Airline Lost Baggages

[MegaRanter]

I flew Ethipian Airlines into Lagos Nigeria on the 12th of dec and 2 baggages among the 7 that I checked in at suwanpoom failed to show up and according to their computers this morning, the bags left BKK and after the stopover at Addis Abbaba, all traces of them were lost.

These bags contaings very valuable fashion items meant for sale and I paid $8 for a kilo, in all these 2 bags value about $10000, content and freight.

The airline is offering to reimburse me $20 for every kilo which will come to a little short of $1000.

What should I do, anyother way to press the issue, anyone been through this kind of problem? 

[bkkjames]

If you paid 8 USD a kilo for the material and the airline is offering you 20 USD a kilo, don't you wish they lost all your bags?

[PattayaParent]

Quote

These bags contaings (sic) very valuable fashion items.

after the stopover at Addis Abbaba, all traces of them were lost.

Unquote

I think there's your problem.

[Crossy]

I honestly doubt there is any recourse

There are signs everywhere at Suvanabhumi (and most [all] other airports) "do not place valuable items in checked luggage". Sure as anything I would not entrust 10 Grand's worth of anything to ANY airport baggage handlers.

Something that valuable should be shipped freight and insured.

[surangw]

Quote

These bags contaings (sic) very valuable fashion items.

after the stopover at Addis Abbaba, all traces of them were lost.

Unquote

I think there's your problem.

no doubt on display for sale at Merkato market soon after the plane landed

[CWMcMurray]

2 bags of clothes purchased for USD 8 per kg valued at 10,000 ? So that must mean that each bag weighed 625kg... those are some pretty big bags

Edited January 5, 2010 by CWMcMurray

[tartempion]

2 bags of clothes purchased for USD 8 per kg valued at 10,000 ? So that must mean that each bag weighed 625kg... those are some pretty big bags

No brainer:

I paid $8 for a kilo, in all these 2 bags value about $10000

The OP paid the airline 8$ freight charge per kg, he had 7 bags remember.

Moral: checking extra baggage for reselling purpose is a bad idea, thieves on the outlook everywhere

[MegaRanter]

My english must have been pretty bad for some people to misunderstand what I was trying to say.

Thanks tartempion.

But I have checked in thses kind of baggages over 200 times in the past 11 years and they are always on the carousel when I get there.

In the past also, some bags have been delayed for a week, but then, they always tell me its stuck at addis and will be on a particular flight. Never ever took a month or the tag numbers not showing on their computers.

I would rather not pursue claims for the lost baggages but wait to see if it eventually turns up, I know both the country manager and the airport manager personally, overtime I hope they would compensate with some discount as i would continue to use this particular service.

Thanks for all the replies, but still sad that there is no way to up the ante with any big firm.

[NanLaew]

I was a victim of 'lost' baggage on this carrier on this route a few years back. My single bag checked in at BKK never showed at LOS and after filing a claim, I was told I would be contacted. I did notice that there was a large amount of Nigerians (well Africans anyway) who were hauling loads of these large, square, striped, bulky bags off the carousel; sometimes there was up to 6 or 7 per passenger! I subsequently learned that this through flight has a turnaround in Guangzhou and Hong Kong so is used by Nigerian (or other African) traders to bulk ship cheap garments from China to Lagos. It also now appears to be a freight service for traders purchasing goods in Bangkok but if the hold is overfilled with excess stuff checked in in China, then the Bangkok excess never gets loaded.

I never heard anything from the airline so went back to the airport 2 days later day and talked my way past the security, saying I was collecting delayed baggage. He waived me through to the baggage carousel area! Once again, there was a carousel loaded with these huge, bulky bags. I then noticed a huge pile of mixed baggage in a corner and people ferreting around in it. I dug around and a few minutes later, I found my bag intact (it was tagged as arriving the previous day) so grabbed it and wandered out past the guard, no checks or questions. I subsequently advised my Client that I would not be flying that airline and route again (cheapest Biz Class BKK-LOS at the time). All this time, the airline made no effort to contact me saying it had had arrived.

If you are a trader and you have used this airline to ship huge amounts of cheap goods "over 200 times over the past 11 years" and this is your first loss, I say quit ranting as you are way, WAY ahead of the game. Consider the other passengers with normal baggage allowances that have had disruption to their business and holidays by your abuse of this low-grade airlines cash-cow excess baggage system.

As for your bags containing 'very valuable fashion items', do you mean the ones on the sidewalk at the low-end of Sukhumvit or the ones in the back alleys of Pratunam market?

Edited January 8, 2010 by NanLaew