Lufthansa - baggage damage
 

Flying from Paris to Moscow with my brand new Rimowa Salsa Air luggage, I was dismayed to discover upon collecting it in Moscow at about 11:30 PM that it had been crushed. No one was at the Lufthansa counter at that hour and it would have been next to impossible to find someone at Domodedevo at that hour who spoke English, so I went home. The Lufthansa website says to report the damage to LH - NOT to the airport authorities. So - I went all the way back to the airport today with the luggage to file a claim. The LH agent said I had to file it the night before, when I arrived. Not so, according to the LH website and I told her so - telling her I would write the president of the airline if she insisted on taking that position. She said procedure is different at DME - and doesn't follow LH's procedure. Finally, she called someone to take the claim but now I have to fax it to LH in Germany. I really think they just don't want to be bothered, but nonetheless - I WILL find a way to have my claim satisfied.

You have to keep in mind that it is common in Europe for there to be a ground handling company that handles many airlines, and in some cases one ground handling company who handles all of the airlines at that airport. They are not actual airline employees, and so they have to learn the policies for all of the airlines, which will be different. You may have run into someone who was fairly new.

That's also why LH states you have to report it to them, not the airport staff.

Dear user: I am developing a Doctoral research on Mishandled baggage (see General Discussion- Mishandled Baggage Research ) Could you please, provide the airline complaint form (minus personal information) you filled with the airline or send me an email to mishandledbaggageresearch@yahoo.com and I will send a survey. The survey is very similar to the one you must file with the airline and does not contain personal information.
Thanks before hand