yoyo

I just got back from a trip from China. My last visit to China was 3 years ago so I this time I brought lots of gifts with me. When I landed in PVG on Aug 1st my luggage did not show up. There were 6 other people have similar issues. I filed a report and was told my luggage would show up the next day and it would be delivered via express mail to my final destination (Hangzhou,China). I was also given a number in Shanghai to call to get updates. The luggage never showed up. During the whole fiasco I called pretty much every day but was told there is no status update and UA Shanghai stopped picking up the phone after the third day. I was very concerned and upset and had call U.S. office directly from China to demand follow ups on my lost luggage. The luggage contained all my changing clothes and all my gifts to my parents and relatives.

Long story short I pretty much lost hope after a week but I kept calling them. On Aug 17th I called UA office in US again and was told they just located my luggage a day earlier (on 16th but they ever bothered to call me) so I demanded the luggage to be shipped to me on 17th but again nothing showed up. Today before my return flight I stopped at UA booth in PVG. Image my surprise when I spotted my luggage leaning against the door in UA ticket booth in terminal 2. I was furious. They said they would ship the luggage back to US for me. I called the US office again and I was told they would send me info on compensation. I just got home and checked my email and realized they are offering me a $400 voucher which seems like a joke.

My questions:

a. Do UA ever give cash comp for lost/delayed luggage like this? 400$ voucher seems very low.
b. I had to buy replacement gifts, my clothes and luggage case etc how do I get reimbursed for those? I wouldn't mind sending them the two LV bags along with the receipts and getting the cash back.
c. what about comp for all the inconvenience this has caused? Any experiences?

Thanks.

emcampbe

If you are away from home, UA is supposed to give you money to cover necessary expenses for you to buy clothes, toiletries, etc. once your bag has been delayed by 24 hours. I think its $100 at that point, you can purchase on your own, and submit the receipts to get the $$ back. I'm sure they allow more if the baggage is delayed longer, though I'm not sure exactly what the amounts increase too.

Sounds like you got a comp for inconvenience with the $400 voucher. What are you looking for exactly? I doubt they will cover the gifts, but they should certainly cover a good amount of the replacement clothes that you had to buy.

weero

Yes.

That is exactly double than the highest amount I ever got from UA in the case of lost luggage. So I'd be very pleased with that result.

On a note of experience: no outstation of UA ever forwards your luggage. If you destination was PVG, the safe place to find your luggage is @PVG by personally go there and take it away from them.

I waited for 2..5 days in BOS, DFW, ZRH, SYD, FRA, SIN for my luggage before I did realize that UA only really exists in SFO, IAD, and ORD. Anywhere else you have to collect your goodies from the conveyor ...

yoyo

After I calmed down a bit I read their website and it seems like they will reimburse some of the expenses. What I am looking for is to get cash instead of $400 voucher. I spend over $600 dollars buying the replacement clothes and gifts and I am looking to get those money back. I am also looking for additional shipping costs to ship some of the gifts in the original luggage back to China (those I couldn't find reasonable replacements).

I was specifically told my UA luggage agents in PVG that they will forward the luggage to my final destination in China. My biggest problem is UA in PVG stopped picking up the phone from Aug 4th. Travel to Shanghai to look for my luggage is not really an attractive option for me.

I am surprised you got only that little for your trouble. The value of my luggage is worth well over 1K and come to think about it is really stupid for me to take that risk instead of taking the most valuable items as carry on.

BTW, the original luggage showed up at the door just now. The case has been damaged and so are some of the items inside.

WineCountryUA

Beware the legal liability for lost / delayed international luggage is quiet low

and as far as gifts

oldmonster

If you have the receipt for clothes, you may be able to get some cash back. I don't think UA will pay for your gift replacement though. I had a similar experience last year (well, the luggage was delayed for 3 days) and I did not get anything back.

unavaca

(Not quite relevant here, but documenting it for the record...)

SFO Baggage Services on the Domestic side informed me that they only provide compensation for luggage delayed more than 24 hours.

weero

I don't doubt your word! But UA lost my luggage 27 times, I know what I am talking about. They tell you whatever it takes to get you out of the office quickly and for good .
It's still infinitely better than the roughly 35 time LH lost my bags: my highest compensation there was $0.

They did not loose your bag for good, hence its value is immaterial here.

ORDnHKG

Replacement clothes ? Yes. Gifts ? No, as they didn't lose it. Shipping for the gifts ? No, you checked your luggage, that is what they are liable for, not for the items inside.


Years ago when I travelled NW to HKG, luggage lost more than a week, then they found it. Compensation $0, plus we have to pick it up from the NW ticket office in HKG, then pay for our own taxi to ship our luggage home.

Has it been more than 24 hrs ? If the items damaged then have your receipts ready to file the claim.

Oh btw, if you feel UA is cheap, let me tell you I have flown OZ in F, arriving in HKG, luggage handle totally rip off, and it is a brand new bag, have no way to lift it up other than by two people. Compensation ? None. If it is UA, I could possibly be given a replacement bag right at the airport.

luke2010

It seems China's United has some serious problems:

On the UA857 SFO-PVG flight of August 14, I landed in Pudong Airport, Shanghai, and went to the baggage claim to retrieve my two checked-in bags, one roll-on and one cardboard box.

After returning home to unpack, I discovered that I had grabbed the wrong cardboard box and immediately called United’s baggage service telephone line in the US (yes, my fault and I admit it!) They instructed me to immediately go back to the airport to return the box and retrieve my own box.

We drove back to the airport (two hours from downtown Shanghai) and could not find a single person at the airport, so returned home (another two hours).

The next morning we went back to the airport and were instructed by the United personnel that we must deliver the wrong box to the other passenger somewhere in Shanghai prior to being able to retrieve my own box. Needless to say, I was quite taken aback that United would entrust the security of baggage to a passenger to deliver to another passenger.
We insisted that we would not drive another four hours to send the box to a passenger (unknown to us and not necessary at the location that was given) and return to the airport to retrieve the box that belonged to me and they consequently released mt box to us.

Now both boxes were in my possession and they insisted that I was still responsible for sending the box to the other passenger! I told them that it was my responsibility to return the box to United Airlines, and certainly it never could be a passenger’s responsibility to deliver luggage to another passenger, but they refused to take the other box and insisted that we deliver the baggage!

Obviously, I could have left the airport and thrown the other passenger’s box away, or kept it for myself. But being the upstanding citizen I am, of course I delivered it. If I had known that United would have refused to release my own box, should I have retrieved mine before even mentioning that I had someone else’s?!? We sent the box to the other passenger after finally finding them in Shanghai.

From my perspective, this is a serious breach of baggage security, and if I was the other passenger, I would be appalled that United had entrusted my baggage to another passenger to deliver, and I am deeply insulted that they tried to refuse access to my own baggage. Yes, grabbing the wrong bag was my fault, but certainly it has happened before with other passengers.

I am currently waiting for United's reply to the complaint I filed.

MKE-MR

I have to disagree. My sample size is smaller than yours (5 vs. 27) but I have had my bags delivered to me in HKG, MKE, and other places as well. This most recent time I received no less than FIVE phone calls from United, both the 1K baggage desk and the local desk, updating me on the status of my bag (which arrived 36 hours late). I was actually quite impressed with that one...but previously the bags were still always delivered, including the tricky time when the bag contained clothing from passengers living in two different cities, was tagged through three countries on two tickets, and was lost by another airline. UA paid to ship the belongings of the other passenger back to him, on that one ^

Maybe it's in the way you ask?

weero

Welcome to FT luke2010!
So briefly you alone caused the other passenger not to receive their luggage and still you do not feel responsible in any way to make things even?

What would you prefer - UA calling the police, have you arrested for theft, and then deliver the luggage to the other pax ? If you think that this is unlikely, I saw a guy disappear into custody who took the wrong suitcase out in BKK.

I too feel that UA should forward that bag to the other pax ... and hold you responsible for the expense.

iluv2fly

I agree with weero. It's probably a wash between what it cost UA to rectify your mistake and the monies you are requesting for your items. You were properly compensated. I'd let it go, before your CC is charged with the expense of delivering the other pax box.

oldmonster

I think you should be responsible for all the delivery cost and potentially compensation for the other party. Obviously it is not UA's fault to delay the other box and it is not their responsibility to cover the associated cost. I don't understand the reason you are complaining.

weero

Yes - I always received numerous phone calls (SYD station aside, they never both to call or update you) .. but getting the bags delivered always was a no-do for me except for the main hubs.
So there's a secret code now how to fill the form ?

For the record: LH lost my luggage much more often than UA did. And they always delivered it within <24 hours except for once.

And even more importantly, during my last 3 luggage-loss episodes with UA, I rang their hotline, confirmed which flight the baggie was on, then retrieved it from the carousel. Rather than waiting days for the suitcase to be shipped, I lost a simple trip to the airport and back. Tells me that it is the forwarding that is buggered and not the actual air-hauling.