My families luggage was lost by United on 2/25/05. We filed the appropriate claim forms and recieved a unbelievable response in the mail. United said "We have concluded that United Airlines will not accept liability. We are unable to offer any reimbursement." We checked 3 bags and a car seat in Orlando for a family of 5 and United has not found them. After repeated calls and e-mails no one is getting back to us. Does anyone have any advice? Thank You!

Firstly, make out detailed lists of all contents of lost luggage.

Tried to make a guestimate of property value of each item.

Try and find any receipts for any of the items missing. If you have any photos, all the better. Sometimes my luggage is in the background of vacation photos.

Save all correspondence.

Start sending registered letters to everyone. The CEO of United Airlines, the local management of the UA hubs your luggage went through, BBB, Attorney General's office, etc. Sometimes letter writing campaigns are the most effective.

State firmly and politely what happened, that you refuse to let UA off the hook for losing your luggage, and what kind of compensation you think is fair. Enclose copies of any photos and your lists of items missing and their replacement value. Send letter to CEO and President of UA and CC: all others listed above. Send all letters registered mail.

Forget emails. You'll never hear from anyone. Make a paper trail and don't stop until you get what you want.

Start calling UA offices after you get receipt of registered mail.

Good luck.

Excellent advice, Go!
One other thing you may try, if applicable is to contact the agency that sold you the tickets.
When I was an agent at a major agency was able to escalate this sort of issue to my sales rep from the airline.
I recall that I was able to assist with most customer service issues and many were resolved due to my efforts.
Good luck!

I'm curious if there's more to this story that might make sense. I guess I've just never heard of an airline refusing to accept responsibility when they lose the luggage.

Did UA give a reason for not accepting responsibility?

Did you check the luggage with UA directly, or did you have a tour operator/cruise line/etc. take the bags for you to the airport and check them.

Do you have the claim tags for the bags?

In addition to the excellent suggestions above, I'd continue calling, but not accepting the answer that someone will get back to you. Talk to managers, and their managers, etc. until you find someone who can help you.

You all are so helpful! Here are the details. We checked the bags curbside in Orlando and received the claim tickets and boarding passes. The flight was from Orlando to LaGuardia with a change of planes in Dulles. When we arrived in Dulles we learned our next flight to NY was cancelled b/c of a snow storm. We booked a flight the next day to Newark b/c nothing was available to LaGuardia. In Dulles & in Newark we tried to locate our bags but nothing so we filed a claim in Newark and stupidly gave them our claim tickets but got a claim # and a form with numbers to contact. This is all with 3 small children. The airline finally sent me a Bagging Tracing/Claim Form which I completed and sent it to them within the 45 days. The form listed everthing the bags contained and I mean everything. I provided a receipt for the only item over $250 per the form. We called many times for a status. Then on Sat we received the unbelievable letter of only 6 sentences. "We have now completed a thorough investigation of your claim and want to advise you of our decision. The airlines do not automatically pay every claim that is presented for loss, but handle each situation on an individual basis after careful investigation. Based on the available information and review, we have concluded that United Airlines will not accept liability. Thus, we are unable to offer any reimbursement. We regret that our response could not be more favorable. Any questions regarding this decision should be addressed in writing." Is it b/c of the snow or that we gave the agent the claim tickets. Thats the story. It seems to me a cut and dry case.

Something doesn't sound right here and I also wonder if there is more to the story.

I wonder if you followed their guidelines and reported the bags missing within 24 hours of your arrival and sent them a letter within 45 days of your initial claim.

If you did that, than their refusal must be based on some other factor such as you don't have the supporting claim checks or issues raised by Jlm_mi.

If you did that and followed their rules, then call this number again and immediately ask for a Supervisor: Baggage Services/Lost & Found: (800) 221-6903.

If you didn't follow their guidelines and missed deadlines, not sure what your options are. This website advises that you take them to Small Claims court.

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/tra...gagerights.htm

I believe we followed their guidelines. The form was filed on the 44th day with proof. We filed the claim a few hours after we landed. I would think they would give you an explanation for their conclusion. Is it because of the problems United is having?

Just read your post. I suspect the problem is that you no longer have your claim checks.

Don't know if they'll accept it, but you might check your homeowner's insurance policy as a last resort. Many policies cover Personal Property that is lost or stolen regardless of where it is lost or stolen.

If any of the items are relatively new and you purchased them with a credit card, you might also check with the credit card provider about insurance for lost or stolen items.

Good luck.

There is a place in Alabama called unclaimed baggage (http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/) where all the lost luggage goes and they sell the contents of it. The store is located at: 509 West Willow Street, Scottsboro, Alabama 35768. The phone number is 256-259-1525.

You might even consider contacting them and asking if they have your luggage!

In addition to the letter writing campaign, try the Conde Naste Ombudsman.

Thank you to everyone for your helpful advice!

My husband works for a fortune 500 company who uses United as their preferred airline. He travels a few times a year using United as a premier executive. He is also trying to get help thru their travel liason. We don't know if this will help. Regards!

That's a good route, lostluggage. If they are willing to help they'll have a little more clout.

Your homeowners policy won't be useful as it doesn't cover loss of an item. If it were a theft, yes, wherever it happened, subject to your deductible of course, but this can't be classified as a theft.

This is one of the strangest cases I have read about luggage.

Have you contacted the Airline Passengers Association for guidance.

Also www.flyertalk.com might be another good place for info.

Hope this helps a bit.

In the BayArea and the Sacramento Valley we have consumer advocates via our TV stations. They have solved some very difficult problems for consumers, all at no fee. If you have this service in your area I would contact them also. I used one once and they were terrific. Good luck to you. BTW, I stopped using United years ago due to bad service.

I AGREE WITH THE Conde Naste Ombudsman suggetsion...I have seen them really come through on things I WOULD think impossible..

Thanks everyone! I already feel better because everyone is so nice and helpful. I will keep you posted.

What a shame. I do hope you find your luggage or that they compensate you at least some of the value!

Hey!

This is the e-mail I received today from United:
"Thank you for your email. We appreciate the opportunity to again review your claim.

After reviewing the details of your claim, we are unable to alter our original decision. We must respectfully decline your request for compensation in this matter.

Decisions of this nature are not casually made. A great deal of investigation and documentation precedes them.

Although this is not the response you had hoped for, we will not alter
our original position."

Still no reason. Baggage Services gave me the claim numbers for the 4 bags lost from their system so I don't think that is the reason. I have to deal with corporate now.

I wonder if your luggage was put on a carousel at IAD or LGA and actually STOLEN while it just waited and waited for your arrival?
Never know...

lostluggage, do not email.

Write letters and CC everyone on the list.

You'll never get anywhere by just emailing and calling. If you want to see any money, you need to start a letter writing campaign.

Also, the Conde Nast Ombudsman gets thousands of letters and only handle the very few where people have already exhausted every route.

You haven't exhausted every route.