Expert: D. Norkus - 9/19/2004

Question
I have a problem with BA. Six weeks ago, I came back from London without my luggage, etc. BA doesn't give me any indication that they any time soon try to find the luggage nor to settle our dispute. Where can I get help? To who can I email in Europe to report their customer service? Please e mail me back.
Sincerly,
Jolanda De Luca
a frustrated customer

Answer
Jolanda

I do hope that at the time of your return when the luggage did not make it to baggage claim that you made a report of loss with BA customer service. It is procedure to fill out a lost claim and enter the passengers information into whatever system the air carrier uses to trace lost luggage at that time. You should have been asked to give a description of the bag contents included. Did you make and receive a copy of such a report with BA? If so it should contain all the contact information you should need to contact BA. Also, I am not aware of what country you are in, so the web contacts for your country could be different than mine. This is a form to submit all your information via their US page-

https://www.britishairways.com/webmail/baggage_claim

They also have this information regarding lost baggage on their site, which says the time can take 6-8 weeks, so perhaps that is why you have not heard from them:

"When you discover that your bag has been lost or damaged, a claim must be filed at the nearest British Airways airport office.

All efforts will be made to resolve the matter at that station. If you are a USA resident and the matter has not been resolved after 10 days, the file will be forwarded to one of two Baggage Claim Centers (see below).

Please allow 6-8 weeks for settlement.

If you would like to check on the arrival of delayed bags, please call Baggage Services at 1-800-828-8144. Be sure to have your ten digit file reference (e.g. JFKBA12345) available to expedite your call."

If you arrived at Boston, New York-JFK, Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington Dulles, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando or Miami, please send copies of your ticket, boarding pass, Property Irregularity Report and receipts for expenses claimed to:

British Airways
Regional Baggage Center Eastern USA
PO Box 20789 North Terminal
Atlanta, GA 30320-0789
tel: 1-800-828-8144
fax: 404-765-3877

If you arrived at Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle, please send copies of your ticket, boarding pass, Property Irregularity Report and receipts for expenses claimed to:

British Airways
Regional Baggage Claims Center Western USA
PO Box 62173 AMF
Houston, TX 77205-2173
tel: 1-800-828-8144
fax: 281-233-3232

Since they have not contacted you about your lost bags in 6 weeks, the odds are your items probably won't be returned as they would have contacted you by now if they were simply misdirected. When I started in the airline business, I was a baggage handler. I can tell you that thousands of bags go missing every year and are never recovered. Quite often bags are stolen. This is why it's a good idea to never put valuables, keys or medication in checked luggage! The instances of airline personel stealing or taking items is rare, yet when it does happen gets a lot of media attention. Overwhelmingly, most stolen bags are taken by professional crooks in the claim area that prey on passgeners who have nice looking luggage. Other bags are permanently lost when the destination tages come off in transit and there is no way to identify where it goes. Tags can snag on loading equipment and come off. If there was no name tag on the bag, or if that came off as well, then bags must be matched to lost reports by description and contents alone. If the bag ended up on a carousel shared by several airlines or was a connection bags between carriers, this compunds the problem as one won't know which carriers lost list to put the bag into. This is a good reason to always put your name and address on the inside of the bag as well.

If it's true that your bags are permanently 'lost', then the carrier will reimburse you up to a certain value as declared in their "contract of carriage" usually found in condensed form on that back of your ticket. By using the ticket, you have entered into a 'contract' with the airline and agree to be bound by the declarations within the C.O.C. Their declared liability limit for lost luggage wil be in the C.O.C. and should be listed in your lost claim report.

According to their site, "Baggage liability is limited to the weight of any items lost or damaged. Replacement value is not a consideration. Liability is limited to $20.00 per kilo (approx. 2.2 lbs.) for items lost or damaged. Since the maximum weight of a piece of baggage on a transatlantic route that may be checked (without payment of excess charge) is 32 kilos, the total liability for one lost or damaged bag is $640.00. This value will change depending upon the routing travelled and the applicable baggage allowance. There is no liability for fragile items or valuables. Cameras, jewellery, cash, bottled liquids, business papers, laptops and other electrical items should be taken on board and kept in your possession."

More baggage FAQs can be found at this link-

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ba.jsp/whyarr/public/en_us#section0_body0_f...

While I can't say what might have happened to your bags, I hope this can be of some assistance to provide insight as to what may have happened and to help you contact the right personnel.

Good luck