senthil1409

Hello,

My family flew Qatar Airways on April 27th, 2018 and itinerary was pretty straight forward. BLR -> DOH -> ATL. Of the 12 pieces of luggage that was checked, one did NOT make it to the destination (ATL). We promptly filed a PIR at ATL airport, before leaving and I have been following up with them since. I spoke to the Baggage Handling team at ATL and also with Baggage Team with DOH and have been informed on multiple occasions that the missing luggage, actually was loaded on the same flight as my family and reached ATL and has been lost in the airport somewhere.

I've been diligently checking with the Airport Lost & Found and Qatar's team as well. It has been 12 days and there is no sign of the luggage yet. I would like to file for compensation, but I've been given the run around. Qatar US Customer Service redirects me to Qatar ATL and they are unreachable on the phone / email. Unfortunately, this piece of luggage had the most expensive clothes and this ticket was paid for with a electronic fund transfer rather than a credit card. So, we have no lost baggage insurance to fall back on.

How do I initiate a claim with Qatar. I was hoping it would be automatic since we filed the PIR, and filled a complete report on the My Baggage site, but it doesnt seem to be moving forward and I'm at loss for appropriate contact info.

Thank you
Senthil

plunet

Hi Senthill, sorry to hear of your plight with your missing baggage.
The rules governing missing/lost baggage are set out in the Montreal Convention - the Wikipedia page is as good a place as any to initially go.
The key thing for you at the moment is that luggage cannot be declared lost until 21 days have elasped.

Once 21 days have elasped, you can make a claim for the missing baggage, up to SDR1131 which currently equates to approx USD1600.
In the meantime collating a list of the items in the case and and any evidence of the value of the items would be sensible.

It seems like you've done everything you needed to - getting PIR before you left the airport, and phoning up daily to hassle people.
Getting the name / email / phone number of a named QR individual - preferably the station manager at ATL - is probably a sensible way forward.
If you're able to get back to the airport I would suggest making a nuisance of yourself at checkin until you make contact with the station manager.

Often1

OP - This may be hard to accept, but the best thing you can do is to wait. Calling will not change anything and there is nobody who is going to go looking for the bag. When you call in, someone is simply looking at a display and telling you some version of the same thing.

If you are being told the truth and the bag did make it to ATL, it will either turn up or it will not. If its baggage tag is still attached all the better. Hopefully you have put a personal tag on the bag and inside so that you can be matched if the baggage tag has fallen off. If it does not turn up, it has possibly been stolen or was severely damaged and someone tossed it to get rid of it.

At 20 days, e.g. on the 21st day, you may claim, as noted above, the fair market value of the bag and its contents. The Montreal Convention provides a maximum of US$1,660 (approximately) and you may be asked to present receipts for out-of-the-ordinary items. Also note that fair market value does not necessarily equate to replacement cost. A $200 shirt worn 5 times is not worth $200.\

Finally, it is water under the bridge for you, but for the sake of others, make sure that you have insurance. If not through a credit card as in this case, then purchase a policy.

Phil the Flyer

flyuk

It's been 45 days for me and they haven't found mine, are not answering questions and seem to have no intention of making any compensation offer. I submitted a claim and it wasn't even acknowledged.

Qatar have permanently lost my business from here on.

senthil1409

Thank you all for the responses. I'm glad to report that my bag was delivered on day 14. Similar to Phil the Flyer, I was categorically told by QR reps multiple times in ATL and DOH that my bag was loaded on the same flight as the rest, and was lost in ATL. I learnt that Qatar Airways baggage handling in ATL was contracted to Menzies Aviation and I spoke to their employees as well. If anyone's bag goes missing at your destination airport, find out the local baggage handler and talk to them as well. File a report at the airport's lost & found office as well. In ATL, passengers who misidentify and take someone else's bags are directed to return them to the general Lost & Found of ATL airport.

flyuk

Mine was never found. Qatar offered me compensation for 1/3rd of the value of the contents and categorically refused to pay me for the items that I had to purchase as a stop gap between loss and getting home.

Their location and lack of membership of any dispute organisations gives them relative immunity to any legal challenge, so it wasn't worth taking any further. Will not fly them again, and will never recommend them. As I'm a relatively frequent business/first traveller and have influence on other people's flying choices, it'll cost them more than than what they refused to pay me within the next month.

plunet

Assuming you are in the UK, you can submit a claim via MCOL (money claim online) for the correct value of the goods plus those you needed to purchase against the UK legal entity for QR. Just Google for a guide on how to do it, moneysavingexpert would be a place I would probably look at first.

flyuk

I'm not in the UK, I'm in Japan, and I flew from MCT to CDG. The work involved in finding out how to pursue them legally from one of those countries is not worth the extra money. I'll just vote with my wallet and avoid them like the plague in future. I was even happy to accept their initial offer if they added the Ł100 I spent in extra clothes and toiletries, but they said not a chance.

They are also incompetent in how they deal with customers, so I don't want to have to deal with them again.

lrbenko

Resurrecting an old thread with new question.
Has anyone had any luck with Qatar compensation for items purchased as stop gap measure while bag has been delayed/lost on transit? Case in point flew CHS-JFK-DOH-DXB and my bag was left at JFK a couple days then who knows where for a couple days. Four days in Dubai for personal/business and needed to purchase some necessities. Will Qatar reimburse any of this or am I out of luck? I am AA ExPlat flying codeshare on QR, but I'm not sure that holds much weight. Thanks

plunet

The key thing you need to know is that delayed and lost baggage is governed by the Montreal convention and Qatar have signed up to this. You can claim up to 1311 SDR (about 1800 USD) for replacement contents of luggage as well as items purchased to keep you going until reunited with your delayed luggage.

General guidance for items purchased to keep you going is to keep costs sensible and where possible buy items that you would otherwise be comfortable paying for yourself, and keep all receipts. Then open a customer service case, no need for any emotions about how difficult it was, just set out what happened, your ticket and flight details, your PIR (property irregularity report) reference, and what you needed to buy, when, and how much, with receipts, and keep a copy of everything submitted. Qatar customer service isn't stellar in this department but they do usually get there although it may need a few chasers. YMMV. Good luck.

lrbenko

Thanks, very helpful.

littlevoices

Just in case you haven't checked: Personally I have had good success on this luggage replacement with credit card insurance (American Express) and travel insurance, rather than the airline. That would be the typical starting point as many policies cover this with strict limits though, based on things like the length of delay (e.g. USD200 for 24 hours delay, USD500 for 36 hours). It may be quicker than Qatar.

lrbenko

So I got this email back from Qatar Airways in response to the delayed bag. I had provided copies of receipts, boarding passes and related documentation. Not sure what to expect by Qatar refereeing it to the "Dubai airport team". Do the mean the Qatar airways airport team, or the 3rd party company that handles lost baggage at DXB? This doesn't look great for getting anything reimbursed. Any one else have this experience and know what I can expect?

"Firstly, we are sorry to learn of the delayed delivery of your baggage on your recent travel to Dubai on QR002/08 May 2022, and can certainly understand how unsettling it may have been for you.
We strive at all times, to provide optimal service to our customers, including prompt arrival of baggage. However, we trust you will understand that in spite of our best effort, checked baggage sometimes do not make it to the destination at the same time as the customer. You can be assured that all possible measures are being taken to avoid similar incident in the future.

Kindly be informed that all baggage related concerns or claims are handled by our airport teams directly. In this regard, we have referred your case with our Dubai airport colleagues for their further review and handling. We have requested our colleagues to reach out to you directly to address your concerns.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us and the opportunity to respond.
Yours Sincerely,
SM
Customer Care Officer
Qatar Airways - Going Places Together"

plunet

Its a bit hard to comment without the context of what you were asking Qatar to do, but the "Qatar" team at DXB will typically consist of

• A station manager that is a direct employee of Qatar - in DXB this might in fact be two people due to the number and frequency of flights
• An outsourced ground handling agent for check-in, dispatch, etc
• The use of a number of airport provided resources which likely includes baggage handling

it's hard to know whether the issue has been referred to the Qatar employees or a 3rd party. If the former you might if you are vey lucky get a reply or a follow up, if the latter I would assume it's just a service observation for information.