Bounced off BA flight and baggage delayed

[warrens]

Hi Hugh,

Thanks for the very interesting link to the relevant case law.
To answer your questions:

BA purchased the ticket on SAA - I wasn't consulted, I was simply handed the ticket and had no choice in the matter. I think they have an agreement in place with other airlines in this regard.

My letter to BA did request compensation for loss of enjoyment/amenity. In the spreadsheet I sent them I detailed three separate areas in which I was seeking compensation:

1. Compensation for £118 as a result of having my travel delayed by 24 hours - lost day car hire, hotel, plus phone calls, internet usage contacting the relevant parties in South Africa to inform them, and airport refreshments purchased as a result of the delay. I was given a verbal assurance at the time that these expenses would be reinmbursed.

2. Compensation for £275 for clothing I needed to purchase during my two week stay. This included everything from toiletries, suncream, swimming costume to underwear, essential medicine, new travel bag, mobile adaptor and towels.

3. Instead of loss of amenity, I listed lost time spent trying to locate the lost baggage, time spent at baggage reclaim, care hire changes and acquring replacement items. I put a cost of £320 on this (based on 8 hours at £40 per hour).

Regards,

Warren

Originally Posted by Hugh

Warren,

Did you make a claim for loss of enjoyment/amenity in the written claim you sent to BA already-or was the spreadsheet limited to out of pocket
expenses ?

They may be busy-but they may also be thinking about this. I'm not sure how many passengers even go so far as to make a claim for out of pocket expenses-never mind any form of "less liquidated" expense.

BA were the (original) contracting carrier and when they booked the flight for you on SAA-were SAA just doing this as their (BA's) agent as actual carrier?

Regarding the "local of amenity/loss of enjoyment" aspect this may indeed need a bit of thought.

The purveyed received wisdom (previously?) presented by carriers is that a contract of carriage might not entail this type of damage recoverability under a contract of carriage.

The baggage delay claim would be bound by the Montreal convention provisions as embodied within whatever local law-and hence wouldbe governed by that exculsivity aspect-as well as the prohibition on punitive damages.

However there was a Scottish appeal case quite recently ( I dont know whether there may be something more recent) that did canvass a review of some submitted (mostly first instance) case decisions in this area.

This would need unravelling-especially to look at how precisely in the genesis of the case the claimant was successful at this appeal-but it may be a starting point to start to consider you question.

(Remember the Scottish claimant here was also coincidentally a canny Scottish lawyer who also (frugally?) travels by Ryanair).

(I'm not sure how many delayed baggage claims ever get to first instance hearing never mind get to an appellate court-I'm sure it can't be many).

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/SA105907.html

[Hugh]

Hi Warren,

I remember a while back there was a poster-Wolvo who said he was taking a small claims action against Emirates for delayed luggage and we started to discuss some of these issues. Wolvo went quiet on us sodont know how the story progressed-maybe some form of compromise was reached.

http://www.flightmole.com/forum/showthread.php?t=513

Regarding you own claims-presumably you are waiting to hear from BA that
they will address the claim-however it is formulated as to quantum-but in this respect the claim within para 1 -for £118 they have already agreed in principle. ( Was this part of the persuasion to obtain you/your party to volunteer to the denied boarding-and is distinct from the delay of the luggage anyway?)

Your baggage check was received from BA as you say.

I suppose if I had a suitcase full of items that I needed and it was delayed and I was deprived of thse items-I neednt need to unduly have my trip disturbed.

I could go to one of those fancy "personal concierge" outfits and tell them my predicament and "put them on the case"-they could do all the running
around to airports stores and pharmacies. I suppose they charge for such personal attentive service ( and charge disbursements for travel etc). I suppose they charge on an hourly basis.

I suppose that you just wished to do BA a favour in keeping the cost down by diverting some of you own time rather than a higher charging concierge service.

[warrens]

Thanks Hugh,

At the time we were bumped off the duty manager promised BA compensation AND reimbursement for the lost day hotel/car hire. This was a personal commitment by the duty manager, which I guess was aimed at placating me (but I now understand that's not quite what the EU regulations allow). It was on this basis (personal guarantee from their duty manager) that I accepted their original compensation for being bumped off the flight. They didn't arrange for the three calls I was supposed to get under EU regulations. So, putting all my out of pocket expenses together, this was the basis for my £118 request.

As for the baggage, on day 2 we went into a large Woolworths store in Cape Town and bought what we needed, all in one place. We then bought other items at Woolworths and one or two other stores some days later when our bags still hadn't arrived. Woolworths offers reasonable quality - it's not a top-end designer shop. £275 for clothing and toiletries - including a travel bag - is I think quite reasonable for a two week stay.

The final item related to the lost time spent in chasing up the baggage reclaim desk, buying clothing and rearranging some travel arrangements. Much of this could have been prevented if BA had been more supportive or taken the slightest interest in resolving our case. The way I see it, this was an issue of very poor customer service that resulted in us wasting much of our time! I am not sure what the law says around this. I understand that the arlines won't pay for loss of enjoyment/amenity as a result of baggage delay - but that's not what I am requesting compensation for - what I'm contending is that my loss of time and aggravation was due to poor customer management and their having processes in place that didn't work and didn't provide me with the level of customer care I needed. As a result of their incompentence I had to reshcedule business meetings and take time out of my busy working schedule! £320 pounds for this is I think reasonable.

Regards,

Warren

[Ian40]

Warren

Did you speak to the AUC as suggested?

What did they say to you?

Ian40

[warrens]

Hi Ian,


I took a look at the AUC website, read their articles and took down their contact details. I'd like to put together a written letter first, so that they have all the details and facts in front of them, and then maybe call to clarify.

Difficult to find the time at the moment, with a full-time project in London and lots of travel!

I will give it a try,based on your advice, but must admit to being somewhat doubtful that this will achieve much. They must deal with huge volumes of complaints each day and don't see why they should take a special interest in my case. However, I will pursue and hope I'm proved wrong!

ps: thanks again for the help and advice on this site. It's great to be able to let off steam, get advice and support, and read the articles from other passengers - it helps put it all in perspective!

Thanks,

Warren