{"id":832,"date":"2025-01-28T06:36:27","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/british-airways-destroyed-our-guitar-and-wont-pay-up\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T06:36:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:36:27","slug":"british-airways-destroyed-our-guitar-and-wont-pay-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/british-airways-destroyed-our-guitar-and-wont-pay-up\/","title":{"rendered":"British Airways Destroyed Our Guitar and Won\u2019t Pay Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-25a16c4f\"><span><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Dear Tripped Up,<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I\u2019m a co-owner of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luakabop.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Luaka Bop<\/a>, a New York-based record label, and last June was accompanying the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/juniorsingers.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Staples Jr. Singers<\/a>, a gospel group from Aberdeen, Miss., on a European tour. For a British Airways flight from London to Paris, three musicians were required to check their guitars, but only one instrument arrived in Paris with us. We filled out the forms and tried to impress upon the employee the importance of getting the guitars before the group\u2019s show the next night. One of the two lost guitars did make it to Paris the next day, but British Airways couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t deliver it, so our tour manager took a cab to the airport only to find it had closed. When the group returned to Britain by train, it was still down two guitars. We got one back a few shows later, and eventually found the other one at Heathrow Airport lost and found \u2014 with its neck snapped off and its case destroyed. We ended up with over $5,000 in expenses, which included renting guitars for a dozen shows and purchasing a guitar and case (both used) for Arceola Brown, the musician whose instrument was destroyed. We submitted most receipts with the original claim to British Airways on July 25, then added a few more on Aug. 7 and Sept. 11, for a total of $3,331. (We didn\u2019t keep receipts for the rest.) But beyond receiving a case number, we never heard back, despite several email follow-ups. Can you help? <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Yale, New York City<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0\" id=\"link-75259929\"><span>Dear Yale,<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If I could choose a tale to tell here, it would be <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2022\/nov\/11\/gospel-trailblazers-the-staples-jr-singers-we-were-singing-about-all-the-hardship-and-hurt\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the amazing<\/a> one of how the Staples Jr. Singers recorded one album in 1975 that barely anyone paid attention to until decades later. Rereleased in 2022, the album received rave reviews and led to international tours for the group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What a story. Alas, this space is devoted to issues far more mundane and familiar, like lost and destroyed luggage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">True, the lost luggage was cooler than most Samsonites: a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fender.com\/en-US\/start?rl=en\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Fender Telecaster<\/a> that was recovered, and a Casio MIDI so thoroughly destroyed that I wonder if a baggage handler channeled <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YkndvF5B41w\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pete Townshend<\/a> of the Who and smashed it to smithereens on the airport tarmac. The trouble you had getting reimbursed, however, is a wearily familiar tale in the Tripped Up inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Along with photos of the Casio MIDI guitar, you sent me a frustrating timeline of your team\u2019s efforts both to recover the guitars and later seek compensation for the rentals and the replacement for Mr. Brown\u2019s guitar and case. (Sadly, Mr. Brown died on Nov. 16.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I first intervened by writing to a British Airways spokeswoman in early November, and the airline quickly sent an apologetic letter to you offering reimbursement for the oddly exact and insufficient amount of 493.97 British pounds, or about $600. The carrier included a separate $250 voucher for future flights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I intervened again, but on Jan. 7, the airline wrote back to you only to forward the original offer, an odd value much less than the claim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I looked back to the receipts you sent me and remembered you submitted the receipts in three batches. The second and third batches totaled exactly $493.97.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The airline seems to have swapped currencies, which may be a sign of how carefully it was paying attention to your problem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As for the first batch of receipts, it would seem they never made it through when you submitted them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Jan. 11, the carrier called you to ask you to upload the receipts again, which you did. I received a short statement on Jan. 15 \u2014 \u201cWe have apologized to the customers and are working with them directly to resolve their claim\u201d \u2014 but you heard nothing further. So on Jan. 21, on my suggestion, you emailed your contact again. You said you were instructed to upload receipts again, which you did, and were told you would be reimbursed $3,941.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That\u2019s an odd number \u2014 more than your receipts, less than your losses \u2014 but I think I can explain it, as the airline declined to do so or answer any of my other questions, including how the guitar was destroyed, why the airline didn\u2019t deliver the guitar in Paris or why the receipts were not processed when you first sent them in July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s my best guess: The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iata.org\/contentassets\/fb1137ff561a4819a2d38f3db7308758\/mc99-full-text.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Montreal Convention<\/a>, the international treaty that governs lost luggage (among other things) on most international flights, caps airline liability. That luggage cap, at the time of your flight was, about $1,700 per passenger, or $3,400 for the two musicians combined. But on Dec. 28, the value on damages for most international flights was raised to the equivalent of about $1,980 per passenger. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The airline appears to have applied the newer value to your losses, though it didn\u2019t need to, and you\u2019re ending up with more money than you were actually due, a small compensation for hassles endured.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For those flying domestically or between countries that haven\u2019t signed the Montreal Convention, local or national laws prevail regarding lost, stolen or damaged luggage. (In the United States, the Transportation Department caps damages for lost, damaged or delayed bags at $3,800.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But those numbers don\u2019t mean much if you face seemingly unreasonable barriers when filing for reimbursements \u2014 such as the British Airways interface that you called cumbersome and that seemed to lose the receipts you painstakingly sent along. My inbox is full of tales of airlines that repeatedly ask for receipts that have already been submitted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The multifaceted monthslong saga you endured with British Airways should be a reminder that travelers today need to do more than their fair share of the work to find their lost items. Adding AirTags or other Bluetooth trackers to checked luggage is a smart first step, so when the airlines claim they don\u2019t know where your luggage is, you can tell them or even share its location, since the feature is now shareable with a third party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Of course, you need to pack fragile items carefully (<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fender.com\/articles\/maintenance\/asked-answered-whats-the-best-way-to-fly-with-my-guitar\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">On its website, Fender offers guitar advice<\/a>), and retain every scrap of paper starting when you check your bag. Then, if you need to file a claim, write down the name of every employee you interact with, take photos, record conversations when you can, and create copies of your documentation. The information will be critical when you file for reimbursements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Most of the time, you won\u2019t need it. But if you ever need to do battle with an airline, the documentation will come in handy. And if you have to write to Tripped Up, it will move you to the front of the line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Tripped Up, I\u2019m a co-owner of Luaka Bop, a New York-based record label, and last June was accompanying the Staples Jr. Singers, a gospel group from Aberdeen, Miss., on a European tour. For a British Airways flight from London to Paris, three musicians were required to check their guitars, but only one instrument arrived [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[636,635,637,638,186,639],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loan","tag-airways","tag-british","tag-destroyed","tag-guitar","tag-pay","tag-wont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}