[Gotchi]

On 4th June 2015, I bought on internet a return flight from Auckland (New Zealand) to Milano (Italy) operated by Thai Airlines.
Departure date was 12th June 2015. The flight TG492 from Auckland to Bangkok was delayed from 1:10 pm (13:10) to 6 pm (18:00) due to technical issues.
As with other passengers I lost my connection flight from Bangkok to Milano due to this delay. However, Thai staff present in the airport guaranteed us that after the departure of the flight from Auckland, the Thai staff based in Bangkok would have provided to make new arrangements for our connections.

We landed in Bangkok at 3 am on Saturday 13th June 2015. Bangkok based Thai staff welcomed us with the new arrangements for our connections. My flight was rescheduled to 12:45 pm of the same day on the flight operated by Swiss Airlines from Bangkok to Zurich and from Zurich to Milano. I had been accommodated in the transit hotel of the airport at 4:30 am by the Thai staff.

I went at 10 am to the Swiss Airline transfer counter to check in. Here I have also been asked to wait for about half an hour because apparently Thai still had not sent through my details (despite the long time passed since they rescheduled our flights) so they were not able to do my check in.

After boarding the Swiss Airlines flight, five minutes before the departure, a hostess asked me to collect my personal belongings and leave the plane because there was an issue with my luggage and probably I was not going to leave with that flight. I was not given a reason at this time and I suffered a significant humiliation in front of the whole section of the aircraft.

We walked back to the gate, where other staff of Swiss Airlines told me that my luggage was exceeding the baggage allowance of Swiss Airlines by 6 kg, since my luggage weight was 29 kg. The staff of Swiss Airlines told me that Thai Airlines was not taking responsibility of the exceeding weight of my luggage, so I had been asked to pay the baggage exceedance international IATA fee in order to return to the plane, otherwise I could go back to Thai counter and reschedule my flight.
I refused to pay as my ticket was including already a 30 kg allowance and I doubted I would be refunding by Thai Airlines, given my earlier treatment. I was invited to wait at the gate for someone from Thai Airlines to come to meet me. Meanwhile I had seen my luggage unloaded from the plane by the personal of the airport.

The employee of Thai who picked me up at the gate showed me my new itinerary; a flight operated by Thai from Bangkok to Frankfurt at 11:45 pm (23:45) and a connection to Milano operated by Lufthansa. The Thai staff also admitted that they were aware about my luggage weight, but they hoped that Swiss Airline would have been OK with it.

I went to Thai transit counter at 8:30 pm (20:30), where a Thai employee checked me in, however she had problem to find my luggage for the multiple change of tag. After 45 minutes of calls she was able to localize my luggage and put on it the new tag.

I boarded the Thai flight in the night and arrived with 20 minutes delay in Frankfurt, so I had to run to make sure to not lose my connection to Milano. I landed in Milano on Sunday morning, 14th June, at 8:40 am, with 26 hour delay on my original itinerary.

I have found all this situation managed in a highly unprofessional way. Thai Airlines refused to take responsibility of the negligence of the staff in rescheduling my flight, without taking in account the weight of my luggage and without giving me any notice in advance about the possibility of not being boarded by Swiss Airlines. In addition, I wonder how it is possible that Thai Airline did not take any responsibility for my luggage weight exceedance.

Since then I emailed both Italian and New Zealand Thai offices, however they continue to deny any responsibility and I have been offered only a voucher of 180 euro that do not cover the 26 hours delay and all the stressful and embarrassing situations to which I have been exposed.