vmratcliff

Flying Delta March 27 Paris to Seattle a glass of wine was spilled by the flt attendant all over me and my new (jan 2012) LV uncoated spring handbag..a once in a lifetime purchase. The attendant who spilled the wine was very apologetic and gave me soda water to try and remove the wine from my clothing and my handbag, and assured me that Delta has wonderful customer service and gave me instructions on how to contact them and file a claim. This I did and received a response apologizing for the "inappropriate behavior of the attendant " and that 7500 miles would be deposited in my account. I was astounded by this and am unsure how to proceed. The bag was 800 euros and obviously I will be unable to replace it.
Was I wrong to expect compensation more in line with the value ? If so what further steps do you suggest I take?
Thank you....Victoria Ratcliff

mztery

small claims court

but why were you sitting with your new 800 euro handbag where wine could spill on it?

vmratcliff

We had just reached altitude and I was getting my Kindle out of the bag and in the process of replacing it beneath the seat in front of me as the flt attendant tipped the wine she was serving to another passenger next to me. She said that they were different glasses (plastic) than she was used to and didn't have as good a grip on it as she thought.

kybourbon

Write a letter to Delta including a copy of your purchase receipt for the bag and pictures of damages. Explain what you want done.

You didn't state what the claim form was like or what you sent them originally.

bettyk

I agree that you need to be very specific in what you are willing to accept as compensation for your damaged bag.

CarolA

Did you provide Delta "proof" of purchase and state EXACTLY what you wanted in attempt one? If not try again with BOTH of these.

Simply saying "it's a brand new LV worth 800 Euros" isn't going to work.

Sadly, in today's society the airlines, hotels etc.. have learned to be cautious. No one ever has a 20 year old LV knock off ruined for example People LIE! At one point in my career I audited a hotel company... theft complaint would be "brand new top of line IMac" but research might prove what was REALLY missing was "10 year old laptop with broken keyboard" or even more intersting.. NOTHING LOL!

Hopefully you have the flight number and even better the FA's NAME... make sure you put all details in.

I would try to get a REAL address to mail my complaint to certified mail. I am not sure you can, but... it sounds like you may have used their email service. Time to call someone. Start with the basic reservation number and ask for help. If worse comes to worse go to your airport and go down to baggage service and throw yourself on thier mercy (with the purse)

For future reference, if anyone is reading this photos etc.. at the time are good. The only time I had an issue I went by United baggage claims (I had stuff spilled on my suit coat that would come out, but...) and they gave me dry cleaing money right there! (I also had Delta just give me a suitcase after they apparently drug mine behind the baggage cart) In person it's hard to ignore you.

vmratcliff

Thank you for all your suggestions! yes I do have the original receipt from LV and of course the cc billing showing the US dollar amount and will see about having a picture copied of the damage. I was told by the flt attendant to submit the report on the website and did so thinking that I should send an actual letter to the customer service dept for documentation. I will do so as soon as I can determine where and to whom to send the info.
Thank you again for your advice. VR

deedeedee

If you used your American Express card to pay for the bag, they might be helpful ...

Kay2

I always forget that my credit cards carry various purchase protections against damage etc. for new merchandise. Thanks for the reminder, dee.

vmratcliff

Just saw the Amex info..would have been another way to proceed. Unfortunately found the info a day too late! One day beyond coverage date so will have to continue to deal with Delta. The problem is that they will pay for cleaning services but there is no one near to take on this sort of job. I will return to Paris next Christmas time and take the bag to LV and see what can be done (at my expense of course) I again thank everyone here for their help. VR

Sue_xx_yy

Sorry to hear about your prize bag being damaged. My own take is that I doubt the airline will deem they have to cough up more for a soiled handbag than they will in the event they lose your luggage. The maximum compensation for lost luggage under the Montreal convention is a little over 1000 SDRs (about $650 US I think at present rates). And that's the maximum, if I read the convention stuff correctly.

I'm no lawyer, but I think this might be seen as strictly an accident, and not negligence on the part of the FA. If she had been tossing a wine bottle across the cabin to her colleague and the bottle spilled over you in mid flight, so to speak, well, that would be different. But here the spill happened in part because of the tight quarters under which FAs must serve food and beverages. It could just as easily have happened had your seatmate lost her grip on the glass, or (as happened to me once) when the person in the seat in front of you and your tray table sat down heavily, causing everything on the tray table to spill. Or the plane could have hit turbulence. Lots of things can cause spills in an aircraft. Alas, this means that most times I 'dress defensively' for flights. (I won't even go into what I looked like after a kid sitting next to me got violently sick. Worse, I was due to go to a business meeting on arrival...)

All that aside, you've nothing to lose from making the best attempt you can to get the airline to help out, if only with cleaning costs. Best of luck.

bhonoreh

I heard you could die on a Delta flight and they do not care. The terrible thing is.....I believe it!

coming from a recently Delta traveler.....not again!

wintersp

I realize that you are upset over this accident. However, the title of your post "terrible experience on Delta" implies it is something that Delta did or caused when in reality, this could have happened on any airline. There are things that happen on certain airlines' flights that would make me pause before I chose to fly them. However, spilling something on me is not one of them. That could happen on any airline flight.

CarolA

Well, considering I was on a flight not to long ago that had to make an unscheduled landing due to a medical emergency I can assure you that "you won't die on Delta and they don't care"

Statements like that generally mean "I wanted them to do something and they didn't so I am whining" LOL!

sumrcr

I have no idea what the removed-message above was, but it must have been bad to be worse than "...you could die...and no one would care."

suze

I agree that it's unfair to target Delta in the title of this post. What you describe could have happened on any airline.

Honestly if I had such an expensive brand-new handbag, I would have brought it home wrapped up, not using it. Same with nice clothes. Stuff too often gets trashed or otherwise damaged on plane flights. I don't wear or carry anything I really love or that is overly expensive.

dutyfree

Possibly unwrapped and being used so we wouldn't have to pay duty on it since it was 800 euros?

janisj

sumrcr: I didn't see the deleted post, but it was probably an advertiser . . .

dutyfree: