Please help me re: airline damaged baggage, posting for traffic

[justchuggingalong]

I am at my wit's end and need help with an efficient way to end the hellish maze of BS I've encountered since trying to get bloody TPA Portugal to take responsibility for damaging our travel cot. It might be naughty to post here for traffic but I don't know what else to do. Easily identifiable so have name-changed - penguin bollards, lemon drizzle C, etc etc.

Last month on our return flight to Heathrow, TPA Portugal evidently dragged our travel cot along the ground, ripping open its travel bag and wearing a hole clear through the cot's upholstery the size of a 50p coin. The cot was 4.5 weeks old at the time, and we'd intended to resell it once our baby outgrows it. As it is, it's probably not safe for his own use once he's older since he could get fingers or hands caught in it, so the cot's resale is unlikely. It cost £150 and we use it daily as a playpen.

Our flight arrived late, around 11:00pm, and we made it to baggage reclaim somewhere in the vicinity of 12:15am. The flight's bags were delayed due to God knows what and our last bag, the cot, wasn't available to us til around 12:45am. Everything around us appeared shut, there were no airline or airport employees about and we were shattered and needed to get our 4mo home. The help desks we saw in baggage reclaim were darkened, nobody at the counter, nobody in line waiting.

The next day I contacted TPA via their FB page, was given a phone # to call which was never answered. Tried again, same result. Then told to fill out a webpage form with the details. The next day was told that since we didn't report damage at Terminal 2's Lost and Found department, that TPA isn't responsible, but they're ever so sorry.

Everything I can find online says that T2's L&F office shuts at 10pm, while we were still in the air. I've been round and round with TPA about this and when they bother to reply at all, they just reiterate that damage must be reported at Heathrow, period.

I've tried calling Heathrow to get T2's L&F office's phone number to verify their opening hours, but after holding for 10 mins was cut off without having spoken to a human being.

Has anyone 'won' with damaged baggage claims, or are they just allowed to do what they like and blame you for not calling a Heathrow employee out of bed at 1am on a Monday morning to fill out their little claim sheet??? What can I do now that will end this farce? Morally I know they're responsible and don't feel they should get away with it. Realistically I don't have time to deal with this every day. We do have travel insurance but the deductible is £50 and frankly we shouldn't have to pay for someone else's stupid mistake when their only goal is to get us to go away.

AIBU to beg for help??? Where did we go wrong in all this and what can be done now?

I had a mamas and papas sport 3 wheeled pushchair. Took it to Cuba and back in one piece TC got hold of it at the airport in Cuba and came to find when picking it up at LGW. it had a broken front wheel literally they'd managed to snap the plastic and metal holding the wheel on, broken hood, broken zips, stained and ripped.

I did complain at the desk there though and was faced with "what's the issue and can't you just botch it up" I did ask her if I took the metal that was sticking out of the pram and scratches her car up and then stick gaffa tape over it would she accept my botched up job and ofc the answer was no.

They kept saying I needed a receipt but I didn't have one then when I submitted my forms they said it didn't matter you get the current price they are that day, mine was 75% off in the sale so only £125 instead of £375 that I paid but I received the check in the posh with an apology letter.

Jesus Christ that's awful.

My suitcase was damaged recently - few months ago. I will PM the airline if you wish but don't want to say it might out me to anyone on holiday with me.

I sent an email directly to the airline as soon as I landed and some photos. Within 24 hours they had offered to pay for my suitcase. Done and dusted.

I'm horrified at your experience tbh.

I'd be naming and shaming on twitter and fb.

I had a similar problem, where I didn't realise the suitcase was damaged until I got home. I e-mailed the airline with photos, and they send me a replacement (same brand) within a week.

OH flew to Instanbul with Turkish airlines last June. Upon arrival the zip on his bag was broken. They just handed him a new suitcase without even being asked. (And it was brand new, it was still wrapped in protective plastic and had labels on - probably a job lot of one of the 'designer' markets )

NotRevealing I did contact them within 24 hours, after searching their site for the proper procedure and not finding one - went to their FB page and got a phone number that led me to a 3rd party who said bluntly they only dealt with missing luggage - started over, chose another option and got a different phone number, which was never answered. Contacted via FB again and was told to go via their online Contact Us form (not a direct email per se, but a form that the customer must fill out). All of that happened within 36hrs I'd say and the delay was not all down to me.

I'm just so pissed off at the way this is being handled. It's frustrating spending my son's naps (such as they are) on this, only to get nowhere.

I need a phone # that'll be answered by a person but such a thing seems not to exist with either TPA Portugal or Heathrow.

Wrapped fantastic comeback; I'd have been too shocked to come up with that. They must get a commission for every customer they manage to make go away.

I don't think you should give up just yet, OP. Whilst it would of course have been better had your reported the damage on arrival at LHR (I think there's a generic lost/damaged baggage counter that could have logged the incident but it looks as though this wasn't manned at the time of your arrival), I had a suitcase damaged on an incoming flight and didn't notice that one of its wheels had been almost wrenched off till I got home. Contacted the airline - not TAP - to report it; sent a photo of the damage and they sent a replacement by courier within a week or so.

According to the airline's website here they accept claims after you've left the arrivals zone, but require a written claim to be made within 7 days of the flight. If you got any sort of reference number from them this might assist you with pressing on with the claim. The baggage tag number associated with the cot might also be useful, so don't bin it if you still have it! Also useful would be the receipt for the purchase of the cot.

If I were you I'd make a further attempt to claim, possibly by using the Talk to Us link on the website, and also informing your Travel Insurers about the damage - you might ultimately need to claim and don't want to fall foul of any clause that requires claims to be made within a certain number of days of the incident.

Boa sorte!

Try the CAA - if you're getting no joy with the airline:

www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=2226

Or here:

www.airpassengerrights.eu/en/lost-or-damaged-luggage.html

I think you should have made more of an effort to find someone before you left the airport. There would have been somebody there.

And ffs use your travel insurance, it what it's there for. If you didn't want to pay the excess you should have taken out a more expensive policy to account for that.

Anyway, if you claim, you spend £50 but get a brand new £150 travel cot which you can then sell. So you've still made a profit really.

Dora and Optimist thanks so much for the links. I've sent a new email citing all and will see where that gets me with TAP.

Peachy no doubt you're right; all I can say in our defense is that we had been on the go since 6pm, had been on a delayed flight, sat on the runway for quite some time at both ends, got stuck in a massive queue at border control, and our nerves were shot by the time we had to look around for an open desk. It was near to 1am, our 4mo's first flight, and we needed to get home. Whereas we 'should've made more of an effort,' perhaps TAP should've made more of an effort to pick up the bag instead of dragging it, but barring that, perhaps should make more of an effort to address the situation instead of pawning me off.

Regarding travel insurance, FFS, yes I'm aware that's what it's there for. I'm not trying to profit from this situation. I'd simply like the airline to take responsibility and not be made to incur a loss due to their mistake.

Yes but from you perspective travel insurance may well be the way to go (assuming you have the cover). It's not about making a profit, just about getting the cot replaced

My suitcase was damaged on the way back from NYC in November. It was absolutely fine when I checked it at Newark so somewhere between there, Birmingham and Glasgow the wheel was knocked clean off and the side of the bag ripped. It weighed 21kg and it was the duffle bag on wheels sort, rather than a sturdy suitcase, so it was too unstable to attempt to drag on one wheel and too heavy for me to carry on a bus, a train and then home from the train station.

I finally found a woman in Glasgow airport who said, "can you make this quick? I'm on my lunch" (!) and then stated in a bored voice that they don't cover wheels or handles, it's in their policy. Fantastic.

I had luggage issues with BA that took forever to sort out.
What finally gave me results, was finding the email address for the CEO. I emailed him a factual account of what had happened and of all the ways I'd tried to sort it out, and within a day or 2 I had a response from one of his assistants. End result was that they replaced the lost buggy.