GoAir — Broken lock panel and ransacking of luggage

Address:	Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400 025
Website:	www.goair.in

My sister boarded on flight g8 334 - pnr - r7opzs- on 28th march, 2016 from delhi to mumbai .

She checked-in at delhi airport with one baggage as per schedule, and
Later after arrival at mumbai airport terminal 1 b, during luggage
Collection she found out that the lock panel was completely broken .
With ' broken' i clearly mean to say the complete panel was picked out of
Bag which was very shocking as she always preferred to travel with one of
Reputed and good airlines in india.She checked the luggage contents at that
Very moment and found out that the belongings were haphazardly tossed
Inside which was very shocking as to how baggage ransacking can be done
Without customer consent.

Due to the carelessness of the airline authorities, she received her
Baggage with the broken lock panel and the contents of the bag tossed
Haphazardly. Please find attached the picture of the received baggage.

Next, my sister tried contacting the airline point of contact at go air
Counter on airport itself, to note please there was absolutely no help/
Guidance provided by the airline customer executives.

The staff and management at the counter kept ridiculing her pointing out
That the lock was made of plastic and must have broken down while loading
Luggage .They reluctantly listened to her and kept misguiding her
Throughout the conversation . No one was ready to register a complaint
Despite of multiple requests . ( staff member present at the counter -
Arzan bilimoria - employee id 4426 ).
I would like to mention that someone should have been there to take
Ownership as this happened inside airport premises.

Since, no one from the airline was there to take ownership she talked
To the airport manager of t1b terminal ( phone number - [protected] ) who
Notified her that every airline should maintain one register to file
Complaints of customers which would in turn serve as the official proof of
Acknowledging the grievance .

From him she received the number of the *regional manager of 'go air' and
He too shrugged off his responsibility *saying that the airline managers
(Duty manager, airline manager) are present at the airport . He mentioned
That he has called them and they will take care of it.

We tried to confirm the same with the managers at airport, they told us
That they did not receive any such call.

Further, on her persistent requests to talk to the manager, she was told
To wait and that the manager would be shortly arriving, but *even after a
Long hassle of more than 2.5 hours there was no one responsible enough to
Take forward the matter*. For every single query she had to contact the
Airport manager each time .
This too pissed off the airline official - arzan bilimoria - who told her
That airport manager is not the correct point of contact and should not
Have been contacted. At the same time, they repeatedly suggested that it
Would be better if my sister moves out and drops a mail to
[protected]@goair.com, nothing will help if you contact airport manager.

We fail to understand :
1. After check-in how come some one could attempt to tamper with the
Luggage, break the lock, have a rough hand with the belongings inside
The bag, and maybe even steal an item or two right under the nose of the
Airline authority, and the so-called prestigious airline ' go air ' does
Not have time or even manager/ staff to notice any of it.
2. If brought to their notice, they do not even have the courtesy to
Acknowledge it and provide some solution .
3. Much worse, if something illegal would have been planted in the luggage, the airline authority would still shrug off any responsibility from the
Matter.

I am still looking forward to a solution from 'go air ' end based on the
Below lines :

1. There should have been some one to take ownership of any loss in
Belongings from the luggage at the airport and complaint register should be
There for proof of same.
2. Some one should be there to attend customers with issues and assist them, if needed at airport itself rather that playing around with the customer
3. Some legal authority should be present there to sort out such matters
4. Replacement for the broken bag should be done as lock is broken and can
Not be used further.
5. Reimbursement for the inconvenience caused due to the unprofessional attitude of the staff

Last but not the least, i am not happy with the experience faced by my
Sister as a customer this time .

Being a customer she should have been treated well with all acknowledgments
To be done at airport itself by airlines rather than fooling her and
Troubling her for so long.
Try to put yourself in customer shoes rather and give solution rather than
Running from your own responsibilities.

We mailed wrt the above incident to go air but received the following response :

"dear ms. Hemadri,

Thank you for writing to us.

We note your feedback regarding the damage caused to ms. Joshi baggage on flight g8-334 from new delhi to mumbai on 28 march, 2016. At goair, we endeavor to ensure that customer’s baggage is handled efficiently and carefully, and necessary checks are in place so that baggage entrusted to us is secure at all times. However, in the course of normal handling, baggage may show evidence o[censored]se such as scratches, minor cuts and dents for which we do not accept liability.

We had the matter investigated and understand that ms. Joshi baggage was assessed by duty managers– mr. Mayuresh and ms. Kalangi at mumbai airport and that the damage was found to be due to normal wear and tear. We also note that the weight of the bag was taken on arrival and no weight loss or pilferage was noted. Nevertheless, your feedback has been shared with the concerned team to ensure closer supervision of the baggage handling process.

Ms. Hemadri, while we understand ms. Joshi disappointment on this occasion, we regret our inability to comply with your request for compensation and assure you that no discourtesy is intended.

We endeavor to ensure that customers enjoy their entire experience with us and thus appreciate your feedback.

We hope you will give us the opportunity to welcome you and your family onboard our flights again."

Or response was under the below lines :

As stated very clearly in my previous mail, there was "no scratch, minor cut, or dent in the baggage", but the complete lock panel was broken . It can not be broken off by the reasons provided by you, and was clearly forcefully taken off the luggage. Your authorities had indeed weighed the luggage at the airport and shrugged off saying that the reduced weight is due to the missing lock . No one bothered to ask my sister if there was any pilferage, then how can you say that your duty managers did their jobs . We had reported in our mail that there was nothing missing but complete ransacking of the luggage was done . And now you have the courage to mention in your response that the duty managers had ensured that there was no pilferage.

The so called "high level of carefully and securely handling bagagge " does not provide them the right of tampering with the lock and ransacking the luggage without consent of the customer and then proudly stating that " necessary checks are in place so that baggage entrusted to us is secure at all times ".

If the airlines does not take responsibility for the check-in luggage security then why do you allow check-in in first place ? If you still think that the damage was a part of regular wear-tear then why was no one willing to register complaint registered at the airport ? A manager still should have been present there to handle the situation.

This incident of breaking the luggage and its ransacking has been done right under the nose of the airlines "in the course of normal handling " without customer consent . The least you can do for damage control is compensate for the baggage which again you are categorizing under a "minor cut, or dent in the baggage ".

Heights of irresponsibility "go air" ! Better learn to treat your customers well !

Forget about me or my family, for that matter, i will try to ensure that none of my friends and colleagues travel with your airlines. It will not take long to share my experience in social networking sites and spread the word on the illegal practices followed during the "course of normal handling of luggage" .

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And supposedly this mail has been bounced back from their server . Instead of taking some action, they have blocked my email id so that all my mails and reminders are bounced back from their servers.