Manager wins suit against MAS

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20100322132451/Article/index_html

 

KUALA LUMPUR: A company manager won a suit against Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) over a missing luggage.

 

The shah alam magistrate civil court awarded Kang Guat Pheng, 51, RM9675 and costs as claimed by her after MAS lost her luggage in Dec 26 2006 when she arrived in KLIA from Ho Chi Minh city.

 

She claimed she had branded goods in her luggage. MAS in their defence, said the plaintiff should have declared her valuable items.

 

In their contract, MAS would only compensate USD20 per kg if her luggage went missing. Her bag was weighed in as 10kg.

 

[Alan F. 0]

More on this story at: Malay Mail

 

MAS ordered to pay RM10,000 for lost luggage

 

SHAH ALAM: In a landmark decision, the magistrate court here ordered Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MAS) to award almost RM10,000 to a 51-year-old aviation company manager who lost her baggage after flying with the airlines in 2006.

 

This case is believed to be the first of its kind brought to courts in Malaysia.

 

Magistrate Sharifah Norazlita Syed Salim Idid this morning ruled in favour of the plaintiff, Kang Guat Pheng, and ordered MAS to pay cost of the suit and eight per cent interest from the date of judgement till the date of settlement.

 

Kang had filed the suit against MAS on May 30, 2007, claiming RM 9,675 from what she lost in her baggage, which included branded clothes, jewelry and cosmetics.

 

On Dec 26, 2006, Kang was a passenger on a flight from Ho Chi Min City to Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a friend.

 

In her testimony, Kang said she when she arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 7.30pm, her baggage, which she had earlier checked in, never appeared at the luggage arrival room even after waiting for a long time.

 

She reported this to MAS ‘Lost and Found’ baggage office and the next day she was told via phone her baggage will arrive on Dec 27, 2006.

 

However, after rushing to buy and replace her essentials that day itself as she had a flight to USA, the airline company still could not locate her baggage after making her wait for five hours at the lost and found office.

 

Later that day, MAS informed Kang that her baggage was found and asked her friend to pick it up in Kuantan, her hometown which she told MAS to sent to.

 

However, Kang said her friend was given the runaround twice as each time MAS staff called him, he would have to drop everything just to go to Kuantan airport to pick up her ‘lost baggage’ only to be informed that Kang's bag still has not been found.

 

After sending several letters, Kang was offered to be compensated twice by MAS. The first was USD 200 (RM663.74), which was USD20 (RM66.37) per kg and another offer was made and after the suit was filed. She was offered USD300 (RM995.55) via MAS's lawyer.

 

However, Kang refused both offers and said that the amount offered cannot compensate for her losses. She claimed the total value of the things lost was approximately RM 9,675.00.

 

She claimed MAS had been totally negligent and reckless in handling her baggage, from not even knowing whether the bag was in the flight and to giving her false information.

 

Plaintiff had called two witnesses in the case including Kang herself while MAS, which had denied liability and only agreed to pay USD20 (RM66.37) per kg, had called three witnesses.

 

However, Kang claimed she was not contacted or told anything then after, saying "The trace for the baggage had been nothing short of a farce, from being advised by MAS staff that lost baggage was actually at Kuantan airport, and me sending someone to collect it, thus incurring time and expense, when MAS not even knowing the whereabouts of the baggage."

 

She denied that it was her own negligence as jewelry were common fashion jewelry and theft was not an issue.

 

Zaidi Abdul Hamid represented Kang while Hariharan Tara Singh represented MAS.

 

Items in the bag included a black sequined blouse RM285.00; a sweater pullover RM228.00; a black sequined scarf RM200.00; a blue sequined blouse branded "Guess" RM355.00;a blue blouse RM159.00; a man's jacket and pants RM900.00; a formal shirt RM180.00; a silk "bow tie"RM40.00; a pair of Nike slippers RM89.00;a pair of black stilletos RM559.00; an Issey Miyake black evening bag RM899.00; a black mesh handbag Stuart Weitzman RM699.00; a leather belt RM199.00; several undergarments RM500.00; a Swarovski Crystal Charm Bracelet RM299.00; a pair of earrings RM209.00; a bracelet RM229.00; three black cosmetic bags RM250.00;a set of "Mac" cosmetics RM569.00; a bottle of Coco Channel perfume RM285.00; various skin care products RM500.00; various toiletries RM300.00; a set of various make up brushes RM900.00; a necklace and blue pendant RM285.00; a charm bracelet RM189.00; a diamante earring RM159.00; an onyx ring RM129.00; and a "Beige cloth" hat RM80.00.

[Ignatius 4]

Just to let you know Women has lots of stuffs men just couldn't understand why it was made in the first place

[Sandeep G 1]

i'm really amazed... not one item in her bag was non-branded... and having such an expensive filled suitcase that only weighed 10kg, well I would have tried to take it as carry on instead...

 

I'm sure there will be an appeal from MAS lawyers...

[BC Tam 2]

Just to let you know Women has lots of stuffs men just couldn't understand why it was made in the first place

Equally bewildering is knowledge of how much they are willing to pay for those stuff

[BC Tam 2]

i'm really amazed... not one item in her bag was non-branded...

Well, there is "several undergarments RM500.00" for example

Incidentally, those undergarments price the amortized value or price tag cost ?

 

I must be the odd one out because I've never ever once made an inventory list of what I pack into my suitcase

Heck, I don't even know how many pieces of 'undergarment' I possess, let alone how many I've brought along travelling and how much they cost (who in their right mind would want to remember such things !)

[Alan F. 0]

This court case was brought about in 2006/2007 when lost/damaged baggage was under the Warsaw Convention rules. Malaysia ratified the new Montreal Convention in 2007/2008 - which introduced better 'benefits' for passengers with lost/damaged baggage. At the moment it only applies to international travel from Malaysia, internal flights still under Warsaw Convention.

 

Just read MAS's Terms & Conditions today and you'll find 1,130SDR's (Special Drawing Rights) in the small print for baggage - SDR's are a monetary value set by the IMF. It roughly equates to 6,000RM today.

 

If you have a lost/damaged bag today you'll find MAS (not sure about AirAsia) bending over backwards to provide you with a new suitcase or bag and signing a waiver form, rather than mentioning your entitlement (under IATA) to 6,000RM.!!

[Isaac 0]

If you have a lost/damaged bag today you'll find MAS (not sure about AirAsia) bending over backwards to provide you with a new suitcase or bag and signing a waiver form, rather than mentioning your entitlement (under IATA) to 6,000RM.!!

Shoot ! They broke one of my trolley bag in January last year and i was given two choices. The first option was to send the bag to KUL for repair or i can give my bag to MAS and they will compensate my loss with cash. I decided to take on the second option as i thought the cash offer was pretty generous. I got RM70 more than what i paid for the trolley bag.

[Cheng Long 0]

I always thought that baggage handlers are outsourced.. so they break or steal something, MAS has to pay also?

[Mushrif A 3]

I always thought that baggage handlers are outsourced.. so they break or steal something, MAS has to pay also?

 

It doesnt matter who physically handles the luggage for the airline. The pax contracted with the airline.

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Ehem Ehem , take it from the man who filed the law suit ! hahaha !

 

Just the wrong person to tick off I suppose

[Alan F. 0]

MAS improves baggage handling

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines improved its baggage handling last year, reducing missing incidents to 3.3% per 1,000 passengers.

 

MAS airport operations senior general manager Yusop Jaridi, in a statement Tuesday, said the achivement was fairly better than the industry benchmark of 3.4%.

He said mishandled baggages per 1,000 passengers was significantly low at 2.4%, compared with 10.8% of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

 

Constant communication between the company and ground-handlers such as Malaysia Airports Berhad and other airport authorities, as well as customers, resulted in the improvement, he added.

More closed-circuit television cameras would be installed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to enhance the overall security of baggage there, he added.

 

Extracted from – The Star

 

I’m not sure why this article on MAS baggage handling was published. Are they trying to defend their position based on this recent court case?

 

Should we be jumping for joy that MAS have a 0.1% better than average rate for missing baggage incidents? That fact is whether it’s 3.3% or 3.4%, it is still totally unacceptable to those passengers affected by poor baggage handling by any airline.

 

MAS have a long way to go in handling baggage complaints. From my experience they don’t show any responsibility, compassion or signs that they really care that your bag is missing.

It isn’t clear from the article what constitutes missing – is it just delayed or completely lost? What does the baggage mishandling figure of 2.4% include – damaged or delayed luggage? Are the figures related to domestic or international passengers, it probably doesn’t matter.

 

MAS’s conditions of carriage (here) are quite clear and in summary a passenger can claim about 6,000RM (1,131 SDR’s) under the Montreal Convention for damaged/missing baggage on international flights (Malaysia has ratified the Montreal Convention, but I don’t believe it is yet in the law books). There’s no weight factor under Montreal Convention, it’s just a ‘flat’ payment, so it doesn’t matter whether its 5kg or 20kg’s. However, the airline would still make you prove the value of goods in the baggage.

 

For domestic flights the very old Warsaw Convention would still seem to apply in Malaysia and the rates are about 90RM per kilo (17 SDR’s per kilo).

Now let’s just take a look at some numbers from MAS’s website (figures here) and what liability exposure they have to all these baggage incidents.

 

For the purposes of a little exercise I’m not even going to take the 2.4% mishandled baggage or 3.3% missing figure as ultimately most passengers are reunited with their baggage after several days. Obtaining compensation for these delays and damage is also tortuous with most airlines.

 

If MAS likes to align itself with the general industry standards then it would typically be losing (totally lost) 1 bag per two thousand passengers. See this report.

 

Domestic Passengers carried on MAS was 4,835,000 for 2009. On the basis that quite a lot of travelers don’t have check in luggage and those that do is generally less than the 20kg economy allowance, I’ll take an average of 10kg for 40% of the passenger numbers. So we have 40% of 4,835,000 is 1,934,500. That’s around 1,000 totally lost bags/year. That’s a potential liability of about 900,000 RM for missing luggage (90RM per kilo with a 10kg checked-in bag).

 

International Passengers carried on MAS was 7,112,000 for 2009. We don’t need to take into account weight under Montreal Convention so we’ll assume a maximum 1,131 SDR rate (approx 6,000RM). The vast majority of tourists would typically have around this figure/value in their baggage on a vacation but would still need to prove it. Using the same 1 bag per two thousand passengers’ lost luggage ratio, this equates to a whopping 21,000,000 RM potential liability.

 

So next time you lose your bag, don’t accept all the blurb and excuses by those staff at the ‘lost luggage counter’ – take some action and screw them and affect their bottom line figures!!

 

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[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Bravo Alan for leading the whole community to the right path!

 

Are these Warsaw and Montreal Conventions for damaged/missing baggage on international flights work together with the insurance clause for baggage lost? Can one be denied payment of insurance claim if he/she has received compensation under these Warsaw/Montreal Conventions thing from the airline and vice versa?

[Juergen Witte 0]

This court case was brought about in 2006/2007 when lost/damaged baggage was under the Warsaw Convention rules. Malaysia ratified the new Montreal Convention in 2007/2008 - which introduced better 'benefits' for passengers with lost/damaged baggage. At the moment it only applies to international travel from Malaysia, internal flights still under Warsaw Convention.

 

Just read MAS's Terms & Conditions today and you'll find 1,130SDR's (Special Drawing Rights) in the small print for baggage - SDR's are a monetary value set by the IMF. It roughly equates to 6,000RM today.

 

If you have a lost/damaged bag today you'll find MAS (not sure about AirAsia) bending over backwards to provide you with a new suitcase or bag and signing a waiver form, rather than mentioning your entitlement (under IATA) to 6,000RM.!!

 

Just a little "correction" ... :

 

The Warsaw Convention applies principly to international travel only !

(exclusion may apply if domestic sector is part of an international itinerary)

 

It makes me wonder how it can apply to domestic travel in Malaysia - did the Malaysian Government just pull the Warsaw regulations into Malaysian Law ????????? (I strongly doubt it ... )

Edited April 10, 2010 by Juergen Witte