unusual airline dispute

ladybyrd1892

hi. i have a dispute with Airline Tap Portgal. I missed a flight due to the self scan machine refusing to scan my luggage. The staff member couldnt figure it out and then said 'this is the airlines problem because the prefer to have machine instead of employ people'. he then left exasperated and i missed my flight as by the time other staff helped me and argued with him it was too late to board. the other staff assisted me to complain about him but ultimately i was made to pay another flight, significantly delayed etc. i complained to Tap and they simply thanked me for the feedback. they then sent deadlock letter and have refused any explanation, apology or compensation. i tried to enlist Resolver (dispute company) they referred to the ADR. the alternative dispute resolution closed the case as neither the arrival or departure airport was in the UK. Air help and other such services only deal with delays, cancellations and overbooking. can anyone point me somewhere where i can get assistance. The airline staff were very helpful in the end at the airport, gave  me the unhelpful guys name, told me they'd also report him and spent time arguing with him about being so obtuse. but now i dont know where to go. the new flight cost me 800 euro. plus fees associated with my delay. i feel im entitled to compensation. thanks

silvercar

You could try Bott and co. Although they usually process standard case work, they do have people that you can talk to (or at least they did when I used them).

Ayr_Rage

Were the members of staff at the baggage drop airline employees or third party contractors?

As it all happened outside of the UK then I think you're on a hiding to nothing unless the airline admit it was their staff member that made an error, which doesn't sound likely as they have already replied to you and closed the case.

Westin

Playing Devils' Advocate here - 

When did you arrive at check-in kiosk to complete the formalities?

Seems strange that the actions you describe would cause you to miss a flight if you had been at check-in the recommended time before the flight.  Arrive to check-in 2hrs before, or whatever the recommended time, then time to resolve issues. Arrive -45, -40, -30 minutes before scheduled departure, or close to whatever the check-in times at the unnamed airport were, then minutes count and things can quickly go wrong and flights missed.

Possibly the bag tag would not scan because of the time factors.  Check-in systems will automatically close at a certain time before a flight departs.  

Could it have been that you were late?  Perhaps the first check-in kiosk was reached in time to allow the printing of the boarding card and bag tag.  By the time you got to the drop off belt and tried to scan the baggage tag, the system closed the flight and was not allowing bags to be sent down the belt.

Newbie_John

Westin said:

Playing Devils' Advocate here - 

When did you arrive at check-in kiosk to complete the formalities?

Seems strange that the actions you describe would cause you to miss a flight if you had been at check-in the recommended time before the flight.  Arrive to check-in 2hrs before, or whatever the recommended time, then time to resolve issues. Arrive -45, -40, -30 minutes before scheduled departure, or close to whatever the check-in times at the unnamed airport were, then minutes count and things can quickly go wrong and flights missed.

Possibly the bag tag would not scan because of the time factors.  Check-in systems will automatically close at a certain time before a flight departs.  

Could it have been that you were late?  Perhaps the first check-in kiosk was reached in time to allow the printing of the boarding card and bag tag.  By the time you got to the drop off belt and tried to scan the baggage tag, the system closed the flight and was not allowing bags to be sent down the belt.

Yep, a timeline would be helpful:
-time of the flight
-time of the first scanning attempt
-time of succesfull scan

Also what does your travel insurance T&C say?

eskbanker

Where was the flight to and from, and how did all the other passengers check in their baggage for it?

DullGreyGuy

They recommend you arrive 3 hours before, unless you are flying to Israel in which case it's 4 hours. 

How long before the flight did you arrive at the airport? I'm struggling to imagine it taking over 2 hours to get to a self serve kiosk and continue to fight with the machine rather than reverting to a manned desk. 

In the majority of airports the check in staff are not the airlines employees but 3rd party service providers