Stuff stolen from my bag during flight.

[bhumik]

Hi,
I was travelling internationally and my bags were opened in transit and stuff stolen such as my digi camera, my schoolbag with books and contacts, shaver, ipod etc. etc. I filed a claim with the airlines and they said that it can take 4 to 5 months to pass. Also they asked for reciepts for all items over 100 USD. how am i supposed to get that? For eg. my textbooks themselves that cost 1000 USD if bought brand new, i bought them for 400 from a previous student. But ofcourse when u make transactions like that there are no reciepts you know. So how do I go about in situation like this. The airlines is Air Jamaica and they are absolutely useless customer service. I need my money atleast for my textbooks ASAP cause my school starts in 2 weeks.

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

For the books, ask your school book store if they would give you an estimate of all your books purchased brand new. If not ask the student you bought it from to sign a letter saying he sold you the books for X amount of dollars. Then take that letter to the notary and have him notarize it. That should be enough for the airlines for the books anyway.

Digital camera, if you purchased it from a store and got their extended warranty on it, the store will have a copy of the extended warranty in their systems. Maybe they can print it out for you showing the airline company you did have a digi cam. And the value of it. Ipod, the same thing.



Rule of thumb for me I travel everywhere with a duffle bag, " if it doesn't fit in the duffle bag and I can't store it in the over head compartment, then my ass aint either bringing it or I ain't flying"! when I get off the plane my bag goes with me. Good Luck bro, I hope you get your books soon, cause I have a daughter in her second year of college and I know the $$$$ of those damn books these days!

 

[bhumik]

I m staying here for 4 months so I had to bring more than a duffel bag. And I am just a college student. so most of the stuff I pay with cash. Even my ipod i paid with cash, camera with cash , it was just a cheap casio camera. Hence Its hard to provide reciepts..

 

[thebrick]

Sorry to hear this.... it sux. But for the future, Boom gave you good advice, ESPECIALLY in international travel, ALWAYS keep your valuable items with you in your carry-on where you can keep your eyes on it at all times

 

[WildBB]

I have had things stolen from my bags several times on DOMESTIC flights. Basically all the outside zippers were fully unzipped and EVERYTHING in them was gone. NO TSA notice either.

Frustrating

 

[VanR__]

I get my school books that retail to 100-300 slightly used at amazon's market for like 10 bucks.
Don't buy new books. You'll most likely never look at them again after 4 months.

 

[Sassy]

That really so suck and puts you in such a bad position especially with your school books. As for the receipts, this is what I do when I make a purchase on an electronic or other high dollar product, I staple the receipt to the warranty information or product information and put it in a fold in my file cabinet. No, I don't keep receipts for all my purchases, but I do on products that come with warranties such as cameras, iPod, electric tools, computers, etc.

It may sound like a lot to keep up with, but it's not really and I can count how many times it has paid off when a product breaks before the warranties are up. Or... when AirTran lost my bag while I was on vacation. I had to show receipts for every thing in my bag such as my hair dry and curling iron. Like you I didn't have receipts on everything, but I did have it on those two items. What got me started doing this was because I had several hairdryers stop working within months after purchasing them. It pissed me off so much that I started keeping the receipts on certain items.

 

[thebrick]

I have had things stolen from my bags several times on DOMESTIC flights. Basically all the outside zippers were fully unzipped and EVERYTHING in them was gone. NO TSA notice either.

Frustrating

Good point. You have to be careful with your stuff no matter where you go!

 

[bhumik]

UPDATE. Got a mail form Air jamaica after about a month, saying they couldnt "find" all the items i claimed and they can only compensate for a depriciated cost of 285 usd. Then they told me if i agree, i need to sign a paper which states "I here by let go of all my rights to sue air jamaica, etc. etc. over this incident" WTF 285. thats like half the cost of my stuff htat was lost. what should i do. I really need the money nor can i spend money on lawyers etc. etc. I dont have reciept for nething in the bag. Should i just sign it and take what i get and be done with it?

 

[Muay Thai]

fuck that shit

if you have good relationship with your folks have them contact an attorney and see what kinds of grounds you are on

that is BS man how awful

 

[wannagofast]

UPDATE. Got a mail form Air jamaica after about a month, saying they couldnt "find" all the items i claimed and they can only compensate for a depriciated cost of 285 usd. Then they told me if i agree, i need to sign a paper which states "I here by let go of all my rights to sue air jamaica, etc. etc. over this incident" WTF 285. thats like half the cost of my stuff htat was lost. what should i do. I really need the money nor can i spend money on lawyers etc. etc. I dont have reciept for nething in the bag. Should i just sign it and take what i get and be done with it?

No, don't write it off. I would contact a lawyer as quickly as possible. Some lawyers even offer free consultations.

 

[unnatural1]

I feel your pain, the same thing happened to me. Spirit Air lost my luggage coming back from Costa Rica 2 months ago. I filed a claim, had to have receipts for any item over $100 and they do not cover any electronics or papers. Who has receipts for all their clothes? I am easily out $2000, I think that I will be lucky to get $200 out of them. Thieves suck.

 

[BULKING_N]

Very sorry to hear.. That is no fun at all..
I will surely not give up on it... I will sue their asses if i were you, banana republic airline they are!!

The truth is, airlines dont have a passenger bill of rights now in place and they can get away with most things so for the time being. I will certainly nail them simply for the way they treated you in the after math.. If they were a slight bit apologetic and give a sort of reasonable compensation, then surely that can be good but what they offer you is no form of consolation!

I once had a case with British Airways and I was threatening to sue them but they know they will have lost and in the end, they sent me a cheque to cover the expenses..

So if you can simply have an attorney send them a letter or threaten to go to the media such as the Jamaican tabolids, you might see how quick that get their butts to respond.The last thing they need now is bad publicity.

 

[Steak Helmet]

I too had the same problem...

I was coming back from JAPAN and SEOUL KOREA and they lost my bags...they were delivered to me a week later missing all my internationa money and gifts I had bought everyone. The only thing I had was my dirty clothes and my shoes...I figured those little bastards could not fit into XXL and a size 12 shoe.

not much the airlines could do about the lost misc money and the gifts. I had to eat it.

Do what you can to recover your books...they are spendy. I think I paid 480.00 to 700.00 per semseter in BOOKS!! BASTARDS!!

 

[Muay Thai]

I too had the same problem...

I was coming back from JAPAN and SEOUL KOREA and they lost my bags...they were delivered to me a week later missing all my internationa money and gifts I had bought everyone. The only thing I had was my dirty clothes and my shoes...I figured those little bastards could not fit into XXL and a size 12 shoe.

not much the airlines could do about the lost misc money and the gifts. I had to eat it.

Do what you can to recover your books...they are spendy. I think I paid 480.00 to 700.00 per semseter in BOOKS!! BASTARDS!!

lolo