[Kirsty]

I recently went on a once in a life time trip to Palawan. When we checked in at Manchester Airport we were advised that our luggage would be transferred all the way to Puerto Princessa and that we didn't need to check them in again.

When we arrived at Puerto Princessa, however, our luggage was not on the carousel.

There was medication in the suitcase that I needed as I have a chronic illness. I tried to explain this to you via social media and the response was, that you would get the issue resolved for us. No one replied with the solution.

Thankfully I had a friend in the UK speaking to your advisors over the telephone, but he was told different things each time he spoke to you. This caused a lot of distress to my friend and I. When we contacted Philippine Airlines they told us that they knew where our bags were and kept promising to send them, we had our hopes up twice only to be met by disappointment and frustration. Your airline told my friend at one point that they knew where the bags were and even gave him the references. This was later denied by another member of staff.

You eventually stated to my friend that PA was responsible for resolving our issue as the final carrier, even though it was your airline that made the mistake! Only one member of your staff was certain they knew where the bags were and this differed to where PA thought the bags were.

Eventually the issue was resolved by Philippine Airlines who told us that you had set up various very difficult hoops for us to jump through. A week later they sent us an email asking us to sign various documents that you wanted us to sign and send back. We had no access to a printer and a very weak internet connection. In the end I had to forward the email to my friend (after waiting several hours in order to get a good enough signal) and get him to PP sign for us.

The luggage arrived one week late. I spent most of that week laying in bed unwell. A week that I cannot get back! Due to having a poor signal I had to text my friend in the UK, I also had to ring PA. I now have a bill of £88 on top of the money we lost for the first week.

I would not like to think what would have happened if I didn't have a friend that was willing to stay up all night in order to help us.

I received no solution and no apology from you and I have given you chance. This is not how I expect a top airline to deal with anyone, let alone a customer with a disability.

I ask that you kindly pay for the phone costs that I incurred and also ask for compensation for the first week that we lost. I would very much like not to have to take this further.

[Etihad Representative]

Hi Kirsty.

Thank you for your post,

We were disappointed to read that there was a delay to the delivery of your baggage up on arrival in the Philippines.

We wish to inform you that in accordance with the Interline Baggage Handling agreement, the airline who is the final carrier of the passenger takes full responsibility for the passenger claim, regardless of which airline is ultimately responsible for the mishandling.

This does not mean we are complacent about mishandled/damaged baggage. This system simply avoids confusion, duplication of tracing efforts and duplicate claims. As PAL carried you to your final destination, any claim would need to be made through them as per the Airline Industry Regulations.
We are sorry as we have not been able to provide you a more favorable response on this occasion.
Thank you again for writing.

Yours Sincerely,
*DP

[Kirsty]

The complaint I am making is that we were misinformed by a member of your staff initially! If it were not for this the incident would not have happened.

I am also complaining about the poor manner in which your staff dealt with this. Or rather did not after stating by PM (which I have proof of) that they would resolve the matter.

Again you are dismissing my complaint and absolving yourself from any responsibility in the matter by stating that you are 'disappointed to read that there was a delay to the delivery of your baggage up on arrival in the Philippines'. There is no apology that your airline made the actual mistake and you are shirking any accountability in this. This is extremely poor service. The other carrier are doing exactly the same.

Whilst it may be their responsibility to resolve the matter. You are not absolved of making a mistake or for poor customer service. This was also not made clear by your staff at the time and led to a very distressing game of cat and mouse, which is very unprofessional to say the least!

I expect your staff to be aware of the protocol and not make promises they cannot keep. There was a clear lack of communication between staff members, not to mention their knowledge on the procedures in place. This would have prevented time, money and stress! I doubt that you cannot take any responsibility for the aforementioned errors and I will be looking into to this.

[Etihad Representative]

Hi again Kirsty,

Can you please email us on ********************** and we will look into this further and have it investigated. Thanks. *HE