wolf539

I just returned from a trip to SE Asia during which Thai Airways managed to snap off the retractable handle on my checked Tumi luggage. Imagine my surprise when I saw it coming down the baggage carousel in BKK with the handle taped to the bag, and the retractable rod extended! With some fiddling I was able to get the rod to collapse back into the bag (where it remains to this day). I filed a claim with Thai and they initially said they would pay for repairs, or "fair replacement value".

They have now removed my report from their system and are refusing any compensation or repair. The fact that I have photos of the damage with their baggage tag still attached, and made the claim/report in the BKK airport immediately after discovering the damage means nothing to them.

The highlight of the last conversation was, "Well it's not like we lost your bag, you got it back and nothing was missing..." But I wasn't claiming it was lost, just damaged. "I'm sorry; thank you for making us aware of the issue." So even though I was on a full fare J ticket, you're offering no compensation or repair? "That's correct; goodbye." Click...

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Thai? Obviously I'm open to any thoughts or suggestions!

Thai-Kiwi

Will your 'regular' travel insurance pay?

If you are non-resident in Thailand, following up this kind of incident can be nigh-on impossible.....

BKKROP

All airlines work on a the 3 times rule.

It comes down to persistence

Just keep sending the claim in, month after month, with another covering letter, iterate the previous correspondence and most importantly, keep records of it all, do not lose any original documents.

It is easier for Asian FFs because we can lob up to their offices and front the counters, flash the card, tell them "DYKWIA" , and everything is fixed up.Your insurance will fix it up, and that is what all the airline think you will do, lose interest in them and claim on your own.

Airgroovin

I once had damaged luggage from a flight from DEL-BKK-SYD and took the luggage into the local Thai SYD office and they told me to take the bag to a luggage shop who promptly replaced my bag within 2 days! Exactly the same Antler hardcase!

I could not fault the service here in SYD...

Keep persisting!

Cheers,

AG. :-:

albion8844

We had a similar experience although it certainly helps being resident in Thailand. I was very impressed with the free service of replacing a broken handle. A telephone number was given to us by Thai to call a company who promptly came to our condo the next day to pick up the case. The following day it was returned with a new and identical handle.

The guy from this company revealed that this kind of problem happens a lot at Suvarnabhumi Airport and apparently is something to do with using too strong a spring operation on the baggage handling system.

wolf539

Thanks for all the replies...!

I live in Chicago so unfortunately I can't just show up at one of their offices.

I fired off another letter via fax and snail mail, and made yet another call over the weekend. They now claim I never filed a "prompt" report, and there is no record of any loss or damage to my luggage. When I told them I had the paperwork that they provided me with at BKK minutes after the flight landed, which includes the claim number, they said I must be mistaken. When I told them one of their agents guided me to their "lost & found" office on level 2 in the airport, described the office and gave them the employees name who filed the report, they said no reports were filed that day! btw, no language issues; the person I spoke to spoke excellent English. Throughout the conversation I was calm & polite. The Thai rep finally ended the conversation by claiming I was trying to scam the airline to replace my "expensive" luggage. No, just repair the handle you damaged. That's the same thing; good-bye.

I plan to follow everyone's advice and be persistent, but it is becoming frustrating and time consuming.

As to my regular travel insurance... I gave them a call and they said I could file a claim and as soon as I received a denial from Thai they would review it. They were polite and professional, and they left me wondering how I'm going to get a written denial from Thai for a claim they say doesn't exist.

Anyway, while the bag is about five years old and has plenty of miles on it, I think it's still worth repairing (if the price is reasonable) so I'm going to stop by my local store later this week and see what they say.

aeioukl

I live in Malaysia.
I have 2 bad experience to fly with Thai Airways. This time, they broke my stuff in the luggage. Of course I had logged a report with them, but their response is very poor.... I have not get any response from them for more than 2 weeks.

It will be a big NO NO to take Thai Airways anymore. I have advised to all my friends too!

Guy Betsy

Baggage is basically for protecting the contents inside your bag. Though there are some instances where wear and tear is not really the airline's responsibility, each case is different and it will depend on how the Ground Handling agent sees it.

Handles which fall off, broken zippers, scratches etc all comes down to 'wear and tear'.

To the OP, wolf539, try bringing your bag to TUMI who might be able to do the repair for you and then with the receipt, claim it from TG. You can only try. The reason TG might have refused repair is because TUMI cannot be repaired by the usual bag repair shop.. even though funnily as it is, TUMI bags are all made in Thailand !

To aeioukl, firstly, welcome to FlyerTalk....

Second, it depends on what you meant by 'items broke inside'... if its breakable, and you checked it, then the onus is on you. Airlines cannot be responsible for breakages inside checked luggage even if you have a "Fragile" lable on it. If you want to make sure it doesn't get damaged.. air freight it or carry it by hand.

Do you know that once your bag leaves the check in belt, it goes through a series of tunnels, conveyor belts all involving high speeds and turns? Its not carried by hand to the aircraft. Your baggage is supposed to withstand all that. By the time the human being carries, they have t o somehow carry it properly and sometimes they use whatever they can to grab on.. and handles here and there are supposed to do the trick. If the bag is too heavy or awkward, you can be sure that they will be throwing it on to the conveyor belt!

BKKROP

Hi welcome to the board aeiouki, there have been many reports on other boards about bad luggage handling at KL. The baggage in a lot of cases is slid down shutes into underground conveyors and this could be the cause of your angst. If you get to travelling a lot, remember that "don't put anything in your luggage you can't live without". If it is valuable or breakable, carry it on board. personally as it is something inside a bag, I do not believe you will get much satisfaction out of any airline

Airgroovin

If I ever travel with any special or precious/fragile items, I always carry them onboard - even if it is a pain to carry extra hand luggage...

Cheers,

AG. :-:

wolf539

Funny that this thread just resurfaced... My bag is currently at Tumi's repair facility in Georgia and I'm waiting to hear back from them as to the cost of the repair. TG finally acknowledged the claim and in a roundabout way apologized for the "confusion". We'll see what happens when I send them the bill!

I'm taking a carry-on on my trip next month!