Jet Airways-horrible service-HELP!!

Ariell

Hi all

Let me preface this by saying that I consider myself a patient person. However, my patience is being tested by Jet Airways after they lost my luggage one week ago and have offered me virtually no assistance in recovering it. Their customer "service" is truly appalling!!!! Any advice on how I can get my luggage back??

Last Sunday, I took a JA flight from Delhi to Chennai and then Chennai to Toronto. I was told my baggage would be transferred in Chennai and that I did not physically have to do this. When I reached Toronto, my luggage never came through. I filled in a report at the JA office where I was reassured that my luggage would be returned to me by courier within 24 hours. It wasn't.

Next day I called the JA lost baggage number that I was given at the Toronto airport repeatedly before finally reaching someone who told me my luggage hadn't arrived and told me to call again the next day. Within the past week, I have probably called that number over 100 times and can never manage to reach anyone. I have left 3 messages which no one has bothered to return. Once I reached someone who promised to call me back. That was 3 days ago. Still waiting...

I called the 24 hour help desk in India on several occasions. One person told me to send an email to airportservices@jetairways.com which I did. No reply. A second email. Again no reply. Another call to the JA office in India where that person told me that the number I was calling in Toronto had changed and gave me 2 new numbers. Both of them were wrong numbers.

I sent an email to the customer feeback email on Jet Airways site, asking for their assistance, and all they did was forward my email to the airport services email (which I had already contacted with no response).

I have also entered my file reference number into the Baggage Tracing System on the JA website and I get an error message saying "cannot locate a valid file for your entry". This would seem to indicate to me that my file has not even been entered into their system. I sent another email to customer relations and to airport services asking why I am getting this error message. Again no reply.

I called again today to the 1800 number in India and was given the head office number here in Canada. I will call tomorrow (as they are only open M-F) and see where that gets me.

As I said, I am a patient person. I have been polite in all my dealings with JA. I understand that mistakes happen. I don't expect perfection. But really one week without a single response from JA after I left several emails and voicemails? They seem to have no regard whatsoever for their customers. Pity because I thought the inflight service was great and would certainly have flown with them again even after they lost my luggage. But now one week without a single response from JA? Appalling. I think that's inexcusable.

I have flown many many times and have never had my baggage lost. I am at a loss as to what else I can do. There is nothing in my baggage of any value, just a few items of sentimental value to me and some necessities -- clothes, contact lenses, phone charger etc.

Do any of you more seasoned travellers have some bright ideas as to how I can get my luggage back?? Who can I contact to get someone at Jet Airways to help me??

Thanks very much in advance!

machadinha

Do you have some national overseeing flying organization (I suspect you do)? That's whose bells I'd be ringing. ( http://www.tc.gc.ca/ ?)

Consumer organizations, ombudsman, also spring to mind. But I'd check with them first.

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Ariell

Thanks very much for the suggestion Machadinha! I hadn't thought of that. I also found this site that provided some direction as to consumer complaints about air travel. http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/f.../who_what.html I sent a complaint to the Toronto Airport Authorities by email. For the rest, I think I will need to wait until tomorrow when I can speak to someone in person.

machadinha

Yes, good. Let us know how it ends. You don't need to take all that stuff with your belly up; although it will often be a consideration of how much time and effort is it worth to you. Which of course is what such folks are betting on anyway.

Ariell

Yes no doubt they are hoping that I will just give up. But I am nothing if not persistent. It is worth the time and effort to me to get back my personal items. I'll let you know how it goes...

capt_mahajan

My baggage has been lost a few times, usually (but not always) arriving in India. Fortunately it was just delayed by a couple of days maximum.

The baggage, if not lost, will eventually arrive. I don't think calling and emailing will make this process faster.

Regardless, phones and emails will not work when it comes to compensation for either lost or delayed baggage. You will need to make a nusiance of yourself at the Jet airways office in person, as far as possible. If possible, take an aggressive person along with you. They hate irate customers (or pretending to be) spoiling their cool and efficient image.

You are entitled to compensation even for delayed baggage.. towards clothes and stuff, which is denied to you. You need to claim this asap, besides other things, this puts pressure on them to try to trace your baggage,- specially, if like Arnie, you tell them you will be back for more compensation tomorrow. And don't believe them on their rules, they lie.

The compensation pinches them, a 100 usd a day or thereabouts. So they try harder to find your bags.

Different airlines have told me many things. Air France was haughty and dismissive and quoted rules, Air India was rude and did the same, etc... but, all, without exception, paid. And all traced my baggage.

No experience if the baggage gets missing completely, sorry.

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Aishah

Ariell - thank you for posting this Thread. I do hope you get your baggage soon. The suggestions coming are extremely helpful, I'm flying Jet Airways to Australia in April so will know what to do should this happen to me. This is the 2nd story of lost luggage in the last month - the other I think was Air France. A problem arises when there is a changeover of planes. It shouldn't arise but sometimes seems to.
I never knew about that compensation, 100 USD per day, Captain - very useful to know and a good leverage tool if losing one's baggage via flying.

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capt_mahajan

The compensation amount is arbitrary... I have asked for their rules to be shown to me, which never are, so it is whatever you can get.

Just a number: About three years ago, Air India paid me 6000 rupees for delayed baggage in Delhi .. came after 36 hours, IIRC.

Air India paid my son about 3500 for a days delay here in Hyderabad.. but this is because my son refused to have me go with him ( ) and settled things on his own.

All vague.

PS and Air France told me, in Europe, that their compensation structure was an internal matter. They paid (about a 100 US a day in Euros) after I told them that my lost underwear was my internal matter, too.

Aishah

Mmmm - interesting but worth having that information up one's sleeve! Thanks again.

machadinha

Well, there was talk of this IM hit squad, right

Ariell

Ha ha. Well, I'm all for taking along a "hit" man (or woman) if anyone wants to volunteer!

Aishash - I agree that the baggage probably got lost in Chennai. I said that to one of the JA reps and of course they said something like 'oh no, that's not possible!' No doubt she didn't want to make JA look bad but the other possibilities make them look even worse -- that my luggage never made it onto the plane in Delhi or that it got lost unloading it in Toronto!

Thanks for your responses, Captain. Unfortunately, phone and email are my only options at the moment. The Jet Airways office is one hour outside of Toronto. I live in London, 2 hours the other way. So I am not about to travel 3 hours one way to go complain about my baggage (yet!). That would really just be a further inconvenience to me! And no guarantee of success given their dismal response so far.

Thanks for the reminder about compensation. I did know about that but did not realize it was so arbitrary. The FAQ on the JA website says you're only entitled to compensation if you are not in your hometown but I think that's crazy! Are you supposed to just do without because you're in your hometown?? I haven't been able to use my mobile because the battery died and the charger is in my bag. I had to go out tonight and spend about $50 to replace some items like toiletries and underwear (I brought 2 weeks' worth with me to India -- virtually every pair I own! so that I wouldn't have to do alot of washing). And yesterday had to go out to buy a few tops because I have almost nothing to wear. I'm a student so don't have a ton of clothing and most of what I do wear regularly was in my luggage. (Also packed more than I needed because wasn't sure about the weather).

But that's really just more of a nuisance than anything. The things I really want back are my diary, photos of my sweetheart, gifts from him, my prayer books etc. Those are much much more important to me. Fingers crossed....

MangoKulfi

My luggage was delayed by 2 days when I traveled to Delhi 2 years back. It was by Air France, of course. They said I would be compensated 100 USD per day but they didn't give me any cash up front to buy anything. We (my kids and I) had nothing. All our bags were delayed and we needed even the basics like undergarments. They gave us a packet of toiletries and a white t-shirt (with Air France logo) But they said we had to buy stuff first and then they would compensate after we got back to the US. In other words, we had to spend the money first. So we did.

When we came back to the US we had to sumbit each and every receipt and it still took us weeks of calling and bugging them to get the compensation.

Mickey S

Here's some useful information from the Civil Aviation Authority (UK)

Note that the maximum liability is 1,000 SDR (about US$1,500) - airlines will generally only reimburse you for the actual value of the items lost. And your chances of getting even this from an Indian airline are, frankly, slim. Just claim on yout travel insurance and let your insurers have the hassle of chasing the airline.

mairangi_vice

A week is a pretty long time to be waiting for luggage. What you need to do is send out an executive email carpet bomb! see www.consumerist.com

Basically you need to go onto google and find the names of people in high positions in Jet Airlines, especially customer service/operations people, and then go onto their corporate site and find out the email address format they use, and then send out your email! Make sure your email is polite and outlines what has happened and why it is unacceptable. Search the consumerist website for many examples of this that have worked.

Nick-H

I have this mental picture of the smouldering wreckage of an airline office, with you son trying to tell a bruised air-line emplyee, "Look, my dad is only trying to say..."






(whist there is some justification for this idea in a previous post of the Capt's about how to deal with bad service from an airline, I'd better add that pro sea captains are, by definition, people you do not mess with. Not just our captain . )