My complaint:
On 22 May, myself, my husband, my 91 year old mother and a friend travelled with Brussels Airlines from Venice Airport, Italy to Tampa Airport, FL with a layover in Brussels and a layover in Frankfurt. When we arrived in Tampa, after about 25 mins, we were called over to the luggage conveyor collection area by the Brussels Airlines representative and were told that 3 out of the 4 baggages we had checked in had not arrived. The representative, informed us that there were no flights leaving Brussels the following day and the soonest we would receive our luggage would be either the 24th or 25th of May.
We informed her that we were heading to Alabama via rental car the following day and asked that when our baggage arrives, it be delivered to the Ocala address that we provided. She informed us that we should purchase whatever necessities we needed, personal items and clothing for the 3 functions we would be attending and that we would be reimbursed 100% of the cost. She told us to keep all receipts and file a claim upon our return to Italy, which is what we did with little to no success.
We were in the USA to attend 3 important functions. Our son graduating from Officer Training School in Alabama, on May 24th and 25th. A religious function, a baptism for which my husband and I were the godparents, on May 26, and our other sons wedding in Ocala, FL on 27 May. We had already purchased our new clothing for these functions in Italy prior to our departure. Finding ourselves in a State that we knew nothing about, the stress level was very high seeing as we did not have our personal belongings.
On our drive up to Alabama from Tampa, we stopped and purchased all new clothes, shoes, underwear and other necessary items so we could attend these functions. And not have to wear our travelling clothes for another 3 days! Our baggages were delivered to the address in Ocala at 01:30am on 26 May.
Upon our return to Italy, I filed a claim with Brussels Airlines, case number 2306-SN-01993. I provided all necessary receipts for myself, my husband and our friend, for all the items we had purchased. I attached a copy of our boarding passes for each passenger, valid identification card and passport, a Brussels airlines booking reference/reservation number for each passenger, and ticket number for each passenger. I also provided the signed copy of the delivery of our baggage to Ocala, FL and all receipts for our purchases.
Two months later, we’re still fighting this case because the customer service rep in Belgium is insisting that we attach a copy of the Property Irregularity Report as proof that we did not leave the airport with our luggage.
We were never given a copy of this report and after numerous phone calls to Brussels Airlines, one of the representatives told us that the case number was the property irregularity report! Common sense states that if our luggage was delivered to Ocala, from Tampa airport, on the early morning of May 26th, there is no way that we could’ve left the airport with our luggage.
All we are asking for is that Brussels Airlines honor their promise to us of 100 % reimbursement of our purchases since we provided all necessary documentation. Thank you for your time and hoping for a successful resolution.
Sincerely, Renza Cristin
Suggested solution:
By honoring what they promised and reimburse us 100% without further delay.
