Jet Airways-horrible service-HELP!!

Mickey S

I think Jet Airways may be getting a bit of a raw deal here.

According to the original post, the bag has been delayed for about 10 days - but a bag is generally not considered "lost" by an airline until 21 days have passed. So at the moment Jet Airways are quite correct in refusing to accept that the bag is lost.

Wait until the 21 days is up, and then demand compensation. And next time you fly, take out travel insurance. You may think it's an unnecessary waste of money but this incident has demonstrated that it most certainly isn't.

Nick-H

Then she'd be fighting with the insurance company instead...




And it is not the missing baggage, so much as the brick wall, that has become the problem.

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shere

How has this incident demonstrated the need for travel insurance ? The original poster has told us there was nothing of high value in the bagage. Their are statutory requirements the airline must meet with regards to lost baggage. As such it negates the need to have travel insurance for such purposes.

Besides the insurance company would more than likely tell you to claim from the airline in such a case. If there is an opportunity for them to pass the liability elsewhere then they will take it.


Yes travel insurance is good, eg if you lose your baggae whilst on the way to the hotel or on a bus whilst on your holiday but as far as travelling to and from your destination on a reputable airline it is of little use (unless the policy baggage cover exceeds 1000SDR and you are carrying gooods etc that exceed 1000SDR).

karuna

Daft isn't it. The owner doesn't know where it is, the airline doesn't know where it is....isn't that the definition of "lost"? If it's not "lost", what is it? Temporarily discombobulated? Locationally challenged. Indeterminedly situated. Bereft of locale, it abides in uncertainty. This. Is a lost luggage.

Nick-H

Oh...

I "lost" an expensive walkman once, and had insurance cover including items outside my house.

What happened was that I had it at the beginning of a journey, but not at the end. That, to me, is "loosing" something, isn't it?

The insurers tried to tell me that this was not, in fact, "loss" because I didn't know what had happened to it. "loss" would, in their terms, cover, for instance, a watch falling down a drain.

I tried to explain to them that this wouldn't be "lost" because one would know where it was, just be unable to get at it.

To add insult to injury, I even worked for the company, and had these arguments with colleagues in the office!

They paid in the end: about £200, I think it was.

They also, subsequently, paid me for an expensive and nearly new pair of spectacles that I "lost" --- but they had the last laugh on that one, as I found the damned things in a never-used pocket of the bag I carried every day, and was honest enough to give them their cheque back.

Actually, I suppose you could say that they had the biggest, and longest, laugh by making me redundant --- but that was the other company who took us over.

Dilliwala

To the OP:

Although India has signed the Montreal Convention, it has not ratified it. This is what it says on the DGCA, India's website: http://dgca.nic.in/int_conv/Chap_XXI.pdf
If u look at page 3 of the pdf file (page 167 of the Convention document), at the bottom it says "India has not ratified it". And though that info dates back to 2003, I have cross-checked this with the website of the UN's Intl. Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and it confirms on page 1 of the document that India has not ratified the treaty till date.
This means quite simply that Jet Airways, an Indian-registered carrier, can quite legally go as per the Warsaw Convention (Hague Protocol), i.e. 20 USD per kg lost.

I have had a look at the Eckert Seamans doc, and altho it is quite comprehensive, I cannot see what the basis is for their determination of which convention applies in which region. The whole point of ratification by any state (in this case, India) of an international treaty is that only thereafter does it accept the conditions therein.

Either way, Jet can enforce the WC (HP), unless they get different internal instructions. The examples of Aeroflot and Eckert Seamans can only be enforced thru a court or CTA's formal complaints tribunal. Meaning u cud have to go in for litigation. Eckert Seamans is a law firm, and though they shud know what they are talking about, Jet is not legally bound to accept their web-page as gospel.
It doesn't hurt at all to try and browbeat their Canada management of course re the Montreal Convention, and good luck to u for that. Tell them to check with their own lawyers, blah, blah - if it works, then that's great for having avoided a law-suit. Otherwise, that or CTA is your only option (apart from taking it up the chain inside Jet of course).

Re interim compensation, it very much depends, as others have recounted, on how much u can browbeat them for. That their policy is adhoc is clear from your reports.

They can quite legally enforce the 21-day period before declaring the bagg as lost. At the moment it's simply 'not found'. This may sound silly, but that's the way it is. (It used to be that airlines cud wait upto 2 months before declaring bagg as lost!)
There are many reasons for a bag not to turn up at arrival - the tag cud have come off (the number is shockingly high - thousands per year around the world), if it did AND your bagg had no name/id; pilferage of an entire suitcase, though not impossible, is usually unlikely.
Once they have asked u for a List of Contents, they will then start matching those up with the contents of unclaimed bagg which match your bagg's description. This takes time. They will also pass the list around to other airlines and airports (centralised computer) and will look for possible matches in the ROW (u'll be surprised that bags turn up in the unlikeliest places). Then when they have no further leads, they'll finally process your claim as a total loss.

PS: Just checked TC's website and it clearly says under 'Baggage':
"International
Limits of liability for travel to and from Canada are set out in the Montreal and Warsaw Conventions. For round-trip travel originating in Canada, the Montreal Convention limits apply. All claims are subject to proof of loss."

U cud definitely hit Jet with this IF your bagg is finally lost after the 21-day period (remember, right now it's 'not found'). If they bend, great.

I wud also ask u to read the CTA's FAQ especially the last 2, to know the limits of their jursidiction.
http://www.cta.gc.ca/cta-otc2000/menu_e.html

Mickey S

In the variety of English I speak that is, in fact, "losing" something.

I think the word "loosing" and its root "to loose" are encountered only in the dialect of internet forums.

Nick-H

I speak the same variety of English as you do, Mickey.

It's just that I don't spell it quite the same .

I've always been like this, long before the internet...

Ariell

WHAT?? Are you kidding me????!!!! You think Jet Airways is getting a raw deal??!! Wow, I had to read that twice to believe it!!

I have been more than patient in dealing with their incompetence and indifference. I can guarantee you that if you were in my shoes Mickey you would not just be sitting idly by, twiddling your thumbs, thinking "There there Jet Airways. What a difficult job you have. I see you've lost my bag, but no problem, I'll just sit back and wait and you can contact me again in 3 weeks, if you so choose." Perhaps you are unaware but an airline has a legal obligation to transport you AND your baggage safely. They are legally bound to reimburse you not just for lost luggage but for the delay in returning your baggage to you. But my God, you'd think that just from the standpoint of common decency that they'd want to help, not just because they are legally bound to!

And I stand by what I said: their customer service is pathetic. Any good company knows that good customer service is the cornerstone of running a successful company. I should not have had to be standing on my head, repeatedly calling people and emailing people for an update on my luggage. Even common courtesy says, you created a problem, you deal with it. It's preposterous that it took a WEEK before someone at Jet Airways deigned to respond to me and that was only because I went to their top person here in Canada, Justin Gosling. If you really think it's ok for a business to fail to show common courtesy, to fail to respond to repeated desperate pleas from its customers for assistance, to provide false information and to show a complete lack of concern for a problem that you created, then I am glad indeed that you are not running any business I frequent.

As for your comment about travel insurance, unfortunately, that is incorrect as most travel insurance ONLY covers you on your outbound trip NOT on your return trip. I called my bank yesterday to see if the credit card I used to pay for the trip had any travel insurance that I did not know about. It doesn't. But they then very kindly put me through to the company that handles travel insurance for the bank and even though I did not take out travel insurance with them, the rep that I spoke to offered, as a goodwill gesture, to call Jet Airways on my behalf to help trace the bag! Wow! I figured any extra help could not hurt. So, in speaking with this rep, she told me that travel insurance would not have covered me for loss/delay of my luggage anyway and this is apparently the case with most travel insurance. They do not cover you when this happens when you are returning home. I found that hard to believe so I went back and read the policy for my trip this summer and found this: "We do not cover or pay any benefit for any loss or expense related in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to: Baggage that is delayed on your return flight."

machadinha

I think that would be most welcome yes, so please do. You are free to drop me a PM when it's done so I can look at it and stick it (or any other mod, I suppose).

Try and keep it neutral and factual; seems better than targeting one company as a sticky. (No, that is not a criticism of the original poster, just board logic.)

I've never had luggage insurance and like some others I don't see what it has to do with this. If I lose my own dirty underwear and my diary and some knickknacks that I happen to care about, that's my problem. If I entrust it to someone else and pay them for it, I'd like them to make sure it doesn't go lost, and politely assist me like the customer that I am and not treat me like a moron if it does. And there are obviously regulations covering this.

ps



And pps great of that rep to step into action on your behalf Ariell. I guess decent folks are not quite extinct yet... And I guess your luggage not being covered by insurances on your return flight is as telling as it is absurd.

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Aishah

Nick-H - interesting story re your insurance 'problems'. I think insurance companies all over the world are much of a muchness, one of the reasons I haven't bothered with travel or health insurance since coming here. Cheaper to pay on the spot for dental or medical care here than keeping up payments for a policy.
I do hope this new person you mentioned, Ariell, can put a bit more weight into your case and get some action done. Good luck!

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ozman

what about calling your credit card u used to buy ticket I think u and all ur belongings r insured and also do u guys have any BBB u should file a complaint against this company(airline) because they have to follow the local laws to operate in that country also call the local media (just a suggestion), u r too patient I would have raised lot more noise like calling ur MP (ur representative), also last resort ur homeowners insurence which covers this loss.

machadinha

ur homeowners insurence???

Please, this is your second post here, on this same thread. Can you at least try and make yourself understood, and maybe not create the illusion that you're trying to wind people up?

Thank you, and welcome to IndiaMike.

capt_mahajan

Agree, any airline will not accept the baggage as lost before the stipulated time is up, and they will not pay before that, or even accept liability.

I think, however, that demanding to be compensated (even if obtusely) puts pressure on them, because you are talking about how much you are looking to be compensated rather than if.

I also think that if the OP has not pushed aggressively for interim compensation for delayed baggage (which is what it is, thus far), some pressure on the airline is already off.

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ozman

I been following this for few days and I can understand what he is going through six years back I lost my luggage flying emerate airline my trip was for 10 days only and I had one pair of pants only airline paid me $80/day while I was in delhi and I got my luggage after 15days back in US, another time I lost my luggage on united and they (united airline) behaved like jet air and my homeowners insurance covered my loss and then a apology letter from airline after I lodged a complain with the attorney journal so its not a illusion or confusion I just to share what other option r available.