My case: I was flying with Austrian Airlines to Cairo for 1 day. The luggage was lost. Next day I move from Egypt to Central Asia. The Austrian Airlines find my suitcase in Cairo, ship it to my hotel and lose it AGAIN! How unlucky is that?! )) So I spent 10 days with no luggage at all. I only got my suitcase back already in Switzerland after 2 weeks. Obviuosly, I needed to buy hygienic items and clothes and expexted that expense to be refunded later, at least partially. I was flying business class and I have a Senator card.

My problem: Austrian Airlines asked to send them the receipts of my purchases. I sent it by DHL and have a confirmation that the parcel is received/signed for. Austrian Airlines informed me that they never received anything, so no refund is possible. And they answer e-mails with 1-2 weeks frequency.

Anyone had a similar experience? Is there any customers right protection organization (hm, which country that should come from? Austria? Switzerland? I am confused!)?

Thanks for your help. Really appreciate it!

What did they say when you showed them the DHL acceptance note?

Do you have travel insurance?

Customer Relations Dept (in charge of Refunds) said that someone could sign for the parcel but their Department never received it, therefore, they don't have it. The parcel was addressed to that Dept actually.

Our company does not have the travel insurance, unfortunately. We shall sign up for it now, I guess.

Did you pay for the flights with AMEX?

Did you pay for the necessary items with AMEX?

You might have insurance without realizing - most credit cards have some kind of travel insurance attached. Check that out (best to call your cc company).

I was in a similar situation with Swiss and Iberia once (codeshare flight). They completely lost my luggage and offered me a ridiculous refund that would have covered 10% of the true value of my stuff.

All the back and forth with their customer service department didn't lead to anything. Only after I wrote them a very formal letter in which I demanded immediate payment and indicated that otherwise I would forward the case to my lawyer (not that I really have "a" lawyer) they paid. Since then, I would never fly Iberia again, btw.

__________________
Conclusions contained in this post are based on assumptions which may or may not be correct, being based upon factors and events subject to uncertainty. Do not take them seriously or personally.

did you fly from Switzerland to Cairo?
well legally they signed it, they have it. It's not your problem if they are not capable of routing a luggage and a parcel in their own building. Shows the lack of professionnalism and customer orientation. I'd write a harsh letter to them (given you are a loyal & high margin customer), and tell that given the evidence in your hands you'll contact the swiss ombudsman for travel.
You may have to go to Austrian ombudsman instead if you did not fly from Switzerland maybe. It's the Austrian Aviation administration who regulate transport.

__________________
Resist, support, donate: ACLU
They tried to bury us, they did not know that we are seeds (Mexican proverb)

Awful service, you can check this:

-As dodgyken said, if yoou paid with Amex you are covered (might check with your amex representatitve though)
-Check your household insurance provider as you might have baggage insurance
-Your company does not offer travel insurance? That is odd, check with them again just in case

Good luck

No i did not. The travel agency booked the tickets. I paid cash myself.

I sent the formal letter. No reaction.

Thanks Mr Vertigo. I'll send another letter to them. I was flying from Milan. I can not believe the attitude of Austrian. Our company spends more than 1mln euro annually on Austrian. And they are Star Alliance, not Iberia. I did not expect that coming.

I have also had 'lost luggage' and it was a nightmare.

I have since taken travel insurance for all flights, and check your credit card to see if some sort of travel insurance is part of it. There is no point in paying cash if you can gain automatic cover by paying with card (you can always immediately pay the card off with cash).

Sending your receipts via registered mail was wise, and it is entirely the fault of the airline for losing the mail. It was signed - They received it - End of story.

Definitely threaten to contact the ombudsman if they don't sort it out. It is grossly irresponsible of an airline to treat you this way . they are all hopelessly overinsured themselves for such events.

Good luck with everything

I had a personal AMEX card a few years ago and booked flights to Morocco. The luggage disappeared.

My wifes turned up the following day - but I had to last 4 days.

In theory I could buy clothes etc with AMEX - but you try finding somewhere in Rabat that takes it!! "That'll do nicely"?? More like that "That'll be unlikely".

AMEX has very very good travel insurance if you book the flight with them - something like 500USD after 48hrs.

Direct the airline to this thread, that tends to get PR involved and problems sorted quickly.

Ck

great idea!!!!!! Love that ))

END OF STORY!!!

Just got an official reply: Austrian Airlines is urgently transferring the reimbursement amount that covers 50% of clothes value purchased and 100% value of cosmetics. It is good enough for me because I get to keep the things I bought ). It took me 6 weeks of almost daily interaction.......

Thanks everyone!!!!!

Thank you for the feedback, glad it worked out for you... eventually!

CK

The whole thing is regulated by the
Warsaw Convention of 1929
+
the Den Haag Protocols

And as Austrian Airlines lost your files, as proven by the DHL records, it is THEIR fault entirely, and they have to accept your exact compilation of costs of the purchases necessary. I had a case with Alitalia, caused by some stubborn stupid folks of Swiss at Milan, and Alitalia accepted my exact compilation IN FULL ! I got a total refund from that great airline company ! Now, alright, AUA (Austrian Airlines) according to the old joke means Aussteigen Umsteigen Autobus (Get-out, change, take-the-bus) and so such is not too surprising But jokes aside, make an exact compilation of your purchases and send it in. Tell them that you in case of refusal had to hand it over to your family lawyer (even if such a lawyer does not exist). I expect even AUA to become compromising !

If you know what time the people at the claims department work, you'll laugh your socks off.

Not to mention, today I got a reply from LX about something I wrote to them on the 1st of June. Guess they were away for the summer.

Glad it worked out!

As a general rule, when I send receipts, I keep a photocopy. More important, when I write to a company regarding a claim, I cc their PR department as a courtesy. Sometimes they're grateful that I am alerting them to internal stupidity. They are the folks who know best how much a reputation is worth, so they have a chance to jump in and do the right thing if need be.

If you ask why it took so long , you will get an answer because they have been busy with the ash cloud refunds... blah blah blah