Damaged Suitcase// JWPRJ8

On Sunday, 18 August 2024, I arrived on flight FA208 from Johannesburg to Cape Town, to the horrific scene of my suitcase gaping and my clothes protruding in full view of all and sundry.

I immediately reported this at the baggage inquiry desk, where the attendant took pictures of the damage to my bag and provided me with an email address to report the incident. After a week of back and forth via email, followed by silence, I had to follow up on Sunday, 25 August in order to get closure. Below is their response which was preceded by an apology.

“We have escalated your incident to the relevant department and after careful consideration unfortunately we can’t assist with your claim as per our terms and conditions. We shall not accept liability for damage such as scratches, stains, dents, zips, cuts and dirt resulting from normal wear and tear or water damage to non-waterproof luggage, damage or loss of protruding parts such as wheels, straps , pull handles or other items that are attached to luggage or items lost as a result of badly packaged luggage. Please see link for our terms and conditions that were agreed to when the booking was made https://www.flysafair.co.za/about-us/legal-ts-cs/terms-of-booking-carriage. We have worked with insurance partners to offer a solution to help people to protect their luggage through this process and highly recommend that our passengers add baggage insurance when they are travelling with a checked bag. Unfortunately the option was not selected on your booking.”

I have concluded that FlySafair is in no way interested in the welfare of passengers, and I’ve informed them of the same. It is my considered view, that even if I had opted for bag insurance, it would not have prevented the damage to my bag, nor would they have taken responsibility for the damage to my bag. I have also informed them that neither myself nor anyone from my employing organisation will ever again utilise their services. Quite frankly, they are a ripoff.