Unfair bag damage compensation

[OB1NZ]

I too have had my fair share of baggage mishaps. The most recent was a broken and lost wheel and a missing TSA lock. on a hard shell Samsonite. The TSA lock was interesting as I assumed that it had just "popped out". When I took it for repair they said is was most definitely an attempt to break in. This occurred on a QF PER>BNE>POM flight which had a 5 hour Dom>Intl transit at BNE where I assumed the lock was tampered with.
I didn't contact QF simply because I was going to be overseas for 7-8 weeks. The wheel and lock cost $70 to repair.

My wife recently had a suitcase totally wrecked by Malindo on a KUL>PER flight. They just replaced it with a comparable (but significantly heavier) hard shell suitcase.

If you really want to make every wait at the baggage carousel a game of anticipating whether your bag will look the same as when you checked in may I suggest buying an aluminium Rimowa suitcase. I love mine but oh they do get some knocks!

I have a Rimowa that is still unscathed after 9 flights, 11 trains through 9 countries in 6 weeks! Tanks for the welcome too

 

[OB1NZ]

I’ve owned a Victorinox Spectra 2.0 Carry On and a 62 L Checked Bag for quite a few years now. You want Warranty how does 1+10 years sound! Only once was a wheel broken off. Replaced free of charge without question. You want Precision even with 3 wheels it was perfectly balanced and traveled for 2 weeks. In fact I could still effortlessly wheel both cases with one hand. I still have my 40yo Victorinox Swiss Army Pocket Knife with Lifetime Warranty. Established 1897 - never enhanced - they just get better!

Yup! It's no wonder that Swiss Army knives are quickly traded by privates doing military service ASAP after issue, for Victorinox models!

 

[OB1NZ]

Sure. I look at the warranty and wonder what it’s actually worth. Nothing really. Always an out.
We just don’t have the time to bother chasing airlines. The one time we did was when Qantas left us a note so we took it into their repair place. Then had to pick it up. It was a handle repair in carry on that had been put into hold. Next time we went to use it we filled it, zipped it up then heard this weird buzzing from within. We emptied it - nada. Then we unzipped the fabric that is between the case and the handle structure and they’d left a battery operated drill inside.
Given we had packed it for carry on, can you imagine what would have happened going through security with a damn battery drill in the case!

Great story! I know someone who has to take a (empty) 3 inch WW2 mortar shell that's been made into a lamp, in their luggage to Canada next year. Imagine the fun they will have with that going through an x-ray check!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Great story! I know someone who has to take a (empty) 3 inch WW2 mortar shell that's been made into a lamp, in their luggage to Canada next year. Imagine the fun they will have with that going through an x-ray check!

I can't resist asking why they HAVE TO TAKE that in their luggage.

 

[milehighclub]

From the Virgin Australia Condition of Carriage:

"(d) To the extent permitted by law, our liability for lost or damaged Baggage is based on the depreciated value of the baggage and is limited to the actual loss suffered by you."

You mentioned your bag is over a year old, so they have depreciated it by 25% (QF has the same amount per year).

 

[serfty]

@OB1NZ Maybe you can advise VA you want them to have the case repaired rather than be compensated with $$$.

 

[cqtiger]

my last suitcase purchase the sales person says it has a 2 year warranty and I sarcastically commented 'does that cover plane travel'. She didnt see the funny side.

 

[Tallfont]

From the Virgin Australia Condition of Carriage:

"(d) To the extent permitted by law, our liability for lost or damaged Baggage is based on the depreciated value of the baggage and is limited to the actual loss suffered by you."

@OB1NZ Maybe you can advise VA you want them to have the case repaired rather than be compensated with $$$.

I sure ain't no lawyer but doesn't the line "limited to the actual loss suffered by you" suggest that a repair to the condition it was before it got damaged, whatever it costs is what should happen!
Or to put it another way. Previously it was $400+ suitcase, now it is useless. The actual loss is that it can no longer be used in the damaged state.

 

[Buzzard]

I sure ain't no lawyer but doesn't the line "limited to the actual loss suffered by you" suggest that a repair to the condition it was before it got damaged, whatever it costs is what should happen!
Or to put it another way. Previously it was $400+ suitcase, now it is useless. The actual loss is that it can no longer be used in the damaged state.

My interpretation is that the loss will be no more than what you paid not withstanding the depreciated value.
In other words if you paid $400 but the bag now costs $450, you won't get $450.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Wonder what the bag design was.

Im guessing wheels like pic#1 break more than wheels in pic #2 (which is the 2 wheeler that I use). Im going to jinx myself but Ive not had a broken wheel/case in the almost 20yrs we've been travelling with this wheel design.

Agree, but unfortunately it's becoming harder to find two-wheeled cases

 

[equus]

Wonder what the bag design was.

Im guessing wheels like pic#1 break more than wheels in pic #2 (which is the 2 wheeler that I use). Im going to jinx myself but Ive not had a broken wheel/case in the almost 20yrs we've been travelling with this wheel design.

View attachment 195534

View attachment 195535

Yes they are more easily damaged, BUT if a quality brand, the pic #1 wheels are a bolt/slot on unit and easily replaced, whereas the pic #2 when damaged are either a major repair job, or replace the case.

Had similar wheels to pic #1 (not double wheels, just single, but same arrangement) on a Delsey. Comes with 10 year warranty. One of the wheels broke (basically pushed off - probably airline). Simply rang Delsey, and they posted out 2 new wheels (2 wheels because left and right are different - they didn't ask which, just posted both). Took all of 2 minutes to undo, slot on new wheel, and good to go.

 

[The man with no name]

Travel insurance companies and airline have a lot to answer for. My soft shell Deuter 2 wheeler has been with me over 10 years and 50 countries and is still perfectly fine, I’ve got it with me now in Mexico. If an airline were to damage it I’d be lucky to get much at all for it even if I could find the original reciept. That is not fair. If it’s their negligence they should have to pay for an equivalent replacement, even if it’s second hand.

 

[Pushka]

Travel insurance companies and airline have a lot to answer for. My soft shell Deuter 2 wheeler has been with me over 10 years and 50 countries and is still perfectly fine, I’ve got it with me now in Mexico. If an airline were to damage it I’d be lucky to get much at all for it even if I could find the original reciept. That is not fair. If it’s their negligence they should have to pay for an equivalent replacement, even if it’s second hand.

You’d have to prove actual negligence rather than an accident. And that is a big call.

 

[Blackswan]

My partner recently had their antler bag damaged by Virgin. They would only pay for 50% of the cost to replace (we advised we were happy for them to arrange for repair). They wouldn't budge.

Made a complaint with the Airline Consumer Advocate. They were useless - it seems like there is only one employee there. They were a complete waste of time - basically forwarding corro between ourselves and Virgin. They also inadvertently forwarded corro from other complaints - also in relation to Virgin damaging luggage.

Ended up sending Virgin a letter of demand - nothing. Lodged a claim with VCAT, and Virgin immediately responded saying that they'd pay the full amount. They also paid for the VCAT filing fee and ASIC search fee.

 

[mathiar86]

I’m not really sure why people are using the “drove a car off the lot” analogy. If someone crashed into your car would you not claim the insurance because of the inherent hazards of driving? Your car wasn’t brand new, probably not worth getting any compensation from the driver that hit you anyways? Come on...

OP I think unless it was brand new then accepting a majority cost compensation is probably fair. I have three experiences:

1. Emirates J - brand new American tourister bag, the hard shell had a crack in the middle and was unusable. We had the receipt showing we’d bought it a week before travel - replaces by emirates 100% cost

2. Qantas ADL-AKL. Another American tourister bag (incidentally the replaces emirates one), similar type of damage. We didn’t have receipts and had to do everything by phone because were on a very tight schedule and couldn’t deal with it at the airport. Qantas called me 2 weeks later after I’d submitted photos and apologised, asked for the cost of the bag and refunded my credit card. Didn’t have a receipt, was just good faith
**needless to say we don’t but American tourister anymore**
3. Westjet in Canada - broke the zipper/TSA lock of our Antler hard shell. Meant we couldn’t use the built in TSA lock feature. Westjet counter was a bit confused about how to calculate the damage but when we told them we weren’t in Canada for long they sent us a Visa Debit card with $150 on it which didn’t cover the whole bag but really we couldn’t made it work with a $20 lock

I’m summary we’ve found that just being polite and friendly and trying to come to an agreement rather than blame got us the furthest. Now we just have 2 American tourister bags that are broken sitting in our garage waiting for the next hard rubbish council day

Virgin Australia completely broke through my wife's as-new Delsey suitcase on a recent Sydney-Auckland flight. To do that the bag had to be dropped very hard or was intentionally broken. Virgin only want to pay 75% of the cost of the bag, leaving us $100 out of pocket.
How can we get them to pay the total cost? It should be paid on the basis of "you broke it, so you pay for it."

 

[RichWings]

Ever leave the airport without getting a property irregularity report. Then send it for repair and you should get an immediate replacement. I have replaced several of my hard shells this way. American paid me directly. JAL was replaced by repairer. Qantas had a stack of new bags in the office and gave me one straight away. It helps maybe if you have high level of status.

 

[nutwood]

Qantas have compensated me original purchase price on two occasions now. One was for a case, the other for equipment within the case. Sent them a copy of original invoice and quickly sorted. They wouldn't come at replacement cost, so technically I ended up out of pocket, but given the items were four years old, I can't really complain.

 

[Rich]

It helps maybe if you have high level of status.

How much status? As a silver I had a bag nearly 2 years old that QANTAS damaged. I could only show a credit card statement as proof of purchase, was honest in pointing out the amount included a second carry on bag and they replaced the damaged bag with a Delsey worth twice as much as the damaged bag. I was pretty pleased!

 

[skylight]

My daughters soft suitcase came out on luggage carousel with the whole top ripped open luckily the under cloth stayed together. We went straight over to Emirates Desk in customs area and they told us to go to a Luggage place in the City and replaced for the new version of the same bag. I have purchased stretchy covers for all our bags and you should see the marks on them which would be on the case its self if they were not on them.

 

[itchy feet]

I think you're fortunate they've offered to pay anything. Had both of our suitcases badly damaged by Jetstar and they refused to pay any compensation. Something about them "not being fit for purpose". Seriously??!