[Anonymous]

[iggy6969]

I was due to fly on KLM London – Amsterdam – Manila without stopover recently and checked my bag through to Manila in London. Departure from London was delayed a few hours due to fog and I missed the connecting flight to Manila (no attempt appeared to have been made to move passengers with connectng flights onto earlier flights – I watched two earlier flights depart from the lounge) and had to stay overnight at an airport hotel in Amsterdam, thus missing the full day of business in Manila I had planned and meaning that on arrival in Manila, I had to transfer immediately across to the Thai flight back the other way to Bangkok.

You can imagine the joy when my luggage turns up, three zippers broken and the main handle just dangling off where it had been connected by metal to the suitcase. So KLM now offers no compensation for the destruction of the suitcase without (1) certification from repairman that the luggage is beyond repair (beyond doubt from the picture I sent them) AND (2) the original receipt for the luggage. Who keeps original receipts? I know I will from now on for luggage purchses !

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

iggy

Sorry to hear about the damage,

I have had so many cases damaged over the years, that I now rely on the airlines to subsidise my luggage replacement costs 😉

The most recent incident was with Lufthansa, case severely damaged 2 days after purchase and full refund of purchase price received. Thank you Lufthansa, for demonstrating what excellent customer service looks like.

If you travel a lot, it is worth keeping receipts for cases and also contents – the airlines and insurance companies only pay a %, based on wear and tear, but you would be surprised at how much the contents of your case are worth.

I have never cheated on the contents of cases, but nonetheless the claims can easily get up towards 1,000 euros, including the case.

In your circumstances, I would talk to the repair company about KLM’s policy/the severity of damage to your bag and they may be able to quote you a repair price that is pretty similar to buying a new case from them.

If the case costs more to repair than replace (can often be true, especially for polycarbonate and polypropelene cases), this may be the most cost effective and pragmatic solution for everyone, as KLM cannot refuse to repair your luggage, unless you accepted a limited release condition.

[JordanD]

A receipt for the original luggage? That’s a little bit beyond a joke, especially if the bag has been used for a while …

Only experience in sorting out damaged luggage was with BA earlier this year – trolley bag got damaged on an EDI-LHR flight, with the net effect of the wheel bearing failing as I was rolling the bag down to the Heathrow Express; contacted BA when I got home, and with minimal of fuss, a new (superior) bag was dispatched by courier and delivered to my home within the end of that week. Very impresive …

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Despite the stick I sometimes handout, BA is pretty good on replacing bags.

The only problem I have experienced, on one occasion, was explaining that the proposed replacement bag was nowhere near the quality of the damaged item, which was repairable anyway (as it was a aluminium case.)

But we got there in the end.

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