travelswithmybriefcase

Hello all,

I landed at T5 on the evening of 11th of May from Faro.

When one of bags came onto the belt it was open - basically the zip had been completely ripped off (presumably when the bag was unloaded at LHR as it wouldn’t have been able to have been loaded like that at Faro)

It was impossible to close the bag so I went to file a damaged bag claim.

A somewhat disinterested BA staff member proceeded to take all of my details, as well as taking photos of the bag.

She then gave me a file reference which also contained contact details for K2, who as we know handle damaged bag claims for BA, advising that they would be in contact “within 72 hours, maybe a bit longer as it is the Weekend”

My suspicions should been aroused when she said “ we have sent you a text message with the file reference”.

None arrived even though I waited a few minutes but she then said “Oh, don’t worry, I have done everything manually” (??)

I was able to tape the bag up with copious amounts of tape she had given me and get home.

(Nothing was missing from the bag)

I kept checking the K2 claim tracer function on their website with no trace of my file number - this wasn’t helped by them having a statement on there saying they were “experiencing temporary difficulties”.

(I tend also not to have a high opinion of companies that still have statements on their websites referring to “current Government Covid regulations” in 2024…..)

But as I turns out the culprits were not K2….

After 11 days of hearing nothing I called them today only to be told:

1. The file reference that BA has given me was not on their system because “BA do not appear to have sent the file over”.

The (very helpful) gentleman said “ was this T5? They are really bad at doing this ….”

He then said he would call BA to get the file sent over and called me back shortly afterwards.

2. He said that BA had not sent any photos over with the file and could I please take some and send them to him?

(This despite the BA person at T5 taking 4 or 5 photos and showing them to me)

3. He said he would email me and all I had to do was upload photos to that email.

He the asked to check my email address which BA had given him.

Suffice to say this was utterly wrong - was a very basic gmail address (I don’t have a gmail email) and I reckon you would have had to have been a VERY early adopter of gmail to get that email address.

(Was “[email protected]).

My email address isn’t gmail, hasn’t changed in over 25 years, and is in my Exec Club profile (which of course was also in my booking details).

So in summary:

I have lost 11 days where literally nothing has happened, and I now have to start again totally from scratch, including repeating the photos that were taken by BA (allegedly) 11 days ago.

This really is shocking and I don’t know if it is the fault of the BA staff member who dealt with the claim (who really did appear disinterested), BA’s IT, or a combination of both.

But frankly I shouldn’t have to care.

I will be writing to the GGL team so that they can pass on a strong complaint but really this is beyond comprehension

ratechaser

If you think that's bad, wait till you see the 'offer' that K2 will lowball you with...

Modo

damaged suitcase - "20% annual depreciation" question

JayeJ

When BA damaged our bag (SFO to LHR), they let us choose a new bag so we wouldn't have to drag the old, damaged one around with us (this was at the beginning of our trip.) Our original bag was old enough that I don't think we would have gotten much for it so just choosing one of theirs saved us a lot of time and trouble.

On another occasion (different damaged bag -- looked like it got speared with a forklift) they gave us a bag to put our things in while we waited to hear from the replacement people. I'm guessing none of these options were offered to you, which is unfortunate.

MH1981

Believe me, save yourself the hassle and just buy yourself a replacement and file the whole saga as bad luck. The cheap junk that K2 will send you isn’t worth having.

fruitcage

Well I may be in a minority but I was entirely happy with K2’s handling of my damaged luggage claim- they sent me a new replacement spinner case similar to the one that was damaged. I kept the original and repaired it with a Ł5 part, and I’m still using both cases years later.

travelswithmybriefcase

Thanks for all of the responses, both positive and negative. I’d like to think that “I speak as I find” so I’ll see what K2 come back with. Also await what the GGL team have to say after they – hopefully – get a response from the appropriate department.

Certainly if the K2 response is less than satisfactory, the way it has been handled to date hardly puts BA in a strong position - when all is said and done the responsibility lies with them not the people to whom they have subcontracted the issue.

jinglebear

My sympathies. On two occasions (both at LHR) I have patiently waited for my bag, eventually going to the missing bag office, and being shown my bag and contents in a large plastic garbage bag. Both times the entire zipper section had been sliced through by a blade (the bags were large soft-sided rollaboard types). Both times I was told that this might have happened as a "lesson" to me because I used a non-TSA-openable lock; apparently, the damage was done at LHR Customs once the bag was offloaded.

These incidents were in 2004 and 2005; since then, I punch myself in the groin whenever I contemplate checking-in any luggage.

Damaged/missing luggage is particularly irksome at the start of a journey; you are somewhat fortunate this happened on your return home.

BTW, thank you for helping me learn a new word; I always though 'shambolic' meant related to Shambala, the Buddhist heavenly land of contentment

Coffeemadman

I had pretty good experiences with damaged baggage. On arrival at T5 I went to the desk and they gave me a new suitcase there and then, and I then had to send a link to the suitcase that I had (it was actually discontinued so I found one similar in price and same brand on John Lewis), they then purchased that suitcase to my home address and when I asked about returning the one that they gave me was told that I could just keep it.

So ended up with a brand new suitcase and a "spare" one that BA provided.

Dave Noble

I have found K2's handling to be as if they are running a scam - try fobbing people off with a lousy case - trying to offer a pitiful amount for cash and also trying to insist that if it is passed back to BA there would be nothing

Once rejected and passed back to BA, I received professional service and appropriate compensation for damaged case, but recommend just ignoring any K2 offer

As far as the agent at the airport being disinterested goes, surely that is exactly how the agent should be - it isn't for the agent to have opinions one way or other of the claim

LondonAussie

I didn't even get that far. Without photos of my bag prior to check-in, and with my purchase receipt for it sitting somewhere in storage in another country, they refused to take my claim any further and close it.

Looked at claiming with travel insurance instead, but ultimately couldn't be bothered with the faff and just forked out for a new suitcase. It did change my attitude completely to flying with a checked bag and I've stopped buying the Plus fares with BA to force myself to pack lighter and bring it all carry on.

ratechaser

It's almost like you can draw a parallel with how they play the EC261 'game'...

Dave Noble

I don't know what happened in the previous poster's case, but when I told K2 to pass it back to BA and BA took over, none of the scam techniques were engaged by BA

It did want proof of purchase to prove the age and so properly adjust depreciation , but was handled quickly and fairly - no attempt to try denying liability

I am not sure how K2 operates , but it seems it staff have an incentive to scam on payouts

travelswithmybriefcase

Thanks for the advice re K2 - currently engaged in email “ping pong” with them and if the outcome isn’t satisfactory (based on current interactions I would suggest it is 50/50 at best) I will deal directly with BA as suggested.

Just to clarify on the “disinterested” agent at the airport point - it wasn’t that I was expecting her to have an opinion one way or another on the merits of the claim.

My comment was more that she seemed rather indifferent / disinterested in even being bothered to deal with me - seems to have been proven to be the case in terms of the lack of diligence with which she actually processed the claim ….

corporate-wage-slave

There are self serve machines / PCs in T5, which have the merits of allowing you to see the email address spelling (and indeed name spelling) before it goes off.