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Date

7th March 2003

Complaint

entered by

TONYKING@

helton.fsbusiness.co.uk

As a background to this, we were travelling within days of 9/11 therefore security was red hot and this is why just about everything, including my wife's medication and cosmetics, was packed in our 2 suitcases. Because of this we spread our belongings over the 2 cases.

SUMMARY
1 Tenerife Airport am 18/9/01 after flying from Manchester. After the carousel had been cleared of luggage it stopped. About 25 minutes after this I went to the Thomson (parent of Portland) desk and was advised that the carousel had broken down and our luggage would come
when it was fixed. (I counted about 70 PEOPLE minus luggage).

2 About 15 minutes later with various tales being told I approached the same Thomson employee who advised the luggage was still at Manchester Airport and we would now have to get a "PIR" from the Iberia desk, and this was done. To this time we still do not know why all these cases had not been put on the plane.

3 I should explain we were booked in at the 4-star Grand Tinerfe hotel. This is a formal hotel and requires above average dress standards.
We only had the casual clothes we were wearing and nearly no hand luggage.

4 Tessa, The Portland Holiday rep advised us that Britannia could not bring out the luggage because they could not get a pilot to do so
(apparently because it was now unaccompanied luggage and they were scared to take the risk).

5 I think it was Wednesday, 19/9/01 that Tessa advised us to go out and buy what was necessary at the rate of £14.95 per kilo up to 40 kilos (£598). She was reading from her own (or someone else's) notes and it was obvious she had been advised or instructed to say this. Purely fortuitously, my wife did not have a pen and she asked Tessa to write the info. for her.

Tessa wrote:
"14.95 per kilo
up to 40 kilos
£598
01582 424155 Britannia Claim Number"

I still have Tessa's handwritten statement. (Someone who answered my previous post raised the point about whether the rep. was advising to claim against Holiday Insurance). I don't think this would be so and it is clear from above that she was acting solely for Britannia.

6 Because we were never sure whether/when our luggage would arrive we shopped daily for everything, underwear, shoes, swimwear etc., even a Doctor for a prescription for medicine with luggage. The total bill for Tuesday to Saturday was 115,626 pesetas (about £450 I suppose). This bill, including receipts for almost everything was sent to the Luggage Loss Adjusters acting for Britannia Airways.

7 Luggage arrived Saturday about lunchtime.

8 At no time has the Luggage Loss Adjuster made a useful comment. The have sent a cheque for £100 (not cashed by us) which I understand is all that is required for DELAYED luggage. (The £14.95 is apparently the going rate for LOST luggage or luggage delayed for a long period). There seems to be an implication that if the luggage is not LOST (i.e. its whereabouts is known) then there is no apparent incentive for the carrier to put itself out to right the situation.

9 I have advised the Luggage Loss Adjusters that I am going to sue. They write back that they have passed the case to their legal advisors.

It would appear that fair play and justice just don't come into it. I think our hope now is a purely legal one in that we can prove we were told to go out and buy what we needed.

Help please.
TK
PS On the UK Legal Newsgroup one respondent has suggested we can't lose this claim as it is so clear the Hol. Rep. was acting for Britannia in that she gave us the Britannia phone no. for Britannia Claim No.

Update 05/07/2003

Regretfully Mr. King has not come back to us with any further information regarding his claim and, consequently, we have to assume that his complaint has now been settled to his full satisfaction.

Complaint Status: Closed

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