Works of Fiction from Lufthansa Customer Service

[MoonBuggy]

I'm hoping this is the right place to look for airline-related advice. I've been having some rather unpleasant treatment from Lufthansa's customer service centre, and it'd be a huge help if anyone could advise what my rights are here.

 

The short version: Lufthansa have been stringing me along with a stream of false information, culminating in my being sent on a wild goose chase to Manchester airport to pick up a bag that wasn't actually there. I am (understandably, I think) less than pleased about this, and I'd very much like to know what I can do about it.

 

The long version: I got caught in the Christmas chaos, along with many others - irritating, but understandable - not something I was going to kick up too much fuss about. After a two day delay, I managed to get an ALB-IAD-MUC-MAN ticket rebooked with United/Lufthansa; landed on the morning of the 24th, and was informed that my bag hadn't made it. Again, annoying, but not entirely surprising and not something that I was going to make an undue issue of. Filled in a form, headed off on the train to see my family. A few days, and a few calls to Lufthansa customer services later, they told me on the 28th that it had been found and assured me it would be couriered the same day. Spent a day stuck in the house waiting for couriers who never came. Courier company claimed to have not received the bag from the airline. 29th, the airline blamed it on the backlog and claimed that it was coming that same day. It didn't. If they'd just told me that they didn't know when it was coming, that would've been far preferable to the false assurances. Even at that point, though, I would've let the issue drop once I got my bag back.

 

Anyway, on the afternoon of the 30th, still having no sign, I asked Lufthansa to get in touch with the couriers and see if they could track down the luggage. Half an hour later I they had explained that there had been a mistake, and that the bag was still at the airport - the representative told me that there were still issues with the backlog, and that they weren't sure when it would be collected; even after collection she said that it could take up to 48 hours to be processed and delivered. The alternative offered was to go and collect it myself, so I told her that I would be heading out that evening; she claimed that she contacted staff at Manchester, told them to hold it for me, and assured me that it would be there for me as soon as I got there. A few hours to the airport, and when I get there they have no record of her message. They have no bag. They tell me it was passed to the couriers on the 28th. This conversation goes round in circles for some time, before I leave empty handed. As far as I'm concerned, that's the last straw. Back home from the fruitless six-hour round trip, I write a rather strongly worded complaint to Lufthansa customer services, sent by email and recorded post, to prevent them from claiming they never received it. No reply yet.

 

In the mean time, I'd be interested to know what recourse you guys think I might have for being treated like this. As I said, it's not so much about the lost bag (annoying as that is in itself) which still hasn't turned up, it's the absolute outright untruths that they seem to be spouting which really get to me.

[honeybee13]

Hello there. There's a better forum for this query I think, holidays and airlines. I'll ask the site team to move it for you. They should send you a PM to say where it is and give you a link.

 

My best, HB

[sea-sidelady]

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