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What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service?
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Case: family flies from Newark to Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthansa on Wednesday. Plane leaves late, so they miss their connection to Berlin. Next flight out is also delayed, but there are no seats for them (so they've waited about four hours in FRA for a flight they can't take). So they book a train.

Meanwhile, my wife's single piece of checked luggage (oversized carry-on determination at gate) is nowhere to be found. She files a claim. I have two web sites with "info." One says "TRACING CONTINUES. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER" and indicates that the luggage will be forwarded yesterday on the same FRA-BER flight they missed. That flight got in about 16 hours ago. The other web site says


Good news, CHRISTINE
We've located your bag.


and indicates that they are awaiting the bag at the airport on that same flight. Lufthansa has my wife's contact info and the address to which to send the bag.

I have a Customer Service number that yesterday, once I managed to get through, assured me (after asking for scan information) that the bag was in Berlin (this was yesterday). Today, when I finally managed to get through, I'm told that they don't have access to that information and whoever told me that yesterday was wrong. Great. They give me a baggage call center number, and after waiting on hold for 2.5 hours this afternoon, gave up. Called the CS number again, and nobody answers. Called the phone number on the "property irregularity report" innumerable times, and either get "your call did not go through," busy, or a not-quite-a-modem screeching noise. So, I cannot get through to anyone (currently on hold again with CS).

Is this just a "welcome to 2022 and customer service" thing and too bad for you? If tomorrow were a weekday, I'd call Lufthansa Corporate in the US (I'd done that once before with success decades ago). At least my wife speaks German!

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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A few weeks ago my bag went to Istanbul instead of Japan and onto Australia with me. I faced the same difficulties not being able to contact customer service. However 3 days after my flight my bag was delivered to my home. I hope that you also have similar success with your bag.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [Ironnerd] [ In reply to ]
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All airlines are understaffed right now due to cuts during the pandemic. European ones in particular cut back a lot more than US based ones and are having a hard time staffing back up. Likely the luggage will be delivered to Berlin at some point. ( Hopefully before your wife leaves )
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome to Berlin!!!

Customer Service doesn't exist in Germany. I'm afraid you can't expect much from Lufthansa unless your wife gets HON status.
Last edited by: slink: Jun 24, 22 23:58
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [slink] [ In reply to ]
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slink wrote:
Welcome to Berlin!!!

Customer Service doesn't exist in Germany. I'm afraid you can't expect much from Lufthansa unless your wife gets HON status.

My family is in Berlin; I am in NJ. CS doesn't appear to exist in the US, either.

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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have you tried posting @Lufthansa on Twitter?

It's extreme but it is what gets my internet provider's attention when there's an issue.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [kiki] [ In reply to ]
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kiki wrote:
have you tried posting @Lufthansa on Twitter?

It's extreme but it is what gets my internet provider's attention when there's an issue.


Any such posting will, apparently, be lost among the myriad other identical complaints. Lufthansa is now a crap airline as far as customer service is concerned.

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Agreed with all that are talking about how awful Lufthansa is at treating their passengers. Absolutely no love. Their customer service is non-existent- they don't pick up the phone at all! They stranded us in Frankfurt and lost my bag- I have no way of looking up my baggage status because their reps gave me phone numbers that don't work and no reference number. Completely ruined our trip.

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"Go yell at an M&M"
Last edited by: klehner: Jun 25, 22 3:34
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Agree. I just flew to Frankfurt last week. Airline food was always crap but this was crap +. On a flight to Dubrovnik we didn't get anything, no food no drink.
Prior to flights I tried to contact them, couldn't leave a message, no e mail...jack. but they sent me e mail updates re delays and "the new boarding gate is..." which was the same as the old boarding gate several times
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Did your wife get her bag yet?
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Travel with only carry on. Or pack your carry on so you can be fine if your checked bags get lost.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [slink] [ In reply to ]
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slink wrote:
Did your wife get her bag yet?

Nope. Pretty sure she will never see it (at least in Germany).

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [FishyJoe] [ In reply to ]
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FishyJoe wrote:
Travel with only carry on. Or pack your carry on so you can be fine if your checked bags get lost.

It was supposed to be a carry-on, but Lufthansa decided that they need to do gate measurements, and apparently it was too large, so it had to be checked. Maybe they just left it at the gate.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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I’d go to the import and speak to a human.

No help in this situation, but next time stuff an air tag in the luggage. All my luggage/bags have them in - I fly long haul most weeks with connections. Cheap insurance, and you’ll know where your bags are.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
FishyJoe wrote:
Travel with only carry on. Or pack your carry on so you can be fine if your checked bags get lost.

It was supposed to be a carry-on, but Lufthansa decided that they need to do gate measurements, and apparently it was too large, so it had to be checked. Maybe they just left it at the gate.

Lufthansa has become pretty anal about carry on. In May I was approached at the gate about my bag and refused to let the guy weigh it. I knew it was way over the allowed size but I explained that this was my only bag for an international flight with three small children and he let it go. It's in their best interest for me to have 14 hours worth of snacks, entertainment and diapers.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Summer flying is a shitshow at the moment. A friend and her family got caught up in the cancellations at Frankfurt. She said over 300 people at 10pm with only 1 Lufthansa staff to rebook. She said tempers were flaring, people cutting in line. No info/help from Lufthansa. She said the guy just closed up and left when there about 20 people left. They eventually got on a flight the next evening after waiting all day at the airport to get rebooked. They too do not have their checked luggage. Everywhere is a total mess.
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Re: What do you do when an airline cannot be reached for service? [travelgirl] [ In reply to ]
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We are all trying to travel when we know we should likely not given there isn't much staff. On Wednesday I am flying to Ecuador so my fault too.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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