some advice with airline screw up?

opatica

opatica

Member
Here is the story.
I left Inuvik to Edmonton then, Montréal with my bran new letus elite bundle. Ready to shoot, coming out of the plane in Montreal. But some stupid over curious person at the airport opened the hard solid protective case, probably dropped it, shattered the lense and the prism inside, lost a few parts (including a battery connector inside that got out so much it was a violent shock!!! and no one at the airline will ever give a dam and I have to postpone shoot, pay 1000$ US to have it repair....
Anyone had a similar event and was able to get them to reimburse? I contacted them and they say they don't cover for electronic equipment. Ok, but someone after i gave them the case OPENED it.. it was not regular damage to the case.


DONT trust airlines!!
 
Just keep calling and trying to get to the manager of whoever you're speaking to. It takes forever, but eventually someone who can go outside that blanket policy will realize they did it. Did you take pictures of the case, or do you still have it in its original state? Do you have any pictures of the damage that indicates it was caused by the misused case? Also, did you get a note telling them they looked inside? When I was in high school I remember going on a class trip with the music department, the airline guys decided to open a good number of cases to see what was inside. A few of them weren't sealed correctly. Nothing got damaged, but just from that I'm sure it happens a lot.

Fun fact: you can get a lot of suspicious looks trying to get an unmarked cardboard package covered in duct tape out of Newark, especially if they also saw you carrying a camera around.
 
I don't think this guy got reimbursed but I would say he cost United more money than what his gtr was worth. 3,785,713 views

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Make sure you go over the fine print with a fine tooth comb. File the proper claim paperwork ASAP. If you don't file within the time limits there isn't anything you can do.
 
That was it! I remember now, it wasn't the case thing. It was that we could see them loading up expensive string instruments by throwing them, like that video.

According to comments they ended up compensating that guy, but the band asked it be donated to charity instead. Also, to the OP, which airline?
 
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It was Westjet in Canada. I will .... spend time finding fine prints or keep calling and try to speak to higher and higher.
 
seriously the safest thing for equipments like that you gotta take it on board with you
i dunno if theyll let you take the bundle cus its sorta big but things like lenses and stuff you should keep it inside like a backpack of somesort. of course you have to make sure you dont go swinging your bag around but they thatd be your fault not the airlines.
 
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