Letter To Gulf Air

-- This is my grievance letter I sent to Gulf Air presidant through their website. Hopefully I get a response back. People, NEVER FLY GULF AIR to India.

I traveled to City B, India from City C, on 18th Dec 2004. I reached City B on 20th Dec at 3:45 am. My bags did not arrive with me and were delayed/misplaced. I filled out all the required forms with Gulf Air ground staff at City B airport. My two bags arrived to City B on 21st Dec 2004. However as I am not a resident of City B, I had already left for my hometown, City A. I requested the official named Mr. Anil at the Gulf Air baggage department at City B airport to send my bags to City A international airport and requested that customs check be done in City A in front of me. He assured me that the bags would be sent to City A as soon as possible on an Air-India flight. For the next 4 days, that is upto 24th Dec 2004, my bags did not reach City A in spite of Air India operating almost 5 flights to the city from City B. The reason I was given was that Air India did not take the bags due to lack of space. This reason is hard to believe considering the number of flights that came in and the domestic traffic patterns between the two cities.
Finally tired of calling up long distance everyday and given no guarantees on when my bags would be sent, on 24th Dec I requested Mr. Anil to clear the customs and send the bags via courier services. I faxed them custom release form, addressed to the custom official at City B airport, a copy of which I still have. When I received my bags on Saturday, 25th Dec 2004, many of my items were missing from both bags. I can assure you that these items were well under the Indian customs limits and rules. I had stated most of the items I had in the bags to Mr. Anil and assured that my luggage had personal items for use during my stay in India.
On complaining to Mr. Anil of missing items, he acted ignorant and denied everything. The items missing were placed much inside my bags and could not have been stolen enroute to India by a random thief. According to me, they were stolen after my bags arrived in City B and were with the Gulf Air baggage department. I also DID NOT receive any compensation from Gulf Air for my delayed bags. The list of items stolen from my bags is stated below.
Item Value
------------------------------
Cellphone – US $100
Calculator – US $12
Purse – US $35
Chocolates/Cookies – US $15
CD wallet – US $15

I would like to be compensated for these items as well because it is due to lack of service and care on the part of Gulf Air that my bags were delayed and also not put on the Air India flight to City A. I hold Mr. Anil and Gulf Air responsible for the missing items as the items were stolen while the baggage was under his supervision. As a staff member of reputed International Airlines he should have made sure that nothing happened to the bags.

I am highly disappointed with the customer service of Gulf Air. This Mr. Anil would not talk decently to me. Your customer service representative in the USA also did not have the decency to talk properly. I also did not receive one of my bags on my return journey to the US on 16th Jan 2005. I also know of a friend who twice traveled to India by Gulf Air and did not receive his bags on time in India.

We as customers spend a lot of money to go to our home country and such a bitter experience really is not required. Every day for a week I could not sleep because my bags did not arrive. I had to live on one pair of clothes for a week. Gulf Air basically spoiled my first trip in 3 years to my home country. I have been mentally traumatized by this horrible experience. Let me assure you that I will NEVER ever in my life travel by Gulf air again and would also not recommend it to anyone I know.

I want to be compensated monetarily for my delayed baggage and missing items from my luggage. I also expect an apology from Gulf Air for all the mental stress and trauma they caused me besides the monetary loss of my belongings.

Sincerely,