Airline lost bag...

J

JuliaArt

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I recently travelled from Germany to Ireland with Aer Lingus. As I was about to board the plane in Germany they offered to take my bag and put in the hold. They put a tag on it, and that was the last I've seen of my bag. On arrival they admitted that the bag was delayed and gave me a tracing ID. A week later they still haven't located the bag.

The kicker for me is the iPad I use for work was in the bag. I'm a self employed illustrator with deadlines fast approaching. At this stage I would purchase a new iPad if I knew I could bill the airline regardless of whether they find my bag or not. I read that I have to wait 21 days until they will admit they lost my bag, after which time I can make a claim for losses. I really don't have 3 weeks to wait. I'm losing money with each day that passes.

Anyone have any advice on how to proceed?
 
It's a long time since I worked in this area,but from memory,the Warsaw convention specifies the payout for lost luggage,and it's about €20 a kilo.
Did you have travel insurance?
Is your iPad insured under your house insurance?
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure this will be under the Montreal Convention rather than Warsaw. That's a good point about house insurance. The big issue is the device was bought second hand for cash, therefore I don't have a receipt. I will see if I can find some kind of proof of ownership.
 
See here about dealing with Aer Lingus' complaints system...nothing will happen quickly.
 
They destroyed a bicycle of mine in the past. Once I showed them pictures and provided receipts they paid up reasonably quickly. But in that case I could show them pictures of my luggage and the damaged bike. One of my clients has already said that if I can't make the deadline agreed they will terminate my contract with them and find someone else. You can just imagine how frustrating this is. I'm certainly planning to claim compensation for the loss of earnings. But not being able to do anything for the next 3 weeks until they deem it lost is killing me. Looks like I will just have to go through the motions, fill out the forms, see what happens. If they don't cough up I'll have to go to the small claims court. If I purchased a new device I could make my deadlines, but I don't want to be out of pocket if they refuse to cough up. Argghh!
 
I think you need to source another iPad... it sounds like you can't afford to wait for airline to resolve things.
 
Maximum payable is €1,220.

JuliaArt said:
One of my clients has already said that if I can't make the deadline agreed they will terminate my contract with them and find someone else. You can just imagine how frustrating this is. I'm certainly planning to claim compensation for the loss of earnings.
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Your ability to earn and meet your contractual obligations is impacted by the loss of a single iPad? If I were a client hearing this, I'd be going elsewhere.
 
Leo said:
Your ability to earn and meet your contractual obligations is impacted by the loss of a single iPad?
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Yes. In the same way a delivery driver would face losses of earnings if their van or truck was suddenly unavailable to them.

odyssey06 said:
I think you need to source another iPad... it sounds like you can't afford to wait for airline to resolve things.
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I'm currently looking into it. If I can't borrow one I may just have to purchase one.
 
JuliaArt said:
Yes. In the same way a delivery driver would face losses of earnings if their van or truck was suddenly unavailable to them.
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A delivery driver would quickly arrange a rental van to ensure continuity of their business. An IT business should have contingency plans in place for when equipment inevitably fails.
 
Aer Lingus lost one of our checked in bags to the USA august bank holiday weekend, we were without the bag for over 72hrs with zero communication from them.
travel insurance covered first €150, we needed to spend a lot more as we were attending a wedding and had to buy suits. lodged claim with aer Lingus on return 10th August, I am still chasing it... and I call them once a week for an update to be told there is a back log, usually waiting over 15mins for call to be answered.

they are extremely slow to pay out. good luck I hope you get your bag back.
 
This is exactly why I'm afraid to go ahead and buy a new device. I just can't afford to do so if they don't pay me back. The next time they offer to take my bag I know exactly what I'll be saying to them.
 
JuliaArt said:
This is exactly why I'm afraid to go ahead and buy a new device. I just can't afford to do so if they don't pay me back. The next time they offer to take my bag I know exactly what I'll be saying to them.
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But you've said you'll lose work over it so surely you can't afford not to! regardless of what the airline do! Get onto adverts.ie and get a preloved one!
 
Still no sign of my bag. The only good news is that one of my clients is going to purchase a new iPad for me so I can continue the work I've started for them. I'll post again if there are any new developments.
 
So on a whim I decided to contact DAA about my lost bag. They directed me towards the lost and found section of their website. Whilst browsing that I found a match for my bag. I then got back in touch with Aer Lingus, who then contacted the DAA...

Long story short, my bag arrived yesterday, everything in tact. I will bill them for expenses incurred. I have some receipts for clothes which I had to buy for my young son. I'm not sure I'll even try to claim for loss of earnings. But at least I have everything back now. If I hdn't tracked down my bag myself I'm pretty sure I'd never have seen it again. Thanks to everyone for your input and advice. Case closed.
 
Glad your bag showed up, but if you were "home" (bag went missing from Germany to Ireland) why would your child need new clothing? Surely not all his clothing was in the carry on bag? I would be prepared to have to justify that when you make a claim.
 
dereko1969 said:
I would be prepared to have to justify that when you make a claim.
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Good point. Our son is a little over a year old. We were in Germany for the past 4 months. He had out grown all the clothes we had in Ireland apart from one or two things. In fairness, I only spent about 20 quid on some essentials. I wasn't trying to exploit the situation in any way. I'm just relieved I got everything back ;)
 
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