LATAM - Extremely poor service on a lost item

We have just returned from South America. Over a 6-week period, we had 17 flights with LATAM with total cost approximately R150 000.00.

On our way back to South Africa, we accidentally left a rolled-up painting at the A6 departure gate at Quito International. We were disembarking at Lima for our connecting flight to Sao Paulo when we realised this.

As we entered the terminal building at Lima, we asked a person at the LATAM desk to contact LATAM in Quito Airport to ask someone to look for our painting in the gate area. She would not help.

Our travel agent in South Africa contacted the LATAM office in Johannesburg. They would not help either.

It is impossible that neither of these entities could immediately contact LATAM Ecuador in Quito Airport to get someone to go and have a look. There are hundreds of LATAM flights departing from Quito every day so I am pretty convinced that LATAM ground staff personnel would have walked right past gate A6, if not even used the same gate again.

Because I reported the loss so soon, if the above agents had bothered to help, a Quito LATAM staff member would most likely have found the painting before the area was even cleaned.

Our travel agent also mailed Quito Airport about it but no-one has got back to her as to whether our painting has been handed in to "Lost and Found" or not. She has also followed up to no avail.

Very unhappy client