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Qatar Airways Complaint - Lost baggage and bad attitude
Complaint
KHARTOUM, SUDAN -- Following is the letter I sent to Qatar Airways via e-mail and a hard copy to the Area Manager in Sudan on January 3rd. To date I have had no response from anyone.
Dear Sir or Madam:
I wish to make a formal complaint about the terrible service of Qatar Airways in Sudan and Doha that resulted in the loss of a bag containing US$3,000 of scuba equipment. The sequence of events is as follows:
1. I checked in with Qatar Airways, flight 521 from Khartoum to Doha, on December 18 with a connection on flight 656 to Cebu on December 19.
2. I checked in one bag in Khartoum and had another carry-on bag with most of my scuba safety equipment.
3. After getting my boarding pass I went through security and was told that I could not take the carry-on bag with me because there was two (underwater) flashlights and a scuba regulator in the bag.
4. I explained that the equipment was very valuable and that I have always carried it as a carry-on but I was told that I must check it in.
5. The female Qatar Airway agent at the boarding gate took the bag and issued me an Interline limited Release tag (#0157QR211698) showing that the bag was to go to Cebu. I told her that the equipment was worth $3,000 and that my safety under water depended on it and that some of the equipment was fragile.
6. I asked that she put a fragile sticker on the bag but in the following 15 minutes before boarding she had not done so and I saw her kicking the bag to move it.
7. When I arrive in Doha I had only enough time to get to the boarding gate for the Cebu flight. I asked the man collecting my boarding pass in check on the computer to make sure both on my bags had been transferred and HE REFUSED TO DO SO.
8. When I got to Cebu the bag with all of my equipment was not on the plane.
9. I spoke to the Qatar baggage agent in Cebu and he filled out a Property Irregularity Report (PIR), kept the original Interline limited Release tag (#0157QR211698) but gave me a photocopy of it.
10. During the next two weeks I made frequent calls to your agents in Cebu and they told me they were doing what they could to trace the bag. A week or so later they faxed me a Passenger Property Questionnaire (I was staying at a dive resort on Leyte) and told me to fill it out and turn it in when I returned to Cebu for my return flight to Khartoum on January 2. (I have a copy of the two-page form but they kept the original.)
11. When I was at the Cebu airport XXX showed me a number of emails and faxes that had been sent to Khartoum and told me that he had NEVER RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE.
12. He also explained that the Interline limited Release tag number (0157QR211698) had never been entered into the computer system and so there was no ‘official’ record of it.
13. He also told me that I would ask that an agent meet me upon arrival in Khartoum but there was NO AGENT AT the AIRPORT BAGGAGE AREA.
14. I listed 15 items on the Passenger Property Questionnaire with a total (replacement) value of US$3,000. I may be able to find a few receipts of bank/credit card statements for some on the items but not for most of them as I often paid cash for them.
Obviously I want to be reimbursed for the replacement value of this equipment but I also want to file a complaint for negligence (#6, 11, 12), incompetence (#6, 11, 12, 13), and theft against the female agent in Khartoum and negligence (#7) and incompetence (#7) against the male agent in Doha.
I will to the main Qatar Airways office tomorrow and try to talk to the manager. If I am not totally satisfied with the outcome I will file a criminal complaint for theft with the police against Qatar Airway in Khartoum.
This was my first and probably my last flight with Qatar. While I was very pleased with the help your agents in Cebu gave me I am equally (if not more) unhappy with the negligence and incompetence of those responsible for the loss of my equipment. Do you really want such people working for you?
Morris Lando
Dear Sir or Madam:
I wish to make a formal complaint about the terrible service of Qatar Airways in Sudan and Doha that resulted in the loss of a bag containing US$3,000 of scuba equipment. The sequence of events is as follows:
1. I checked in with Qatar Airways, flight 521 from Khartoum to Doha, on December 18 with a connection on flight 656 to Cebu on December 19.
2. I checked in one bag in Khartoum and had another carry-on bag with most of my scuba safety equipment.
3. After getting my boarding pass I went through security and was told that I could not take the carry-on bag with me because there was two (underwater) flashlights and a scuba regulator in the bag.
4. I explained that the equipment was very valuable and that I have always carried it as a carry-on but I was told that I must check it in.
5. The female Qatar Airway agent at the boarding gate took the bag and issued me an Interline limited Release tag (#0157QR211698) showing that the bag was to go to Cebu. I told her that the equipment was worth $3,000 and that my safety under water depended on it and that some of the equipment was fragile.
6. I asked that she put a fragile sticker on the bag but in the following 15 minutes before boarding she had not done so and I saw her kicking the bag to move it.
7. When I arrive in Doha I had only enough time to get to the boarding gate for the Cebu flight. I asked the man collecting my boarding pass in check on the computer to make sure both on my bags had been transferred and HE REFUSED TO DO SO.
8. When I got to Cebu the bag with all of my equipment was not on the plane.
9. I spoke to the Qatar baggage agent in Cebu and he filled out a Property Irregularity Report (PIR), kept the original Interline limited Release tag (#0157QR211698) but gave me a photocopy of it.
10. During the next two weeks I made frequent calls to your agents in Cebu and they told me they were doing what they could to trace the bag. A week or so later they faxed me a Passenger Property Questionnaire (I was staying at a dive resort on Leyte) and told me to fill it out and turn it in when I returned to Cebu for my return flight to Khartoum on January 2. (I have a copy of the two-page form but they kept the original.)
11. When I was at the Cebu airport XXX showed me a number of emails and faxes that had been sent to Khartoum and told me that he had NEVER RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE.
12. He also explained that the Interline limited Release tag number (0157QR211698) had never been entered into the computer system and so there was no ‘official’ record of it.
13. He also told me that I would ask that an agent meet me upon arrival in Khartoum but there was NO AGENT AT the AIRPORT BAGGAGE AREA.
14. I listed 15 items on the Passenger Property Questionnaire with a total (replacement) value of US$3,000. I may be able to find a few receipts of bank/credit card statements for some on the items but not for most of them as I often paid cash for them.
Obviously I want to be reimbursed for the replacement value of this equipment but I also want to file a complaint for negligence (#6, 11, 12), incompetence (#6, 11, 12, 13), and theft against the female agent in Khartoum and negligence (#7) and incompetence (#7) against the male agent in Doha.
I will to the main Qatar Airways office tomorrow and try to talk to the manager. If I am not totally satisfied with the outcome I will file a criminal complaint for theft with the police against Qatar Airway in Khartoum.
This was my first and probably my last flight with Qatar. While I was very pleased with the help your agents in Cebu gave me I am equally (if not more) unhappy with the negligence and incompetence of those responsible for the loss of my equipment. Do you really want such people working for you?
Morris Lando
Comments:
Posted by The_Judge on 2010-01-08:
I like the part about filing theft charges with the police. I've never really thought of that but if more people did it on a regular basis and the police actually acted on it, it might be a quick fix for luggage loss. Let us know if you do it and how it goes.
Posted by James236 on 2010-01-09:
I presume this Cebu is the Cebu in the Philippines. Your flight was an international flight and was governed by the Warsaw Convention as the Philippines has not ratified the Montreal Convention. You are doing your complaint injustice by describing it as incompetence and negligence. It is more than that. What you describe is a clear case of wilful misconduct by the airline. Wilful misconduct means the airline agents knew that damage was likely to result from their actions, and they nevertheless proceeded to act in a manner to cause the damage. In cases of wilful misconduct, there is no limit to the liability of the airline. In addition you declared the value of $3,000 to the airline when they took it from you. They did not require you to pay the supplementary charge for that declared value. So even if you can't prove wilful misconduct, you are still entitled to the $3,000 declared value. You are also entitled to all your expenses in chasing after this, e.g. phone calls and traveling to Qatar offices, etc.
I would suggest you forget about the police complaint for theft. I don't see any evidence of theft by the airline apart from the fact that we may presume that there was a theft by one of its employees. However if an employee stole your equipment, you will have a job laying that at the door of the airline without having the evidence that the airline was in on the theft. I do have a theory that the airlines are involved, but there is no evidence that would stand in a court to blame the airlines for theft. Your complaint is a civil, rather than a criminal one.
I would suggest you forget about the police complaint for theft. I don't see any evidence of theft by the airline apart from the fact that we may presume that there was a theft by one of its employees. However if an employee stole your equipment, you will have a job laying that at the door of the airline without having the evidence that the airline was in on the theft. I do have a theory that the airlines are involved, but there is no evidence that would stand in a court to blame the airlines for theft. Your complaint is a civil, rather than a criminal one.
Posted by raven2002 on 2010-01-09:
Seriously James? You have a theory that the airlines are "in on" baggage thefts? SERIOUSLY? Do you say this stuff to get a reaction, or do you actually believe it?
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