Airline lost luggage now arrived but opened and anything valuable nicked

[wherearemybloodyshoes]

Have name changed for this but long time user… obviously I’m not being unreasonable and I realise it is a FWP but I do need the collective wisdom of mumsnet to help please..checked in all of our suitcases together onto a flight with Swiss air on Saturday night with priority luggage, two of them did not arrive back until today…they have arrived with the padlocks opened, cases unlocked and any valuable items (which you might put on eBay if you are a thieving git) are missing including a pair of limited edition Nikes my teenage DD got as a reward for passing exams and something I got as a present for a significant birthday amongst other stuff. My stuff going missing is irritating but DD is rightly upset as obviously I can’t repurchase those shoes and she worked hard for them and were a one-off treat. Airline baggage handling company couldn’t give less of a shit and don’t seem very surprised the cases had been ransacked at Heathrow whilst in their care. I’ve never had luggage go missing before. All the cases had apple AirTags in them so I exactly where they’ve been. I’m up to my eyes at work and don’t have time to spend hours filling forms or on hold…it all seems to be the customer’s problem rather than the company’s to resolve….any ideas how to reduce the level of admin and frustration? I’m a woman of a certain age so I have zero menopausal patience 😭

I’d go through Swissair seeing as you won’t get much from your travel insurance. I’ve only ever claimed for broken luggage & did well out of it. Emirates let me choose a suitcase, as did one airport when I arrived & the zip was ripped right off my case 🥺 Etihad were bastards though & wouldn’t give me a thing despite me emailing them right away seeing as I couldn’t get through on the phone. Unless you have reasonable insurance leave the good stuff at home. Did you take any photos of the stuff? Some say it’s advisable 🤔

I used to work in an airline baggage services office. A bag went missing due to mistagging and someone said they had 2 pairs of brand new Prada shoes in there. They were a gift so no reciept. The bag turned up but had no ID so the pax was asked to open his bag to identify the items were his.

Strangely there were no Prada shoes in there. Pax suddenly remembered he hadn't taken them on this trip.

This is why the airline's liability limit as per the Montreal Convention is restricted to £1200 per person.

I've had this previously and had to report to the police to get a crime number before insurance would help. It was BA who could not have given fewer shits but the insurance eventually paid out.

Sorry you're having to deal with this.

I think I'd be wearing an expensive pair of shoes rather than putting them in luggage. You'll have to claim on insurance.

Similar happened to me when traveling to SA. Claim on travel insurance but also check if your house insurance covers any of the items. I now treat checked in baggage as insecure and wear/handbag anything remotely of value. They nicked loads from my case including a bracelet and watch (I know they shouldn’t have been in there.) a half empty bottle of perfume and a new swimming costume with tags. It was on way out so spoilt the holiday to some extent not least cos I had to go shopping for replacement clothes and shoes.

No advice I'm afraid, and sorry you've lost your stuff.

I just wanted to say - I thought/hoped this sort of theft at airports was a thing of the past, what with CCTV etc.

As previously suggested try the airline - I've travelled a few times with Swissair and always found them helpful.

I once cancelled at short notice and the fare wasn't refundable due to the type of ticket - within days they emailed, unprompted, to ask for bank details to refund the tax, and this was paid in a day or so later.

@Bluebells12 thank you, sums up exactly how I feel.

For everyone else in the ‘leave it at home’ camp, I really don’t see why if we work hard, we shouldn’t be able to take a few decent pairs of shoes/dresses etc (not Rolex’s!) to a lovely hotel where we get to wear them, especially after two years of being not able to after covid, caring responsibilities etc. The trouble with putting everything in hand luggage is the same risk of hand luggage also being placed in the hold at the request of the airline…

Yes I have photos of us wearing the stuff or receipts. It isn’t really the point. As a PP says, you do get people lying about what was in their case, so that claim is limited. It’s the bloody time consuming bollocks of it all,

Not to drip feed, I can’t really claim on household insurance as I have a subsidence claim going through so the broker doesn’t advise it. As I said, it’s been quite a year and at some point I must’ve pissed on a witch. Suffice to say, I am not buying a lottery ticket tonight 😭

OP my ex husband used to be a baggage handler at Heathrow while he was studying. I used to do long haul flights for work and he warned me to always have my cases wrapped at the airport. Excess Baggage Company wrap your luggage and include £3000 Baggage Liability Protection and Luggage Tracking for around £22. Definitely worth it. So sorry this happened to you, I will never understand the mentality of those who steal.

@InquiringMinds thanks I’ll bear that in mind!

If luggage arrives without its owner it often needs to be opened by customs, obviously things shouldn't be missing but the authorities can open unaccompanied baggage and then reseal it

A friend of mine swears by using at least 4 colourful luggage straps on a very plain cheap looking black/grey/navy case, so initially it looks like your bag is jazzed up so you spot it on the carousel amongst all the other black/grey/navy cases. Whereas in reality if the thieving handler has to undo 3 o 4 or more straps it is kind of obvious as it will take time to undo and do them up vs whipping a zip round to look inside.

I wonder if the courier delivering had anything to do with the theft.

We've had hold luggage robbed from. They must have used pliers or some tool like that to snip the lock off the zip fastening, quite blatant. I presume X-ray helps them to target certain bags. The airline didn't want to know - Wizzair.

You can't always get all valuables in the hand luggage and just hope for honest baggage handlers. By the time you're at the other end it's long gone.

@Ariela courier was DHL and the guy is our usual local delivery DHL chap so I wouldn’t question his integrity, I pointed out they were open and he immediately offered to get the CCTV from the depot to see if it was open before it arrived.

On a related but tangential note. I have separate travel insurance and a personal possessions add on to our home insurance.

My husband was pickpocketed in Rome so we claimed on our travel insurance. But reading through the small print, it said it wouldn't pay out if it was covered by any other insurance. It was also covered by the home insurance which had a similar exemption.

Fortuitously the travel insurance (which had a much lower excess) paid out through a non-human automated process but I wonder if you ever get stuck in a loop where both insurance companies insist it's the other's responsibility?

Oh that really sucks. I feel for your daughter - some things are worth more than the monetary value.

Not sure there is much you can do about the now necessary buereaucracy to get your money back. Venting on aibu sounds like an acceptable option to make it easier to get through

People have had laptops stolen going through airport security, just lifted out of the tray and walked off with.

I specifically have my travel and breakdown with the same people, as we drive our camper on holiday, and I didn’t want the breakdown people saying it was travel and vice versa. Obviously it’s our vehicle and accommodation, so it if gets pranged or conks out, we’re stuffed!

Sorry you got robbed OP. I bet DD has pics of the Nikes, at least! I hope it doesn’t happen again however you pack.

I'm sorry this happened, although "women of a certain age" should know better than to ever pack valuables in their checked luggage. Your things shouldn't get stolen, but they will, and there's no getting them back. I hope this has been a good lesson for your daughter.

@wherearemybloodyshoes just looping back on your household brokers comment about not claiming - I’m a broker and I don’t understand this at all. What difference does making a second unrelated claim on the policy make? It’s literally what insurance is for ……

Yep you need to watch your electronic gadgets closely as they go through and grab them first, while holding onto your trousers and are shoeless.

I use to have to do that especially on the UK side when I use to work abroad and took any laptops.

I'm really amazed at all the 'it happens, expect it, learn your lesson' answers.

If I pay (a lot) for a service such as transporting me and my luggage from a to b and the service provider (airline) fails to do what I pay them for I absolutely expect them to compensate me fully.

I can't think of any other services where such a cock up would be met with 'lesson learned, suck it up' type answers?

FWIW by way of background this got mentioned by @Twentypast upthread..

www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-rewards/montreal-convention-luggage/

Poor you OP, that's awful. I agree with the pp who said - what kind of world do we live in that this is expected! You have every right to feel mightily angry. I hope you get compensation.

Can I ask what this wrapping service is? @InquiringMinds Does that mean when you see some peoples cases wrapped in cling film? How on earth does that prevent thieves though - I don't get it!

Yes, that’s exactly what it is @PlacesIGo The first time I was told about doing it, I felt the same way as you. However, I decided to give it a go after my supposedly tamper proof case was opened. I paid for the the wrapping that includes high insurance and was told that because their are so many layers, it deters chancers from opening luggage as it takes more time and more of a risk of being caught. So far it’s always worked for me or perhaps I just got lucky.