Our wonderfully, yr-in-advance, planned italy vacation has been negatively "tainted" by an unbelievably poor customer service nightmare on behalf of Alitalia.
On june 1st, during our flight from NY to Milan, our infant's carseat & stroller combo was lost. We were totally distraught and shocked as we needed the carseat for our baby to travel to our lake como destination. So instead of our wonderful landing and fine drive to como, we were now trying to contact the driver who was picking us up, and informing him of our need for a carseat. my wife handled the carseat, while i dealt with totally "could-care-less" baggage claim reps.
after filling out various reports, and waiting
an extra hour for the driver to get a car seat, we left the airport 2 hrs later than planned.
after a glorious 3 weeks in italy followed by 10 days in Holland, we returned to the USA and immediately TRIED to contact Alitalia to get reimbursement OR our stroller. The "automated-only" phone # said to make copies of all docs and submit to the LAX office. On July 9th I did that. After 2 weeks of no-response, i sent them again. This time "certified, return-receipt". On Aug 2nd my docs were signed for by Alitalia in Los Angeles. after 2 more weeks of no-reply, i began calling Alitalia in NYC. The rep there said she was "so sorry" its taken so long, and "would try to process the payment asap". On sept 7th I again tried to "get a hold of anyone at Alitalia" to find out what was going on with our claim. Just last week on Sept 16th, I recvd a letter from the rep saying "sorry we must reject your claim because 21 days has passed since your stoller was missing and you did not file a written report in time". ??????????? WHAT THE HECK WAS I DOING AT THE COUNTER IN MILAN!!??? A supervisor in NY said "yes we know about the report you filed in Milan but you must file a written report (while on vacation)within 21 days....its on the back of your ticket."
HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF THIS?????? We flew, they lost our stroller, we filed our claim at the airport, we returned home, no stroller, contacted Alitalia, they refused to pay because "21 days had passed......"????????????
ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Even as the company teeters on bancruptcy, employees threaten to strike.

I doubt you will ever see your stroller or your reimbursement. You have spent too much time and energy on something that's not going to happen. Just let it go. You probably won't have to bother with flying Alitalia again, anyway.

I am so sorry to hear about your trouble. Those things can be expensive!

I remember reading something on these boards in regards to an "ombudsman" and then I was waiting in of all places a car repair shop a few weeks ago and believe it or not they had some travel magazines on the table.

In the magazine were two instances in which people had trouble with getting money back, one from a car rental place I think and the other I can't remember, but it was defintely travel related.

Perhaps someone here can tell you how to go about the process if it might help.

I think it's Travel & Leisure magazine that has the ombudsman service.

It is Conde Nast Traveler that has the ombudsman:

"Ombudsman offers a free service of advice and mediation. Because of the volume of letters we receive, we cannot act in all cases. Letters should be sent to Ombudsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Times Square, New York, New York 10036, and should include documentation and any relevant photographs. Please note that we cannot respond to submissions sent via e-mail. Correspondence must be typed and include a daytime telephone number. All submissions become the property of Condé Nast Traveler and will not be returned; submissions may be edited and may be published or otherwise used in any medium."

What a run around. We once had a very delayed flight on BA from London to Miami and arrived in Miami at about 3 AM to find my suitcase had been destroyed by them. There were no representatives for BA anywhere in the airport, in fact because we had missed our connection there was NO ONE to help us with that either -- and believe me we checked everywhere in the airport for someone from BA -- all closed down. So when I filed a claim for the damaged luggage the very next day, it was rejected because "you must contact a BA representative before leaving the airport for an inspection of the damage". Huh? Could anyone tell me how that was possible? They refused to budge on their rule. Sometimes these airlines make rules and then stick to them without using any common sense.

That is really a shame. I don't think the airlines really care, but then again it may depend on who you talk to..some people are just more service oriented. The airlines are loosing money hand over fist...the how and why can be debated at length I'm sure but if you are talking to someone who might be out of a job in a month or so, they probably just don't care. Also, I have learned to never say never. Those of us who travel may have a bad experience with an airline or hotel or whatever..and then you get the complaint post and someone answering that has had a totally different experience with the same airline or hotel, so when it comes to traveling, if the airline you complained about had the most convenient route for your next trip or the right price....well, in my case I might try them again. I really have been lucky and intend to knock on wood many times because up to this point anyway I have not had lost or damaged luggage or anything stolen from my bags or hotel room, nor have I been pick pocketed....I have read some of the horror stories on this and other boards so all I can say if that I am very grateful for my "luck" so far. I'm really sorry you had to go through all that..so very frustrating plus the way you were dealt with by the airline is just not right. Hope this is your one and only.

I you don't want to let this die, I'd keep at it. Call their customer service line and complain to the rep. Get their name, address and phone number. If they say no, ask to speak to their supervisor. Keep doing this...

It (when) this doesn't work, have them give you the phone number and address of their US corporate. Contact them by phone and in writing. Detail your case and the people who you talked to.

Many times, if you get out of the customer service 'loop' and into the corporate offices, you can get a response.

Good luck!

Here is the contact information for the exuctive offices for Alitalia USA:

For Executive and General Offices call 212-903-3300

NEW YORK:
Alitalia Airlines
350 Fifth Avenue - Suite 3600
New York, NY 10118

At least, in your own words you had a glorious vacation. What does a stroller cost? Is it worth the trouble and aggravation your talking about?

This was (is) a total pain I am sure, but don't let it negatively "taint" your wonderful vacation.

I agree with astein12. Deal directly with the corporate office. Alitalia cancelled a flight I was supposed to be on due to strikes back in April. Due to time constraints, I could not reschedule by trip. After a month of constant calls to customer service, I wrote a letter to the corporate office for either a refund or credit on another flight in the futre. It took a while, but on September 16, 4-1/2 months later, I received a refund.

This is probably pretty obvious now, but you're really never supposed to check a carseat, especially one you need upon arrival. Not only can it go missing, as in your case, but it could also be damaged in the hold in such a way that you can't tell but it fails in a crash. Better is to install it in a seat you've reserved (I know, this is expensive but much safer and more comfortable) and failing that gate check it (although that doesn't necessarily work either--a friend just got back from Spain and they lost her gate checked stroller she saw them load under the plane....how does that happen I'd like to know?!).

Patrick--me, too!

Last year: The lock was broken and my luggage rifled to the tune of over $1,200 in missing items (mostly souviners) on a return flight with BA from LHR to Newark. Flew the code share (America West) home. BA tagged the luggage in Newark, put it on the AW conveyer with BA tags, etc.

Got home close to midnight and didn't attempt to unpack. The next morning, when I realized what had happened and tried to file a claim they told me I had to do so online. Did it. THREE MONTHS LATER (and after many phone calls), they told me they wouldn't be responsible because my final carrier was AW--didn't matter that it was a codeshare AND that I should have looked at the luggage before AW took it. DUH!!! The biggest kicker: AW wouldn't consider the claim because it was over the 21-day limit for filing. Of course it was, since BA kept the paperwork without responding for THREE MONTHS!

Even though we each have over 55K miles with BA, we're flying Virgin to London in November!

This is why travel insurance, which doesn't cost that much, is well worth the expense.

That "One World" thing with BA is garbage. As I discovered at Heathrow once, it means nothing at all. And it meant even less to the couple in line in front of me. Their connecting flight (on a "partner" airline) had been delayed, and because BA "determined" that they wouldn't make the BA flight, they sold their seats. The couple ended up arriving at Heathrow in plenty of time to make the connection, but the seats were already gone. The BA guy told the couple that he didn't have to get them a hotel room, but that he would out of the goodness of his heart.

Dear slamat:
You think Alitalia airline is bad, you should try their website..another nightmare.