Advice re damaged cases please

sharonbetty

Cyprus. Hotel sent courtesy transport (private taxi driver) to pick us up at airport. He didn't close back doors properly and cases flew out and skidded down the road. The cases are damaged. Hotel says not their responsibility and claim off travel insurance. My xs is £95 so not worth it (New case wld be £50). Wonder if hotel is correct and or whether we could claim off the taxi firm. Or is the hotel manager quite correct that travel insurance is only option?? 

Brie

I think you need to consider how likely a taxi firm in Cyprus will be able to afford to offer you something for the damage. 

The cases are damaged but not destroyed (??) so probably don't need to be replaced.  Are you after £10 or an apology?  Even if you wanted them replaced realistically £50 may not be possible from a taxi driver and may not be worth your time and effort to chase.

TELLIT01

You may be able to claim off the taxi firm but is it really worth the effort?  Unless the cases were brand new they would be entitled to reduce any compensation for wear and tear.  Are the cases still usable, purely as a matter of interest.

sharonbetty

They are but look awful and we're brand new so pretty annoying. Thank goodness it didn't cause a pile up on the road coz could quite easily have done 

Brie

You could always personalise them with big travel stickers!  And make it one of your ongoing travel stories to tell at dinner parties.

AND if you are still in Cyprus politely ask the hotel to give you a free bottle of wine/drinks/dinner/room upgrade to make up for it.  After all it was them that paid the taxi.  And don't forget when the taxi comes to take you back to the airport that you check the boot is closed properly.

theoretica

In my experience, cases get damaged- it's their job.  The only question is how soon, and that seems a matter of luck.

NoodleDoodleMan

I had to claim for damaged cases about 10 years ago, although circumstances were different - they had been broken into somewhere between check in at Sharm el Shiek and our UK airport carousel.

The luggage return was delayed due to an aircraft hold door malfunction - by the time we got our kit back the agent to whom the damage should have been immediately reported had finished his shift and was gone.

TUI were the airline - anyway, to cut a long(ish) story, they wanted purchase receipts for the cases, and photos of the damage before considering the claim.

They eventually gave us £70 - but I'm convinced that was only because they accepted culpability as the airline responsible, and the photo  evidence clearly showed "enemy action" of deliberately broken padlocks and locks.

Ref. this thread, I can't see the hotel accepting responsibility - any claim would have to be against the taxi driver - who might refer it to his insurance ?

Somewhere along the line it'll end up as an insurance scenario - and because of excess fees involved, in reality it's not worth the effort .

One thing I learned - keep receipts for all valuable items you take or use on holiday - and report issues soonest.

Sandtree

You'd need to understand Cypriot law to know if the hotel has any liability as the party in contract with you or if the claim is exclusively against the taxi.

If the bags are £50 new they are likely worth half that secondhand which is what in most jurisdictions the liability would be limited to. £25 is a bit annoying but how many hours of your holiday do you want to lose trying to sort it? 

J_B

Sandtree said:

You'd need to understand Cypriot law ...........

We've been going to Cyprus for about 25 years now so obviously like the place.

Although they are lovely people, the laws of the land aren't strictly adhered to, especially regarding consumer relations.

Sandtree

J_B said:

Sandtree said:

You'd need to understand Cypriot law ...........

We've been going to Cyprus for about 25 years now so obviously like the place.

Although they are lovely people, the laws of the land aren't strictly adhered to, especially regarding consumer relations.

Same as the UK then

I would imagine the legal system is fairly different depending on which half of the island you are going to too

[Deleted User]

NoodleDoodleMan said:

I had to claim for damaged cases about 10 years ago, although circumstances were different - they had been broken into somewhere between check in at Sharm el Shiek and our UK airport carousel.

The luggage return was delayed due to an aircraft hold door malfunction - by the time we got our kit back the agent to whom the damage should have been immediately reported had finished his shift and was gone.

TUI were the airline - anyway, to cut a long(ish) story, they wanted purchase receipts for the cases, and photos of the damage before considering the claim.

They eventually gave us £70 - but I'm convinced that was only because they accepted culpability as the airline responsible, and the photo  evidence clearly showed "enemy action" of deliberately broken padlocks and locks.

Ref. this thread, I can't see the hotel accepting responsibility - any claim would have to be against the taxi driver - who might refer it to his insurance ?

Somewhere along the line it'll end up as an insurance scenario - and because of excess fees involved, in reality it's not worth the effort .

One thing I learned - keep receipts for all valuable items you take or use on holiday - and report issues soonest.

On that note photographing receipts with your phone is a good idea. If you have a scanner at home then scan them in. Then you can keep them indefinitely.