Big problem - BA! Suggestions?

[Josey]

2 months ago I did a long-distance flight on BA. 1 pce of luggage arrived torn open, sev. pieces of good clothing were gone. The high damage,$2470.00, was reported immediately.

Till today I haven't seen a penny. Sev.faxes to BA 'arrival' + later headquarter resulted in SILENCE, except for a letter telling 'sorry for the inconvenience + hope to see you again soon...'. sure!!!
I talked with some journalists, one of them has been told the same type of experience before, also reg. BA. One starts wondering...
Does anybody have a suggestion for me? I've never experienced that before,it was my 1st BA-flight.
This situation starts causing me a sleeping problem.


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[DeltaT]

Contact a TV consumer programme, see if they will do some prodding for a story

[G.Khan]

Did you report the full facts at the time to BA? Did they see the damaged case etc? BA, like all airlines, carry insurance to cover such situations and you should have been asked to fill out the claim form by the Customer Service person that you reported the damage and loss to, at the airport. You say you reported it "immediately" so, hopefully, you did report it to BA staff at the airport?
Airlines are always reluctant to pay out as the amount is quite likely to fall within their retained deductible. i.e. the airline will have to pay itself rather than their insurers.
Somewhere in your ticket, in the small print, it will proboably tell you what the carriers, (BA in this case), liability is and I doubt it will come anywhere near $2470:00! But they should definitely be paying you something, go after them.

[Lucifer]

By reporting immediately, did you go to the handling staff BEFORE clearing customs, otherwise if they have not seen it and filled you out a damage form at the time, then you are going to have problems, as it is harder for them to verify what happened. I do not have the number to hand for claims for baggage damage, but it is not based in their headquarters so chances are that it may not have found its way to them. Get in contact with those at the airport at which you arrived and start from scratch. Make sure you have all evidence of travel etc. They won't be trying to avoid you, but patience may be needed still.

I was informed when I had damaged baggage that it would take at the very minimum 4-6 weeks to process (1 month ago), so 2 months is not really that much longer than they advertised.

[Josey]

Thanks a lot for your advise. BA's just offered to cover 50% of the loss, calling this 'generous'...