Lost Baggage without ID Tag 23 June 2022 at 1:07PM in Flight delay compensation 13 replies 307 views

marcandshev

Dear All,
Thanks in advance for being here to help with queries of this nature, it is greatly appreciated.
I recently flew with Lufthansa and checked in 3 cases. 
I only received ID Tags for 2 of the cases not 3, and only realised this when I tried to report the case lost.
I called Lufthansa, who said there is a special form for this kind of issue and i need to go back to the airport to get one from a Lufthansa member of staff ( at Manchester Airport )
I did this last week and was told there is nothing more they can do as i dont have any reference number for the bag. I asked if they have CCTV that they can check to show that i gave them 3 cases, they say they dont. The only evidence i have is kind of circumstantial, and is that i paid upfront for checked baggage for 3 cases
I should have checked at the time so i am responsible for not querying this on the spot, its a bitter pill to swallow, but they did take my case and i dont really want to leave it there, especially as it could be somewhere waiting to be claimed but i cant get that info over to the relevant airports.
Any suggestions / experiences will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very  much.

jon81uk

Claim on your travel insurance?

marcandshev

Thanks. Insurers wont accept any claim unless the airline admit they have lost the bag, the airline are saying they havent had a bag 

Westin

Did you have your own address label on the bag?

It’s a long shot and odds are not stacked in your favour but the bag may still be sitting at Manchester Airport. If a bag is sent down the belt without a label then the bags are set aside and they will try to determine which flight and which passenger it may have been misplaced from. This is obviously more easy to do if the mistake picked up quickly. Always check you have been given the correct number of baggage receipts for cases checked in - and that they are tagged for the correct destination.

In perhaps a normal world the handing agent for Lufthansa at MAN may have been able to spend time to call around internal teams or even take you through to baggage areas to see if you could identify it. Unfortunately I suspect that those poor staff don’t even have time for a toilet break let alone time to go out of their way to search manually for a non-tagged case. 

If you have your own address label on it there is a chance it will eventually get picked up and someone with time log the lost bag and contact you. 

 

I hope for a happy ending but at the moment the cards are stacked against you.

marcandshev

Thanks Westin, really appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thanks for your kind wishes.

CKhalvashi

I agree with Westin.

It may be worth either e-mailing the handling agent or MAG (who own Manchester Airport), as MAG actually are quite good at sorting issues and it will have gone into their system.

As above, did you have anything at all on the bag that may identify the origin? I don't use address labels for security, but have slotted a business card with a name, company name, my office address and phone number on it. For future reference, it may be worth getting 50 printed for a few £. Mine were done in a local printing shop for about 6 Belarusian Rubles/£2 for 100 a few years ago (I think January 2020) as I'd left mine at home. I've used Instantprint before now for business printing, as well as local print shops, but can't give you prices as I haven't really needed business cards or letterheads since Covid as we've moved everything online.

bagand96

I agree the bag is probably sat at Manchester somewhere, it won't have been loaded onto the aircraft untagged.  Just some contact details that may help with the suggestions above:

Manchester Airport Baggage reclaim site lists Lufthansa's bag handling agent as Dnata 0371 945 9124 Baggage reclaim | Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport Lost property page is here Lost Property and Lost Luggage | Manchester Airport  This is more for items lost in the terminal so not exactly suited to your situation, but may be worth filling in the form anyway.

If you have no joy with the above, Manchester Airport Contact Details | Manchester Airport gives the general enquiries number 0808 169 7030.  May find a sympathetic ear there willing to help, or perhaps try contact via social media if no joy on the phone.

elsien

Don’t they normally stick something onto the boarding pass for each case? Do you still have it and how many tags have they stuck on? 

jon81uk

elsien said:

Don’t they normally stick something onto the boarding pass for each case? Do you still have it and how many tags have they stuck on? 

As per the OP, they had three bags but only two tag receipts.

marcandshev

Thanks again everyone who responded i am very grateful. The bag has turned up  . I had put my address etc on the bag so it actually ended up with Easyjet whose agents contacted me.
A tip for anyone in future, you must insist that the airline file a report even though you dont have a number. I luckily persuaded someone at Lufthansa to file it, and then as the airlines share info this got picked up.
Also noted that i should have checked i had ID tags before leaving, TBH though in 30 years of flying I have never done this, just naively presuming i would get them.
Does anyone know if I can claim for "inconvenience" Lufthansa are saying they will only pay 50% of the cost of the replacement clothes.?

Brie

Given that it's taken, what?, 6 - 7 weeks for them to find your luggage I would have expected a better response.  Was there anything that you absolutely needed in that time?  (business clothes, wedding outfit) If so that should be paid in full.  If it's just that you were without 3 pairs of knickers and a couple of tshirts and it was just inconvenient not to have them as you had to do the washing a bit more often, well that's a different story.

Once you are happy with the comp for the clothing then I'd be calculating how much time and money you have expended.  Paid for parking a couple of times at the airport?  On hold for 30 mintues trying to contact someone?  That's extra.