[Columbus]

My husband and I have almost always traveled with one well-packed suitcase each which we carry on and stow above. Thus, we have never suffered the agonies of lost, crushed, or robbed luggage. This recent trip (5/12/13-5/28/13), however, was a major exception. We traveled first to Johannesburg via London. The return trip was Cape Town-Johannesburg-London-New York. With the exception of the Cape Town-Johannesburg leg (South African Airways), all flights were British Air. We checked our luggage (one bag each) in New York (JFK). There were no problems with the luggage on the trip out.

I was worried about the return trip because there were four airplanes involved. We checked the bags in Cape Town. Arriving at JFK, my husband’s bag appeared but not mine. We went to the Baggage Assistance office and registered it as missing. The young woman checked the computer and said she had no record of it after Cape Town. She said they would search and call us. This was around noon on Monday. When I hadn’t heard by Tuesday afternoon, I checked online at the web address provided. After punching in all my numbers, the screen said that the website was “experiencing trouble” and to try again later. Three days later it was still out. I called the phone number provided and reached someone in the Baggage Assistance Office who said the bag had been found in Cape Town. It had never left! She said they were sending it on to New York but she has no idea when it would arrive.

When I called a day later, I was told that my “slip” had been closed out and they had no way of confirming that the bag was in New York. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, I was told that there were none. “We’re all on the same level,” she said. No wonder! Nobody’s running the show. No training, no supervision. Another day went by and now I was really leaning on them, explaining how their level of stupidity and lack of initiative was off the charts. Finally, late Wednesday, they called back and said my bag would be dropped off at 10 p.m. that night and I would get a call ahead of time. What? 10pm? What kind of a system is that? Anyway, I played the fool and sat up until 10:30pm. Of course there was no call and no delivery. The next morning, in a bit of a rage (non-profane), I was able to obtain the phone number of the trucking company. When I called him at 7:30am, I had at last found the only person with a brain, and I told him so. He explained that they did not get the pick-up order on my bag until 8pm and their delivery window is 8 to 10 hours. In addition, they do not deliver anything to New Jersey after 8pm. So why don’t you tell British Air that, I said. They know, he said emphatically. They have all of our policies in front of them. Anyway, he said, the bag is on the truck and you will have it before noon. And I did.

I consider this poor level of supervision and training (not to mention the broken website) to be symptomatic of how the company operates. How does one tell a high-level executive that a department is “broken”? The BA website does not contain any hints. Writing an email to “customer service” is like dropping it in a well. When a person in a service department engages a customer, the goal should be to solve the problem, not recite meaningless phrases. “I don’t know” is not an acceptable response. This was our first trip aboard British Air and will no doubt be our last.