Baggage Delay Compensation Claim - Turkish Airlines

marsolen

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice, hoping this is the right place to post.

I'm having a lot of trouble claiming compensation from Turkish Airlines after they delivered my bag seven days late in Nepal and provided extremely poor customer service. A few days after I landed they emailed me to say my bag had been delivered and I should come to collect - that they wouldn't deliver to me as my bag had been interchanged with another passenger and that since it wasn't their fault I was to collect and I wasn't owed any compensation. I went to the airport and my bag wasn't there. A few days later it arrived on another flight from Istanbul (where it had gone missing, and where I was originally due to receive it). They offered a very small amount of compensation when they finally did deliver my bag (after a LOT of emailing and pushing from my side) and said if I wasn't happy with it I could claim for more at Heathrow upon my arrival, which I opted to do. Their office at Heathrow was closed when I arrived so I claimed online shortly after but apparently I'm out of their '21 day period' for making a claim for compensation (would have been when landing at Heathrow anyway).


I calculate they owe me a few hundred in compensation, but they're refusing to give any compensation at all. They basically caught me out with their own advice to claim at Heathrow since that put me out of the 21 day period and I'm a bit stuck on where to go next. If anyone had any suggestions I'd be grateful! I paid nearly 900GBP for my flight and it really affected my plans and the full first week of my trip without my bag and constantly having to find places to connect to wifi to email them. Their customer service has been spectacularly poor, and I really dislike how they've tricked me out of having any compensation at all.


Does anybody have any advice on what the best course of action to follow would be?


Many Thanks

Voyager2002

The 21-day period would be for notifying them of the problem: obviously you did so much earlier. So a letter to whoever is now giving this as a reason for refusing you, copying your original claim and the promise that you would be able to claim at Heathrow on your return, should solve that problem. However, I doubt if you will get much out of them anyway: have you tried your travel insurance?

marsolen

"The 21-day period would be for notifying them of the problem: obviously you did so much earlier"

Ahh, thanks for pointing that out, I didn't think of it like that! I have a long string of emails with the Kathmandu office, which Turkish Airlines won't provide an e-mail for me to forward this onto. I have requested in writing for an address to send this onto and asked several times on the phone and they refuse.

Unfortunately I don't have it in writing that they said to claim at Heathrow, it was just a verbal communication with the guy from their office who dropped off my bag.

They're are being as obstructive as possible and so I'm wondering if there is somewhere else I can this, in order to put some pressure on them. Are there any bodies governing passenger rights and mistreatment of passengers' rights etc etc Or perhaps a media outlet I could contact?

And yes, I can claim on insurance but they won't cover things like the taxi costs or the clothes I bought from street vendors in Nepal where they don't provide receipts.

Thanks so much for the advice!

Caz3121

Airlines don't provide "compensation" as such for delayed baggage but they generally reimburse essential items that were purchased if you supply the receipts
If I read correctly, you were due to get your bag in Istanbul but another passenger took it off the belt and left with it and I am guessing subsequently brought it back to the airport to collect theirs...which they are correct in saying they are not responsible for.
I would however push for reimbursement of the expense in going to the airport when advised your bag was there when it was not and claim the rest from your travel insurance (I would guess it would not be possible to claim from the real person that caused your inconvenience by taking your bag in the first place)

marsolen

Caz3121 wrote: »

Airlines don't provide "compensation" as such for delayed baggage but they generally reimburse essential items that were purchased if you supply the receipts
If I read correctly, you were due to get your bag in Istanbul but another passenger took it off the belt and left with it and I am guessing subsequently brought it back to the airport to collect theirs...which they are correct in saying they are not responsible for.

No this is not correct. I was informed by the Kathmandu office that my bag had been interchanged witb another passenger and had arrived on a morning flight. This turned out to be incorrect and I have no idea why they said this.

The Turkish Airlines website states that the they issue compensation and this is why I'm pursuing it.

I just sent them an email saying that actually I did make them aware and submit an initial claim for compensation well within the 21 day period. We'll see what they say.

Nightmare company to deal with!

Thanks for the suggestions so far

Caz3121

marsolen wrote: »

The Turkish Airlines website states that the they issue compensation and this is why I'm pursuing it.

they do mention "compensation" relating to "lost baggage" but your situation would be classed as "Late Delivery"
"If your baggage has been delivered to you late, you can apply to Turkish Airlines, either personally or in writing, together with the documents indicating the expenditures you have made until the delivery of your baggage. You should apply no later than 21 days from the date when you received your baggage."

marsolen

Hm. Well they offered me some money in compensation plus expenses in Kathmandu. And said if I wasn't happy with it I should make an application in Heathrow. Bit confusing.