Turkish Airlines Lost My Luggage and I Experienced Inconvenience Due to It
On Sunday morning, after my flight from Dusseldorf to Istanbul airport, my suitcase did not come out on the conveyor belt. I then reported to the lost baggage section, where they created a record and told me that the bag had likely been taken by someone else by mistake. They directed me to the police station.
After much pleading, the police officers who reviewed the camera footage said that the bag was taken by us and that a friend of mine had created a record with the THY staff using the baggage number. We went back to the lost baggage section, but since we couldn't re-enter after passport control, we went to the THY desk.
It took 45 minutes for a staff member to come and get us. The initial waiting for the bag, creating a record, and the police station took another half hour, resulting in a significant loss of time.
I am a dentist and returned home to Eskişehir by my own car, losing the first working day of the week due to the 3 hours wasted at the airport! This morning, they called me to say that my suitcase was found and sent to Kütahya airport on the first flight, and from there it would be sent to me via PTT Cargo, or I would have to pick it up myself!
How can I leave my patients and work to go pick it up? Unfortunately, PTT Cargo is not as fast as private couriers, and they told me it would likely reach me by Wednesday. My suitcase contained chocolates I bought for a lot of money from Belgium and special Swiss cheese. The chocolates melted, and the ice packs for the cheese thawed, meaning they will spoil in 3-4 days!
The first things that come to mind in my suitcase are two pairs of new shoes I bought for my son, my own clothes, personal items, shoes, and over 200 euros in cash. I will record a video before opening the suitcase to document what is missing, what is spoiled, and what is broken.
THY staff used to be friendly and solution-oriented. From the lost baggage section to the help desk or the friend who escorted us through passport control, we did not see a single smile or get any answers to our questions for 3 hours. Everyone seemed worn out, as if they were working there as a hobby or placed there by force or favoritism!
On top of that, they entered the wrong baggage code, causing us to lose even more time due to their incompetence. We trust this major brand and do not fly with any other airline. Even though there are flights from my city to Brussels with other airlines, I come to Istanbul and fly with THY!
I am formally stating that I demand compensation for my financial loss and, more importantly, my lost time.
THY responded to me via email and provided the link to the lost baggage page. However, because the THY personnel at the airport mistakenly opened the record in my friend's name instead of mine, I had to complete the entry as "no record."
