Air Asia destroyed my baggage!

[lovelaos]

On a recent domestic flight Thai Air Asia completely smashed my luggage to bits. It was just thrown on the conveyor belt as if nothing had happened with all my possessions on show. As you can imagine I wasn't too pleased. I immediately contacted the Airasia desk and proceeded to take photos of the damaged bag. It seems that nobody from AA had ever encountered this before as nobody knew what to say or do. After 10 minutes a manageress appeared and informed me that there was nothing they could do. She gave me a slip of paper with a phone number on and told me to contact them. Once I arrived home and calmed down a little I phoned the number she gave me and to my surprise the number didn't exist..

I have flown with AA over 100 times and never had any problems, it seems I didn't purchase the insurance when I booked online.

I would like to ask any readers if they have any Air Asia email address's I could contact rather than going through Air Asia's user unfriendly customer complaints procedure.

[hullupullo]

Go straight to the topman

https://twitter.com/tonyfernandes

[canopus1969]

I doubt it was AA fault - more likely the airports baggage handlers

[nisakiman]

I doubt it was AA fault - more likely the airports baggage handlers

Yes, as far as I know the airlines themselves have very little to do with the luggage beyond checking it in at the desk. From that point on it is at the mercy of the companies who have the baggage handling contract at each end. From what I've seen, baggage handlers the world over seem to try to cause the maximum amount of damage they possibly can on all bags that pass through their hands.

[stevenl]

I doubt it was AA fault - more likely the airports baggage handlers

Yes, as far as I know the airlines themselves have very little to do with the luggage beyond checking it in at the desk. From that point on it is at the mercy of the companies who have the baggage handling contract at each end. From what I've seen, baggage handlers the world over seem to try to cause the maximum amount of damage they possibly can on all bags that pass through their hands.

Does not change the fact that it is AA responsibility.

By heart I think they have a very limited liability in the booking conditions.

[lovelaos]

You trust the airline to take care of your personal belongings. I wish I could take my luggage with me on the plane but the airline says I cannot, so they are trusted to take care of it. The thing that really p***ed me off was the fact that it was just put on the conveyor belt as if nothing was wrong!

I have to say the AA woman was extremely embarrassed to tell me the news that AA will not pay (her words) for the damage.

They have lost my (quite considerable) custom.

[snake24]

Waiting for someone to come in to say it's a budget flight and well yes that is it. That is why my check in luggage is made up of some tough material not those soft type of bags.

[nisakiman]

Waiting for someone to come in to say it's a budget flight and well yes that is it. That is why my check in luggage is made up of some tough material not those soft type of bags.

Yes, a hard case with a good strap round it is really the only option for checked-in baggage. It's worth paying a bit more for a hard case, as the handlers can chuck them around all they like, and unless they are dropped from a great height (not unheard of), they will remain intact.

[Loptr]

All part of the reason why I never check a bag.

[Chicog]

What do you put in it of any value? My luggage has clothes and a wash bag that's it. Hard to damage those and no great loss if they do. Anything of value goes with me.

I used to drink with Heathrow baggage handlers and there's nary a lock they can't crack in under 10 seconds.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[hermespan]

When an AA flight had some fluid leak enroute to Malaysia from Indonesia they offered to replace the bag even though there was no permanent damage. But I had no purchase of the bag receipt (maybe they would have taken my word for it, maybe I could have even made a profit on my knock-off bag from Hanoi).

What annoyed me was I didn't want a cheque in the mail or whatever presumably cumbersome solution they had in mind. I suggested a free AA ticket. The ticket person had me sign a form where I made my notations but they wrote on top or checked a box that I rejected their offer. They weren't listening. Even though I was willing to negiotiate they never got back to me despite my being flexible about a partial or full discount on future flights. Maybe it had something to do with various AA jurisdictions/separate corporations, but I found the whole experience very un customer service, cookie-cutter, no flexibility.

Ah, the days of Northwest Airlines sleeping in an entire empty row across the Pacific, paying $899 return, no add-on fees, miss your flight? No problem, we'll send you on a different airline tomorrow, for he same price. Nineties - those were the days my friend! Or eighties, flying on second-hand tickets bought in the Bargain Finder. And standby tickets. And airlines putting you up in Tokyo or Seoul because they couldn't guarantee a X hour connection. Meals included. And no six times inspection of your passport.

Airline nostalgiac

[lovelaos]

What do you put in it of any value? My luggage has clothes and a wash bag that's it. Hard to damage those and no great loss if they do. Anything of value goes with me.

I used to drink with Heathrow baggage handlers and there's nary a lock they can't crack in under 10 seconds.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Well the bag itself wasn't cheap, plus some SCUBA diving gear (BCD) which is too big for hand luggage. Luckily, none of that was damaged or missing. The bag is totally destroyed however. Still no reply back from AA, 3 days and counting....

[David48]

Mate ... I'm sorry for your loss.

AA 'lost' a bag of mine once. Had to do the form etc at KL.

Flew to Australia and to their credit, the bag arrived a week later and sent by taxi from the airport to where I live.

What was sad was one time, while patiently waiting for my bag to appear ... a lone handle ... yes, just the handle ... with the bar coded luggage tag appeared on the conveyor belt ... never did see the bag with no handle though ...

[lovelaos]

Mate ... I'm sorry for your loss.

AA 'lost' a bag of mine once. Had to do the form etc at KL.

Flew to Australia and to their credit, the bag arrived a week later and sent by taxi from the airport to where I live.

What was sad was one time, while patiently waiting for my bag to appear ... a lone handle ... yes, just the handle ... with the bar coded luggage tag appeared on the conveyor belt ... never did see the bag with no handle though ...

Thanks David, I must admit I laughed out loud when I read about your handle on the conveyor belt, I bet the baggage handlers were watching you to see your reaction too

[Ricardo]

So how much did Air Asia charge, for their 'Special-Handling/Mangling Fee', then ?

[lovelaos]

So how much did Air Asia charge, for their 'Special-Handling/Mangling Fee', then ?

Sorry, I don't understand the question? Do you mean how much was the ticket?

[snake24]

Waiting for someone to come in to say it's a budget flight and well yes that is it. That is why my check in luggage is made up of some tough material not those soft type of bags.

Yes, a hard case with a good strap round it is really the only option for checked-in baggage. It's worth paying a bit more for a hard case, as the handlers can chuck them around all they like, and unless they are dropped from a great height (not unheard of), they will remain intact.

Talking about the strap thing. I used to own the strap when travelling to the US. Once i was told to open my luggage cos it weighed unusually heavy and this was like 2 years after sept 11 so i do so and then had to close my luggage again and put the strap thing back and i forgot to lock it inside the luggae handle. Hope you can picture what i am saying so anyway the strap came off and was lost when i reached my destination. Was quite a good strap too.

Anyway the hard baggae casing is to protect the stuff inside the luggage and one should always put the utmost care when leaving his own property in the care of others cos nobody else gives a sh!t about someone else's stuff. My macbook has a nice casing too.

[snake24]

Mate ... I'm sorry for your loss.

AA 'lost' a bag of mine once. Had to do the form etc at KL.

Flew to Australia and to their credit, the bag arrived a week later and sent by taxi from the airport to where I live.

What was sad was one time, while patiently waiting for my bag to appear ... a lone handle ... yes, just the handle ... with the bar coded luggage tag appeared on the conveyor belt ... never did see the bag with no handle though ... alt=rolleyes.gif>

Mate ... I'm sorry for your loss.

AA 'lost' a bag of mine once. Had to do the form etc at KL.

Flew to Australia and to their credit, the bag arrived a week later and sent by taxi from the airport to where I live.

What was sad was one time, while patiently waiting for my bag to appear ... a lone handle ... yes, just the handle ... with the bar coded luggage tag appeared on the conveyor belt ... never did see the bag with no handle though ... alt=rolleyes.gif>

Thanks David, I must admit I laughed out loud when I read about your handle on the conveyor belt, I bet the baggage handlers were watching you to see your reaction too alt=biggrin.png> alt=clap2.gif>

speaking of the handle that came off it also happened to me on one of my trips to thailand. Thank god i bought another luggage. The wheels and everything were attached to the handle while the bag and luggae were screwed on so if it comes loose there goes the handle and the wheels. It's a standard design for this type of luggage and the luggage is usually made of soft material. Prefer the hard metal casing one where the wheels and the handles aren't screwed on but like a part of the design.

[lovelaos]

If you look at the picture I posted it shows the zip area has been tampered with. The zipper (along with padlock) were missing from the bag. I think somebody could cut the zip on a hard case too.

[mrtoad]

Classic AA customer service, giving a bogus number as well , that's the definition of Thainess.

[Ricardo]

So how much did Air Asia charge, for their 'Special-Handling/Mangling Fee', then ?

Sorry, I don't understand the question? Do you mean how much was the ticket?

No, just that AA never do anything, without charging extra for it, so there must be a fee for the 'special mis-handling' of your luggage, an attempt at humour on my part.

I do sympathise with you, we all get minor-damage (smashed-wheels or handles ripped-off) to our bags in-transit from time to time, and (as someone else already pointed-out) the baggage-handlers are usually not employed by the airline, so it really isn't AA's fault.

I used to work for a UK-airline, we only employed baggage-handlers at our main-hub, and sub-contracted at about a hundred other airports.

[nisakiman]

If you look at the picture I posted it shows the zip area has been tampered with. The zipper (along with padlock) were missing from the bag. I think somebody could cut the zip on a hard case too.

Suitcase zips are the easiest type of luggage to open, hard or soft case. They just jam a Biro through the zip, and hey presto! it's open. They can then close it just as easily so you wouldn't know it had been tampered with.

If you put a good strap with a combination lock round it, then that makes it a little harder to open, and hopefully the miscreant will go for the easier options. However, if someone really wants to break into your case, then break into it they will. The best you can do is to deter the opportunist with only a little time by making it too difficult to bother with.

[wooloomooloo]

From Nok Air website: http://www.nokair.com/contents/journey_plan/baggage_info/en-US/index.html

Lost Baggage

If the checked baggage cannot be returned within 14 days after arrival, the luggage is considered lost. Nok Air pays THB 400 per kg. of lost checked baggage with a maximum of THB 2,000 per piece of baggage, regardless of the value of the content that has been lost.

Damaged Baggage

Nok Air will pay THB 500 per piece of baggage.

Additional insurance can be purchased on the ticket but the cover isn't great. I'll fall back on my travel insurance if necessary. I never leave anything other than clothes in checked luggage.

I'd rather my luggage was treated with respect, but understand that's not always the [suit] case. Notwithstanding, the baggage handlers are under pressure to shift a ton of luggage in a short a time as possible. You can't win - have adequate insurance coverage if it means that much.

[lovelaos]

Well I got a reply from their facebook page today........they told me to use their ereply service........back to square 1 then

[stevenl]

Well I got a reply from their facebook page today........they told me to use their ereply service........back to square 1 then

You'll get nowhere with them. They must be the worst airline to deal with in case of incidents.

[jackr]

Fly with them again with a bust bag (that doesn't look bust) with insurance and...