On our way from Washington DC to Namibia via Johannesburg on SAA all 3 of our bags were lost. We were assured they would be on the next flight the next day. Not only was that a joke, other passengers that overheard this promise said “yeah that is what they told us 2 days ago.”

We then flew to another area of Namibia and were told our bags would be sent to the post office in a day. Instead, 2 of the 3 bags were sent to the airport in the new town we were in. It was a nightmare to call to get information. 80% of the time nobody picked up. Half of the vacation was worrying about calling. Finally we got 2 of the bags at the airport. When we would call, sometimes they would say it was lost, sometimes they would miraculously have information that it was sent. We then went back to the airport two more times over the next two days. No bags. We would call and they would say it was still lost in the initial airport. We then left that town to fly to another town. Once we got to that town, they told us the bag was sent 4 days earlier and sent to the post office, not the airport. I heard the supervisor (Sally) who was apparently out of town yell at her co-workers saying “Why didn’t anybody update the system and call the travelers with information on where the bags were sent). So they forgot to call and tell us this information and they forgot to update their computers so that we could find this information when we called 15 times. Meanwhile my wife’s medicine was in the missing bag. Great! Fun trip to Africa with NONE of my luggage! (I only had 1 bag).

Then they were going to route the bags back to the main capital airport in time for the END OF OUR 12 day TRIP to take them home with us. That of course didn’t happen. Now they are supposed to be delivered to the USA. Fat chance of that.

Oh and their reimbursement program… they are supposed to give you up to $75 a day after 24 hours of your bags missing. Nothing is given to you in writing, so you have to trust the already incompetent people that you aren’t going to be missing some fineprint exception to that reimbursement. Also I think maybe you have to have receipts for what you purchase. The problem is 1) if you request a VAT tax refund… they keep the receipts! 2) The level of incompetence is so high, how in the world can I justify paying $75 a day up front in hopes that SAA will pay me back. Yeah right.

We were then told to get our refund and reimbursement in Johannesburg. But with our connection flight 90 minutes later, and the place to go being BEHIND another level of security, that didn’t happen. And at the gate I demanded to talk to a supervisor, and I was promised one would come before the flight would take off… of course, that didn’t happen. I was given the phone and 4 numbers to call. Nobody answered.

Oh and on the way back… all 3 bags (we bought a new bag) were left behind in Johannesburg. Finding who to call is a nightmare. The numbers they give us go straight to voicemail with no indication of what hours they work. When I call their partner airline United, I get routed to Manila. Each time I call they have a different set of information. Oh and there is no human that answers the phones at lost luggage to confirm if the bags have arrived. Yet they expect the customer to drive back out to the airport to pick up their bags. Do you see the flaw in this circular logic? 1) we can’t confirm where our freaking bags are 2) nobody answers the phone 3) nobody returns voicemails 4) we are expected to pick up the luggage.

Not only should the airline pay to have the bags delivered to our door (which is what the lost luggage lady said when we were in JFK) we should be compensated for the nightmare that they put us through.

Sure, I have no problem with an airline occasionally losing luggage. But at least have a system to make it as painless as possible.

Oh yeah, apparently our bags might have actually gone on the plane from JFK to IAD. Even though we stood at the baggage carousel waiting for the bags from Africa, as instructed by the flight attendants. We waited so long , we lost our connection.

My suggestion: 1) If you have a tight connection, go DIRECTLY to lost luggage and see if they can track your bags. 2) DO NOT necessarily believe them. They might say they are still in Africa, but they just haven’t been scanned in yet in JFK 3) Get a phone number for whom to call (and post it here). 4) Try “Traveler’s Aid” at Dulles. They were helpful. They walked over to lost luggage and checked to see if my bags were there (they saw only 1 of 3) 5) 703-572-7643 is supposedly the secret number for Washington Dulles lost luggage. But you have to let it ring forever. I could never get anybody to pick up. 6) Email their management using the pattern FirstNameLastName@Flysaa.com with no spaces, no dashes etc.

Here are some nightmare numbers you can call and fax: Kareen Degraff (hopefully that will make for good google juice for this person to get motivated to implement a better system) 954-769-5025 or fax them at 954-769-5026

Don’t fly SAA

Frank

Tags: Complaints, SAA

This entry was posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Complaints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.