china (I think) employees and that was it. No AeroMexico people.

Mama

OP already told you there was no AM employee in sight.
In fact, AM do not maintain a customer service desk at any of the airport in the U.S.
You may be able to speak to the check-in counter staff about your issue when they are open, but those staff are only handling check-in issues. They may just tell you to call AM's 1-800 customer service line.
Most airport employees would not bother to speak to you.

fifty_two

Tricky question , i would suggest you , if possible , to go to SFO and ask airport information desk and/or AM sales office in the airport (if they have one , it might not be a dedicated counter but rather a 3rd party entity who provide such service for many airlines including AM) and explain situation

In fact your luggage might even be there , assuming it was just delayed and luggage sticker tags werent lost/damaged

Dont forget to take your BP and the luggage sticker with it (there is ID of your luggage)

Ok so at least you did your best , so i think you should return to the airport and do as advised earlier . If this luggage counter is not landside (i mean public area) , then go ask around for a way to reach them (either an airport employee can go on your behalf or ask for a phone number to call them while at SFO)

You read and bolded it "there should be an office for left/delayed luggage before exiting luggage area, so go disturb anyone if needed but you need this case to be opened" but you missed also this = "they usually sub contract one (or the only) local provider to handle luggages .. usually one provider handles all airlines in small airports"

So i was right

Yes , this is why i said this "so go disturb anyone if needed but you need this case to be opened". If OP give up , OP will be left with nothing and AM doesnt care , so fighting is OP only option

uoficowboy

My vague memory is that there was very little outside of security in the international terminal. Would it make sense to talk to luggage folks in a non international terminal? I'll stop by SFO later today.

uoficowboy

OK an update.

After many pings on Facebook they finally connected me with a luggage person. That person said:

So off to SFO I went. There does not seem to be an AM baggage claim office or anything there. I asked an information person and she told me to go to the AM check in counter, which I did. There they immediately thought they'd have my bag in a back room which they checked but returned from empty handed.

They filled out a "baggage claim" form which they stuck my luggage tag to. I asked if there was any sort of tracking number and they said no that they don't do that. I even showed him the message from the Aeromexico person saying it should have 5 letters and 5 numbers and he repeated they don't do that. They did provide me with local SFO contact info for them:

Putting that here in case anybody else has this issue.

I asked the guy how often people get their luggage back and he seemed to think everybody gets theirs back. I have my doubts, but we'll see. He said I should hear back later today or tomorrow by both phone and email.

Crossing my fingers.

Mama

in that case, you could also suggest OP to call the airport police.
To OP, the lesson learned here is that you should always request a receipt from the airline employee whenever you give them your bag(s).

fifty_two

Yeah , let us know what is the outcome

uoficowboy

I got a bag tag from the employee. What other receipt should I have expected?

uoficowboy

Today's update: messaged them on Facebook to see if they could give me a file reference number now that I have submitted a claim at the airport. They provided that and also let me know that my bag was located and is scheduled to go out on the next GDL-SFO flight tonight. Fingers crossed.

uoficowboy

After my last message I got a call from the SFO airport saying that they'd drop off my luggage the following day (Friday). They called me from (650) 821-1121 in case anybody wants another number to try to reach them at.

Friday came and went with nothing happening. I emailed and called the SFO airport but got no response. On facebook they told me my bag was in SFO. The Worldtracer site has said "ITEM LOCATED, PENDING CONFIRMATION" since the moment I got the reference ID to use on world tracer's website.

So today I went to visit the AeroMexico folks at the check in counter. It took them about 30 seconds to find my bag. They took a photocopy of my passport and had me sign it with the bag tag # written on it. And I was done with my bag looking no worse for the wear.

Lessons learned:

• Aeromexico phone support is absolutely worthless. They should just get rid of that whole department.
• [email protected] is absolutely worthless
• Aeromexico Facebook chat is actually surprisingly helpful. I found the most helpful thing to do there is message them, tell them you wanted to chat with an agent, then ask for a "baggage service executive". Those folks seem to know what's going on.
• But most importantly - the most effective people are the people at the Airport. Claim has to be made there.