[joejoet1984]

My wife's cousin came to visit us in Syracuse, NY from Thailand. She stayed for a month and when it was time for her to go back we booked a flight with AA from Syracuse -> Boston -> JFK. This was because her flight was leaving from JFK to Thailand. We checked her bag in at Syracuse. When she got to JFK they had lost it. She filled out a form when she was at JFK and then got on her flight to go to Thailand.

Approximately 2 weeks later there was still no sign of her bag so they sent us a property questionnaire. We filled out the questionnaire and provided receipts as requested. Two days after we sent the questionnaire back, my wife's cousin received her luggage on her doorstep in Thailand.

The only problem was that everything of value was missing. There was an Ipod Touch, a 200 dollar watch, 2 coach purses, and 17 lipsticks. These were all things we sent with her cousin to give as gifts to my wife's family in Thailand. Every one of those things was missing. This is about 800 dollars worth of merchandise.

I immediately called AA baggage claim and told them what the problem was. They told me I had to go back to JFK within 24 hours to file the claim. I explained to her that we live in Syracuse. The flight was TO JFK. I wasn't going to pay for a round trip to JFK to fill out a claim.

She then misinformed me by telling me that I could go to the closest airport. I went to Syracuse airport and they told me they couldn't do it there and I needed to call their central baggage office again. By this time it was of course closed.

The first thing the next day I called and they told me I could now do it over the phone with JFK (suddenly their policy changed overnight apparantly). I called JFK and got a voicemail telling me to leave a message and my phone call would be returned within 48 hours.

2 days later, they called me back and informed me that they won't reimburse me for anything because it has now been over 24 hours. Of course it has been over 24 hours because I spoke with 4 different representatives from their company that provided me with misinformation.

I explained this to the representative and she proceeded to tell me that even though it was their fault that I was unable to file the claim within 24 hours, they still can't reimburse me because it has been over 24 hours.

This is surely illegal. AA has stolen the items we purchased for my wife's family and basically told me that even if it is their fault and I did nothing wrong, they still will not refund me my money.

I have recorded all conversations with AA to prove that everything I am saying is 100% accurate. I will post the link to the last conversation I had with AA and you can hear them telling me that even though it is their fault it doesn't matter.

She suggested I try to send in another questionnaire while basically telling me that nothing would come of it. I will provide this airline with one more week to reimburse me my money. If it hasn't happened, I will be taking them to small claims court and I will include the cost of the time I have spent with their incompetent business, and the cost of the filing fee for small claims.

The link to the final conversation I had with them is here.

http://ge.tt/49PK7l42/v/0?c

The other conversations are available upon request.

Joe