Reader Question: Airberlin Delayed Luggage, Handling Agent & Wrong Information!

LoyaltyLobby readers continue to send emails about delayed baggage issues they are having with Airberlin. This is a topic that we have previously covered here on LoyaltyLobby several times.

Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week.

Here’s the email from the reader:

We saw your web posting about issues with Air Berlin. Our luggage from Berlin to Rome has now been delayed for four days and there is really no clear remedy. Air Berlin says to contact the Rome Airport Lost and Found Department and today this department advised us that there is nothing they can do and we should contact Air Berlin. Air Berlin’s website states we should now contact “Baggage Express” but the Berlin Airport says this is not correct. In any event Baggage Express does not reply.

We are about to depart from Rome without our luggage and really have no idea what to do next. Over the course of many years we have had delayed luggage twice and both times it arrived the next day under a clear and transparent process.

When your baggage didn’t turn up in Rome you should have filed something called PIR (Property Irregularity Report) with the handling agent and received a form of tracking number (something like FCOAB12345). You can then use this number to check the status of the bag at the World Tracer website (access here Airberlin’s one).

You should contact the Airberlin’s ground handling agent at the Rome’s airport. For delayed luggage it certainly is not the airport lost & found.

If Rome is not your home, you should buy whatever essential items (clothing etc.) you need to get by and keep the receipts.

Once you have received your bag, you need to file a claim to get your expenses reimbursed by the Airberlin. They usually are willing to give you first a voucher for a future flight or if you buy a flight from them and send them the PNR they then process a partial refund.

You need to get the German ombudsman involved to get monetary refund from Airberlin. Sebastian recently wrote a piece how to get this done (access here). He did one Airberlin claim for me.

Here are some Airberlin articles from the past!

Whine Wednesdays: Airberlin’s Unwillingness Or Inability To Pay Up

Airberlin Acknowledges Terrible Customer Service

Conclusion

Airberlin customer service basically spins out lies to get you off the phone. It is absolutely laughable that they had advised the reader to contact the Rome airport lost & found regarding the delayed baggage on their own flight. It is their handling agent responsibility to deal with these issues.

I really believe that it is time for this (miserable) airline to cease to exist. They CEO promised to fix the customer service couple of years back (all issues were promised to be settled within SEVEN days) that I knew already at the time to be nothing but a lie.

They just emailed last week an apology for their frequent fliers for not being able to keep their schedule due to employee shortage after leasing 40 or so planes with crews to Lufthansa. The luggage delivery issue that readers are having with the airline are probably caused by the same issue of not having enough staff.

So, if you are planning to take Airberlin flight anytime soon, I would strongly suggest that you travel with carry-on only!