Pavan123

I have done a fax to Qatar office and I have a recipt of the fax.
I hope that is enough to prove that it they received the claim letter too.

I am planning to send the actual calim letter to their postal address.

kewltea

mine was lost for a week. AA comp'd me 10k miles for the trouble

pirdop

Carrier: Lufthansa
Flight: SOF->FRA->TLS
date: 25/12/2009


The long story made short:
2 bags - one has been lost, in the other contents heavily damaged (almost all glass/plastic containers were broken)
Just one example I was querying 3 bottles: 1 plastic, 2 made of glass (one of which within a metal container), none survived.

The "remains" of the bottles looked as you have smashed them against a stone or something similar.

Please note that these were 1st apart from one other, 2nd isolated with the special wrapping (used in the duty free shops especially for glass bottles), 3rd wrapped with paper and were placed between the clothes in a manner not be close to any edges or sides of the suitcase.
Last but not least one of the bottles was, after the wrapping, put back in its original metal casing.
There were some perfumes and cosmetics too (for presents) – all of them are gone as well!


My shaving foam metal container was not strong enough to resist either. It wasn’t perforated but the foam was spilled all around. A shoe-polish plastic container was on pieces.
Imagine the force of the impact/s that this suitcase had to bear.

Because of the above I’ve lost some very valuable documents, all of the clothes including some designer ones, the presents and the only thing I got at the airport was the typically French: “We can’t do anything, sir! Sorry!”

At the airport I’ve been told, from the subsidiary company handling the luggage (Map handling) that neither the company nor Lufthansa can be hold liable as there were glass containers. According to them if there are any glass containers all the responsibility goes to the customer as he/she didn’t secure them well enough. I, of course wasn’t happy with that and told to the lady that I’ve packed them with care and have chosen a suitcase with hard sides/covers in order to protect the contents. But her answer was still – it’s your problem sir, not ours.

Anyway after 1 hour on the airport I managed to get her superior and made him issue me a report of damage. Unfortunately all that is stated on that report is the following:

Baggage details: 01-Damaged Contents

And on the bottom:

The report does not involve any acknowledgement of liability.

The strangest thing is that on the outside there are almost no traces at all that this suitcase suffered such impacts – just one black trace on the top and the missing label with the brand logo. (the suitcase was brand new - bought 2 days before the flight)

The lady asked for any bills/receipts of the damaged items, but I didn't have any, and I don't keep them as most of the purchases were made more than a month ago. The only one I still have is the one for the suitcase itself.

Would you please advice me what my options are? And what I can claim, because according to their web-site they are not to be held liable to any damage of fragile products(glass, plastics, electronics)! This is supposed to mean that we can transport only clothes and metal items, everything else is not covered.

Pavan123

I am really sorry to hear your story. Follow the guidelines.
1. Make a Fax or registered post to the airlines. Like a proof that you reported the damaged to airlines and you should have proof that they received it.
2. here is the format of the same. http://www.montrealconvention.org/le...to_airline.htm
3. Let the letter be printed and with official language.
4. Please go through the Montreal Convention as yours was a international journey. article 17 precisely. here is the link http://www.montrealconvention.org/

pirdop

Thank you for the reply, but I'm afraid is too late
I've just sent a letter to Lufthansa customer care(in UK) actually for whole Europe they have just 1 address in Liverpool UK

1. The problem is that my letter doesn't look anything like the sample one provided on that website.

2. I sent it by ordinary mail, and made a similar complaint on their website and received the automatic reply (could this be used as a proof?)

3. In the letter I have written I made a claim of roughly estimate of 800-900€ total loss, as I don't hold any receipts.

in this situation do you think it will be better to write a new letter one and
write in the actual (current) prices of the items. if I do it and this time claim the max 1000SDR could they

4. can i claim moral damages as well? I mean in that suitcase were my lectures notes for my exams next week. As everything spilled on them they are unreadable and most likely I'll have to face a failure. And in the post-grad school (I'm in my masters) where I'm currently in they don't allow any repeat exams.

Sorry for the childish questions, but I'm not a lawyer and all this is the first time that I'm experiencing such a thing.

thank you in advance

Pavan123

Sorry for the late reply.
1. Its ok even if you havent send the formal letter. The point here is that you did make them aware of loss.
2. I guess automatic reply is also good.
3. you can write a new letter for sure. thats no harm. Just mentioned the context of earlier letters. So that they know this is a follow-up + claim + complaint letter.
4. Definately you can always mention all the disappointment and pain you have to go through this.
However please make sure that you dont use the abusive language which can be used against you. Dont use language like "XYZ airlines has worst service in the world" rather say like "I express total dissatifaction with service offered to me by XYZ airlines."

Do see a consumer court / research for the Cosumer protection organizations where you can file case against airlines.

Pavan

pirdop

thanks for you reply and excuse( mine little bit late too)!
I actually have already sent them a letter and this is what I received from them as an answer yesterday!
I publish this as i received it without any edit! Just to warn other travelers what to expect from Lufthansa's "customer care"!

As you can see below, all they are offering to cover is the soap and the shaving foam that I had to buy!

salvadors

I had a bmi redemption flight in C on AC/LH/SAS, SEA-YYC-FRA-CPH last Fri/Sat. My luggage went missing somewhere along the way (my suspicion is that it didn't make the YYC-FRA flight as SEA-YYC was substantially delayed and I barely made the connection myself). At CPH they gave me 1000DKK (~€130) for immediate essentials etc.

By the next morning, they had found my bag, but as it wouldn't arrive in CPH by the time of my onward flight (on another carrier/ticket), they said they'd forward it on to TLL. For the next few days they kept telling me that it would arrive that day. Finally I discovered that it had gone missing again, somewhere between CPH and TLL. (CPH gave me details of the exact flight they insist it went on; TLL insist it never arrived). 3 days on from reopening the file, they still haven't found it (having gone through the contents of every similar bag currently in CPH over the phone to me to see if any of them were mine).

They then directed me to LH customer relations for questions on compensation etc., but the phone number they gave me was actually a fax, and any other number I can find anywhere seems to be permanently busy.

From what I've read here, LH policy is that I can claim up to 1000XDR, but other than underwear and toiletries, everything else is only reimbursed at 50%? That seems a little odd to me, but I also notice that some people have stories of getting more than that, and that LH is one of the best for this sort of thing. Is there any special trick to getting better than 50% reimbursement?

In a case like this where the luggage is still delayed, but presumably becoming increasingly unlikely to ever be found, how many things can I replace when? For example, I had 5 shirts in my luggage - I could probably make do with 2 in the short term if my luggage is going to turn up, so do I have to wait for them to eventually declare it completely lost before replacing all of them?

Also, how connected do the items I'm claiming for need to be to what was in my luggage? It would be almost impossible to get exact replacements for most of the contents, and I don't really know how much a lot of the things originally cost me (thankfully LH don't seem to want original receipts, just for the replacements) so is any reasonably priced shirt an acceptable replacement?

And on electronic equipments, does their non-coverage extend to things like chargers and adaptors? I never check in things like laptops and cameras themselves, but various accessories were there and now I've lost, for example, the recharger for my Japanese camera, which is non-trivial to replace.

Thanks for any advice or pointers.

KVS

No, the 50% is a myth. The carrier is liable for the entire cost (100%) up to the 1000 XDR limit.

You can purchase all the replacement items you require the moment your luggage does not arrive.

Yes.

The "non-coverage" is yet another airline myth, as it is inconsistent with the Montreal/Warsaw Conventions.

From http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/webnotice_04012009.pdf

pirdop

I'm addressing this to KVS, apparently the one that knows the most aware of what to do in a case of damaged/lost baggage.

As you can see(from my previous posts) I had a very unpleasant experience with LuftHansa (LH) as they didn't give me any cash when arrived on the airport (TLS) with one bag missing and the other one with completely damaged contents.

All they offered me after I filed a claim was to reimburse me 100% of my toiletries/underwear and 50% of the value of the clothes, given I provide them with the original receipts, which of course I don’t keep. And 0% for all other items as LH considers them as fragile and therefore denies any liability.
“We will be pleased to consider any expenses you had to incur if you would like to forward us the original receipts together with your property irregularity report. Our policy of reimbursement is 50% for clothes and 100% for toiletries and underwear.”
However they suggested a 50% reimbursement of the clothes I “had” to buy. Here is the problem as I had exams(just finished this week) I didn’t have time to go shopping at all, now I do have the time and I will have to do it as my suit was in there and I have to go to some job/internship interviews. Within what timeframe they accept to bear such expenses?

My biggest problem of all was that my lecture notes(I’m a student) were in those bags and after the accident got completely unreadable. In a consequence I almost failed my exams

So my question is there any possibility to claim damage for the maximum of 1000 SDR? I had very expensive items in that bag and the total amount is much more than €1100, but apparently I don’t have a way to prove it.

Just to mention few of the broken items and their average prices
Texas Instruments Calculator(TI-92) €190
Nikonl Camera + lenses €390
External Disk Drive €120
Armani sunglasses €130
Shirts €90
Suit €400
Shoes €160
Adidas Sport Shoes €90
Hairdryer €25

Total €1595



Thank you for the advice.

KVS

LH is referring to the replacement items you had to purchase while in TLS, but this does not matter in this case, since your claim for damaged items exceeds the 1000 SDR limit, which is a combined limit for both delay and damage.

For damaged items, you have 7 days to file a report (which you have done already). You then have 2 years from the flight date to finalize the claim.

Again, that's irrelevant in your case, since your claim (below) already exceeds the 1000 XDR limit.

Of course, assuming your claim is for at least 1000 XDR.

Did you show the damaged suitecase and items at the airport when you filed the report? Do you have photographs showing all those damaged items?

salvadors

Thanks, that's useful to know. Quite a few people have referenced LH still quoting these though, so is it just one of those things that they use primarily in the hope that people don't know better, and all you need to do is firmly point out their liability? Or do you tend to end up having to fight for full reimbursement?

Is there likely to be any haggling over what 'require' means, though? If they manage to find and return my luggage after, say, two weeks, are they able to claim that I probably didn't need to replace five shirts yet: maybe two would have been more reasonable? Similarly I don't necessarily need to replace the books that were in my luggage just yet: I'd certainly like to finish reading one I was in the middle of, but for ones I hadn't started yet, I can always read something else in the meantime...

KVS

Essentially, yes.

It depends, but in most cases, if you provide the appropriate documentation and properly present your claim, they will issue a payment.

That would be extremely unlikely.

CMK10

1/17/10. AS YVR-SEA-PHX.

Due to the Canadian security regulations I had to check my overnight bag. When I reclaimed it in PHX, two of the zippers were ripped off. I am not going to report it to AS, it's just slightly annoying.

nonirose

Hi, I'm in need of some help.
I've just flown back from LHR-SIN-MEL. Dept 11th Feb, arr. 13th Feb. on Singapore Airlines.
(It was a return trip, i flew Singapore Airlines 6th Jan MEL-SIN-ZRH)

At LHR i checked in my luggage, including a box clearly marked 'Fragile', which did not go on the normal conveyer, but it was placed with the oversize/fragile items. I was asked what the item was, and i said a wooden cutlery display box, which is a wedding present for my sister, and i said the cutlery is in my main suitcase. I asked if the box would be safe, and he said being marked fragile, it will be handled seperate to normal luggage and will have a different collection point at Melbourne Airport, there is no need to worry about it, and said i'd be better checking it in, rather than taking as hand luggage.

I arrived at Melbourne and noticed all fragile items were on the normal conveyer and I was not the only one who was disappointed and others noticed damage upon collecting their items.

I collected my suitcase and my fragile item, cleared customes and returned home.

Once i'd had some sleep, i opened my suitcase and everything was fine there, but when i opened the fragile item, it appears it has been dropped and there is a dent on one of the edges, as it is on the front of the box and quite substantial in size, i can no longer give this as a wedding present, and require a replacement.

I have had a look on the cutlery companies website and the box will cost about 150-200 pounds to replace, plus postage to australia. I have sent them an email to get the exact price and shipping cost, also asking if there is anywhere in Australia that stocks this brand, to reduce the cost to the airline.

What do you advise I do? Am I covered by the Montreal or Warsaw conventions? do i contact the singapore airlines office in Melbourne, or in Singapore? Do i need the replacement cost (including shipping) in my initial correspondence, or can i follow-up with a second letter once the company respond?

Please help, i've spent a lot on my sisters present and now i'm very upset, wishing i'd not checked-in the item, but lugged it around with me as hand luggage (although i know your only meant to have 1 item, the gentleman said i could take it with me if i can carry it without difficulty, but he advised checking it in).