[mcav]

During my latest outbound flight to Istanbul, I had a small netbook bag with me which is hardly bigger than the netbook itself. I had stowed it under the seat for take off, which, given the seat I was in, was not strictly procedure, but was tolerated on every other flight I've taken with BA, because it is so small.

The attendant, Vicky, decided that she would "help" me by taking the bag from me and placing it in the overhead bin, informing me that I can go get it when the seatbelt light went out.

She stowed it in the overhead bin, but unknown to me, she just dumped it into the front so it was pressing against the door of the storage bin, basically closing it before gravity could do its job.

So when I went to get it, the first thing it did was plummet to the ground, just missing the passenger below, clattering off a chair then off the ground, scuffing the corner of the netbook and damaging the left mouse button, or at least these are the problems that I have noticed. (As some of you will know, computers that fall from height tend to develop problems later as well).

I put in a complaint on the simple basis of "You touched it last" and I got told "Tough, it's your PC, not our problem".

Clearly I'm quite agrieved by this, but is there anything else I can do? My netbook is barely 2 months old now and was only a month and a bit at the time of the incident.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[The_Judge]

I would pursue it further with their main office. You may also want to contact the manufacturer to see if it's covered under warranty. You can play the blame game all you want but airlines will drag their feet and your main goal is to fix your computer. If they won't own up to it, fix it through the warranty and never fly BA again.

[mcav]

I could try to get it fixed under warranty but it's not likely.

I am going to try to press BA further but I doubt they will see another penny from me.

[jimworcs]

Get someone to detail the problems which are directly attributable to the dropping of the netbook.

Send a copy of the report directly to BA, with a demand for reimbursement for of the costs.

If they refuse, you can file a small claims court claim, via the following link:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

You can do it all online for minimal cost. However, you should be aware that you will need to have a response to the following points

1. Why you placed your netbook under the seat in front of you (I assume this is an exit row), when this is expressly forbidden for safety reasons. It is unlikely that the "I have got away with it in the past" will work, as the removal of the netbook was for safety reasons.

2. Had you placed the netbook in the overhead bin yourself, you could have ensured that it was adequately stowed, and so you may have contributory negligence.

3. BA expressly advises, in their announcements that luggage can shift in flight and that extra care is required on opening the luggage containers to ensure that luggage is not loose.

I must stress, I feel BA may have some liability here, but you need to think through how you would respond to these points before suing, as they are likely to come up.

[mcav]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Get someone to detail the problems which are directly attributable to the dropping of the netbook.

Send a copy of the report directly to BA, with a demand for reimbursement for of the costs.

If they refuse, you can file a small claims court claim, via the following link:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

You can do it all online for minimal cost. However, you should be aware that you will need to have a response to the following points

1. Why you placed your netbook under the seat in front of you (I assume this is an exit row), when this is expressly forbidden for safety reasons. It is unlikely that the "I have got away with it in the past" will work, as the removal of the netbook was for safety reasons.

2. Had you placed the netbook in the overhead bin yourself, you could have ensured that it was adequately stowed, and so you may have contributory negligence.

3. BA expressly advises, in their announcements that luggage can shift in flight and that extra care is required on opening the luggage containers to ensure that luggage is not loose.

I must stress, I feel BA may have some liability here, but you need to think through how you would respond to these points before suing, as they are likely to come up.

You're right in pretty much all you say. These points would come up, and I do have reasons for my actions.

For 1 and 2, The reason why I had kept the bag with me is entirely down to the fact that I had recently had knee surgery and was not 100% mobile at the time, meaning it was safer for me to stow it under the seat than risk injury reaching up to the overhead.

With regards to the luggage shifting, I understand that this is a possibility, the problem is that it was not placed in the bin properly, but just at the front. There was space for it to be lodged in at the back but it was clearly placed at the front where it would lean against the door. It was only in there for all of 5-10 minutes.

Incidentally, the same attendant knocked someones food onto their ipad (beef in gravy) not long after my laptop incident, but I'll leave that up to him to complain about.