I was flying [British Airways] from Amsterdam to London Heathrow to Denver on July 28th. When I landed I waited by the luggage carousel for my bag, well as you can sure guess, it never turned up. I was told by BA, that they found my bag they apologized and assured me it would be delivered to my home the following day. Seven days later the luggage finally showed up.

When I finally did receive my luggage I pulled it inside my house and was overwhelmed by the smell emanating from my luggage. It smelled like BA had thrown my luggage in a swamp of poo for the past 7 days. I then opened up my luggage to discover that everything in my luggage was soaked with water and penetrated with mold and mildew. I attempter to wash the clothes but everything is ruined.

Doing some internet searching, I have discovered that BA places lost luggage at LHR airport outside while they try to figure out where to route it to their owners. Come on BA! You’re placing people’s luggage and personal belongings outside in London?!?! Hmm….ever dawn on anybody over there that it might rain in London???? Common sense is obviously not very common in BA land.

I contacted BA, and they will not even give me someone to speak too about this, they only direct me to an online email form. I filled out the form and have not heard word one from them in regards to how they are going to reimburse me for this loss of approximately $2,000.

I am a Silver card holder with BA (which means I fly a lot – probably 16 transatlantic business class trips per year) and usually have no problems. If I am a passenger that spends thousand and thousands with them each year, how are they treating everyone else?

BA wont even reply to pay for what they have damaged. I am not the only person this has happened to, there have been thousands of people whom they have destroyed their luggage, and have lost approximately 20,000 bags in the past 4 weeks.

Anyway – beware if you are flying on BA into London. Might want to use FedEx for your bags instead.

Our reader isn’t kidding. Check out this Wall Street Journal article confirming much of the same. According to it, BA has mishandled 28 bags per 1,000 passengers in this year’s second quarter, which is twice the worst US major airline, US Airways. In the first half of this year, BA lost bags for more than half a million travelers this year. Even Regis Philbin isn’t immune. They lost two of his wife’s suitcases and returned one sopping wet, with her favorite Armani dress inside, ruined.

Given the overload, and the concomitant surge of baggage related complaints BA must be fielding, there’s no wonder they don’t care a whit about our reader’s complaint. if he paid by credit card, perhaps he can seek some restitution through his credit card company? If so, he would be well advised to check out section 15 of British Airway’s contract of carriage to know how much of a leg he has to stand on.

For everyone else, the WSJ says things aren’t going to get better for BA at Heathrow until March 2008, when BA moves into a new terminal. Until then:

• Avoid UK connections
• Give at least 2 hours between BA connections so your bags have enough time
• Consider shipping important items
• In case the tags get ripped off, put contact info inside your luggage
• Don’t put anything you can’t stand to lose inside your checked baggage

RELATED:
Welcome to London: Your Luggage Is Missing [Wall Street Journal]
So here’s a question you probably dont see too often! [Flyertalk]
British Airways Lost Luggage [Trip Advisor]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.