bigstego wrote:

Has any one got any advice to give.......never again will I cut corners regarding insurance......I've just got a horrible feeling that we're going to be given the run-a-round on this one

Hi, I am, sorry to hear of your loss, but to be honest I think you have answered your own question. What exactley do you mean by "cutting corners regarding insurance"? If you mean you failed to take out any Insurance, or bought a basic Policy 'on the cheap' so to speak, you probably don't stand a chance of getting your case back or being compensated for you loss and subsequent 'out of pocket' expenses.

Karen I'm sorry to read about your lost case it's one thing I always dread when we go abroad. I can't really give you any advice and I'm not going to state the obvious about your insurance as from your post post you're obviously aware of your mistake, it doesn't need pointing out. Don't give up hope just yet that your case has gone for good, you never know you may be lucky.

Shell

has the airport tried to trace the case through the baggage tracker system, speak to the handling agents lost and found department n ask them if ty have done this. most bags are normally ound this way but can take week to 10 days to do so dependednt on which airline and how many flight routes they have.

Karen - my case went missing last weekend on the way home from Majorca, which wasn't as bad as losing it on the way there I know. A trace was put on it from the number on the baggage tag used at check in, and having been to Germany and Birmingham it did arrive back in Scotland 2 days after me. They say they will continue to trace up to three months so don't lose hope quite yet!

I think posts which imply criticism of you regarding insurance are unhelpful - you are looking for advice, not people telling you that they don't think you stand a chance of getting it back. Some people just can't seem to help themselves from posting on topics where they cannot actually offer any constructive advice or help. I know your situation was worse than mine, but I do understand how you feel, and I hope you are lucky like I was and get it back eventually.

Sorry I couldn't give any advice I just wanted to put something positive after the very negative first reply.

Good luck it's nice to hear that Meerkat got their luggage back so like I say don't lose hope just yet

Thanks shell - couldn't have put it better myself as you will see in my pm to you!

Hopefully it will turn up. My niece was studying at Uni in Spain, and her case went missing on the journey over there. It was full of books and other stuff for her course. After a couple of weeks she went out and bought replacements for most of the missing items. 10 weeks later the case turned up.

Hi Karen be prepared for the runaround but i'm sure if your case does not turn up ( i think it's 90 days ) before any insurance can pay you, the airline should pay you if you have no insurance, but i know they will not pay as much so do try your household insurance. I lost my case a few years ago but was insured i had to give some kind of proof what was actually in my case, i keep most of my reciepts, but if you have photo's of items, or instruction booklets for camera's etc, then they will accept them, well they did with me, and keep copies of any letters you recieve and people's names you speak to, i know it's not nice to have something of yours go missing but i'm sure your get something back, also include on your claim all the items you had to buy whilst awaiting for your caes to arrive, hope all goes well

Thanks everyone for your very helpful and positive replys.

Unfortunatley, the runaround has just started. They delivered a case to me 4 days into the holiday, but it wasn't mine, i put it on a bus as advised by the people in Athens, explaining to them it wasnt my case. They're now they're saying (according to the tracing computer system) that I recived my suitcase and my "case" scuse the pun is now closed, so now they're not even looking for it. I'v now to put my issues in writing to Globespan. I'll keep you all posted and let you know how it goes.

Thanks
Karen

p.s. home contents isn't covering it as I dont have accidental loss on my policy limit.

Aw Karen how frustrating for you, I'd be well miffed off Good luck with Globespan and yes keep us informed as to how you get on, I'll keep everything crossed for you

Sometimes even if you do have insurance it's not much help.

My daughter went to New York in 2004 with her college. Suitcase got left behind . She had to buy underwear and clothes and toiletries etc suitcase turned up 4 days later,damaged.

We are still arguing with the insurance company over reimbursement

Bill

Hi peeps

We had our case left at Manchester airport once, when we arrived at Monastir we had to complete paperwork and ensure that our tag numbers were matching the 2 cases that we had recieved. As long as you have the counterfeit Karen they will retrieve your suitcase, I'm sure.
Like the previous post we recieved ours 4 days later, battered and split. I could not blame our airline company for the state of the case as another airlline carried it through on their behalf and they would have to be charged for it.

I hope you do have your case back, I really feel for you.

good luck

kazee

Hope your case turns up.
We returned from Tenerife in April and stood by the carousel at Manchester until there were no bags left....husbands case missing. It was the first time he had ever taken his brand new scuba diving equipment on holiday so as you can imagine he was not a happy bunny. We reported the loss to the luggage desk and we were told that it could come in on one of the later Tenerife flights that night. We phoned next morning to find it had actually been put on a Gatwick flight that had left Tenerife at the same time as our Manchester flight. This makes me wonder about airline security Surely the Manchester flight was a bag short and even worse security wise....the Gatwick flight was a bag over ! It is just too much too imagine that by pure coincidence a Gatwick bag had been put on our Manchester flight and hence numbers tallied.
Hubbys case was eventually returned one week later via Biringham airport, Liverpool airport and then taxi

Hi everyone

quick up-date re case. I phoned Athens tonight, having been unable to get through to Avience for the past 5 days, and they told me that my case will be coming into Glasgow on the 26th July, so fingers and toes crossed that the case will actually be mine and that i'll get my make up, GHD hair straighners and everything alse.

Karen

Sounds positive Karen, everything crossed for you here

Hi Karen - all crossed here for you too, let us know when you get it.

Lets hope you are reunited with your case soon. This is every travellers nightmare.

For any of you that are interested I thought I'd just give you an insight as what happens when cases go missing.

When a case is reported as missing at the airport the 'tag' number that was given at check-in is entered into the baggage tracing system along with other details such as size,colour,make etc. Similarly, the info of any unclaimed bags that are left on the belt is also entered and the computer automatically tries to find matches based on this info. In the majority of cases, the computer is able to find a match and a message is sent to the handlers where the bag has been claimed as lost. The handlers then correspond with whatever airport/airline is holding the lost bag to organise for it to be delivered. Naturally, the time it takes to get your bag back will depend on where the bag is found. Furthermore, lost bags are treated as excess luggage, so if the next flight is up to its weight limit, then the bag will be delayed further until there is space available.

If no 'automatic' matches are generated by the computer within the first 7 days or so, then the handlers will probably assume the lost bag is 'tagless'. This means that sometime after the bag was checked in the tag has been torn off, so no-one knows where that bag should be going. If this happens, the handlers will try to find a match based on the other information given (colour, shape, size, make etc.). Any airport/airline holding bags similar to the description then send messages to the handlers. If the bags are fairly unique then they will be send on as before. However, if the case is fairly common to many others, customers will be asked to provide examples of items in their case and the unidentified case will be forced open to see if these items match.

Lost bag files remain 'active' for 3 months, after which the customer can make a claim against the airline. The claim is limited to the weight of the case at check-in, so a customer will be awarded X pounds per kilo (I don't know what the current rate is, but it is standardised across all airlines). Even after this happens however, lost bag files are never 'closed' and there have been situations where bags have turned up years after they were lost. In this instance, the cutomer still gets their bag back, and does not have to pay back any compensation received.

Tips for travelling....put your own label on the bag as well as the one given at check-in. The more unusual the case, the easier it is to identify. Stick a label with your name and address on the inside of the case so it can be easily identified if forced open.

Even if you don't have baggage insurance, the carrier does while it is in their care.
My case was delayed by FC, who then did everything to squirm out of responsibility. I persisted and was put in touch with THEIR insurers. They wanted receipts which I didn't have and so didn't respond to me. I persisted with FC and ended with a great chap who handles luggage problems. He dealt with the insurance company for me, obtaining a full refund for items bought despite me having no receipts (Egypt) and also arranged for a handsome compensation cheque to make up for the inconvenience.
At one point in the initial dialogue I was fobbed of with "you are only covered by the Montreal? Convention" so I looked it up and said fair enough give me the max for the case under those terms. I think they were actually pleased to get away with what they gave me as reading my holiday insurance terms and conditions implied that if I had baggage cover, I would have received an automatic £300 pay out which the insurance company would then have claimed straight back from the airline insurers, as it was I wasn't that far short.
Of course I upgraded the insurance for the next holiday and would you believe it the case arrived as normal! The B.........s.

So don't forget even if you get your case back you are still entitled to some sort of compensation from them for the delayed baggage, although in the case of a package holiday it is easier to identify the TO and let them fight it out..