Broken Baggage?

Question

has this ever happened to you? and if so what was the outcome? i just flew into chicago, and i get my luggage, all is fine then i go to my guitar, and i open this up and it is broken, competly broken. i have in the past just carried it on, but this time the lady told us we had to check it in, because all space was used up already.

if any of your luggage has been broken badly beyond repair, how did the company work with you and did u get your luggage refunded?

Answer 1

If you paid for the ticket with a credit card, your credit card company may offer some implicit insurance to protect you from things like this.   (This may also apply if you purchased the guitar with the credit card -- though there would likely be a time limit involved).

Check with the airline first, but if it appears that they are denying your claim, then get the airline to document the damage, then contact your credit card company to see if they'll reimburse you for the guitar.

Credit cards often offer this kind of service as an incentive (to encourage people to use their card for large purchases like airline tickets).  Though they don't often do a great job of publicizing this offering.

good luck!

Answer 2

It's your responsibility to pack in a way that protects your belongings. Your guitar is too big to carry on. They let you do it because they don't like to make waves -- so if it fits, fine, you got lucky. In this case, however, they asserted the actual rules and you had to check it. The fact that it was insufficiently protected against damage is your fault, not theirs.

However, read the fine print on your ticket and contact the airline. You may be covered for some nominal amount -- probably less than $100.

It's not clear from your posting if your guitar was broken or the case was broken. If the latter, then the airline is going to argue that it served its purpose -- taking the damage to protect your belongings.

Sorry to hear about the damage. Contact the airline but don't be surprised if you get nothing or very little from them. Ultimately IMHO it was your fault.