Damaged bags? Princess damage luggage claims not so customer friendly?

[Gnoelj]

DAMAGED BAGS? PRINCESS DAMAGE LUGGAGE CLAIMS NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY?

 

Has anyone experienced having your luggage damaged while being transferred onto/off a Princess ship, and having difficulty in making a baggage damage claim? Perhaps you can share your experience with me.

From my experience, reported property damage and getting it attended to or replaced was UNLIKE the relatively easy , standard procedure with flying with an airline and reporting property damage at an airport. Reporting damage bags with a cruise line, in my case with Princess Cruises, was a lot more difficult, and quite customer unfriendly.

 

This was what happened:

 

I was on the Regal Princess recently on one of their Baltic cruises. The day before the end of the cruise, I discovered that my suitcase had been damaged. One of the wheels had been nearly ripped off and part of the side of the suitcase was cracked. I know I should have been more aware of that when I first got on board the ship at the beginning of the cruise, but I guess I was so excited then that I just unpacked quickly and put the suitcase away in the separate luggage/clothes quarter. And as that area was usually dark, I did not notice it until the day before we got off when I had to take suitcase out to pack my clothes.

 

I went down to the reception but unfortunately, on the last days of the cruise, there was a long queue as passengers wanted to sort out their accounts. I waited around 30-40 mins. I was told I had to bring my suitcase down. So, I went to my cabin, brought it down and queued another 30-40 mins. I had to explain my problem again to another receptionist. He indicated it could possibly be the stevedore at the port who were rather heavy handed, but the repairman on board would try to fix it for me. I was to leave it with him and when it is ready, I would get a call.

 

A few hours later, I received a call from the repairman and he said he could not fix that, or that there was not sufficient time to fix it as we were leaving the next day. He advised us to take the suitcase back from the reception. Again another 30-40 mins queue.

 

This time, I was advised to fill in a “REPORT OF LOSS, DAMAGE, THEFT” form. However, that form had to be taken to the Customer Services Director to be signed and stamped. After filling in the form, I had to leave it with the receptionist, and was told to come down to collect it later.

When I came down later, it meant another 30-40 mins queue to collect the form!

 

After getting the form signed and stamped, I was informed that there was not much they could do on board for me. I had to “struggle” with the damage suitcase and prayed that it would not crack open on my return flight back to the UK from Copenhagen. I was informed upon returning home, I could contact Princess property claims in their office in the US.

 

Once back home, I called (international) to the Princess office in the United States. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in the States, and there was no one in the property claims office. So I had to call again the following day.

 

When I called them again, the lady on the line in Princess Claims department, she told me that I had to go to a repairshop in my city and get a quote. It did not seem a problem to them that I had to travel and make my own way at my own expense to the repair shop.

 

And if the repair shop said that it could not be repaired, I think she indicated I had to get a note from them (!). I was a bit puzzled. If the repair shop could not fix something and therefore, they would not get the business, why would they be bothered to write a note to say they could not do it?

 

Anyway, assuming that I got that note they could not fix the suitcase, I was supposed to go online to search for a similar suit case and make a copy of the advert. with the price, and I was to email it to them .

 

They would then take a while before they would consider if they would reimburse me . I asked how werethey going to do so? She said they would send the money to my bank account. And for that, I think they said I have to fill in a “bank mandate” form or something. And I think they would have to send me yet another form to fill in.

 

All that for a claim for a “princely” sum of UK £53 (around USD $77).

 

In the end , I just GAVE UP!!!!

 

I got the feeling that Princess Cruises made it so onerous and difficult for customers to make the claim that they would eventually give up. For me, getting Princess to compensate for damage claim seemed to be like pulling hen's teeth.

 

If you have similar experience to share, it would at least “enlighten” me that I am not the only cruise passenger who had such an unpleasant experienced this with Princess Cruises.

 

I just wish that Princess Cruises will NOT make baggage damage claim so customer unfriendly, and instead do it like they do with airlines. (A friend of mine fly to Penang, Malaysia on a domestic flight. When he found his suitcase was damaged, he filled in a form, and the following day, the airline Firefly Malaysia, called him and brought over a replacement suitcase. Job done!)

Edited July 7, 2016 by Gnoelj

[CruiserBruce]

You might note the difference between your claim and that of your friend on Firefly was very timely filing of the claim.

 

I am assuming the only acceptable customer service to you would be an immediate bag replacement?

[Esprit]

We had a brand new case damaged prior to embarkation. The case was fine when we got it off the airport carousel but was dented badly by the time it arrived at our cabin.

 

I promptly reported it (the same day) and they said they would try to repair it. They did the best they could but I could obviously see dent creases still.

 

I just dismissed the incident and enjoyed the cruise. Life's too short!

[whitecap]

DAMAGED BAGS? PRINCESS DAMAGE LUGGAGE CLAIMS NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY?

 

Has anyone experienced having your luggage damaged while being transferred onto/off a Princess ship, and having difficulty in making a baggage damage claim? Perhaps you can share your experience with me.

From my experience, reported property damage and getting it attended to or replaced was UNLIKE the relatively easy , standard procedure with flying with an airline and reporting property damage at an airport. Reporting damage bags with a cruise line, in my case with Princess Cruises, was a lot more difficult, and quite customer unfriendly.

 

This was what happened:

 

I was on the Regal Princess recently on one of their Baltic cruises. The day before the end of the cruise, I discovered that my suitcase had been damaged. One of the wheels had been nearly ripped off and part of the side of the suitcase was cracked. I know I should have been more aware of that when I first got on board the ship at the beginning of the cruise, but I guess I was so excited then that I just unpacked quickly and put the suitcase away in the separate luggage/clothes quarter. And as that area was usually dark, I did not notice it until the day before we got off when I had to take suitcase out to pack my clothes.

 

I went down to the reception but unfortunately, on the last days of the cruise, there was a long queue as passengers wanted to sort out their accounts. I waited around 30-40 mins. I was told I had to bring my suitcase down. So, I went to my cabin, brought it down and queued another 30-40 mins. I had to explain my problem again to another receptionist. He indicated it could possibly be the stevedore at the port who were rather heavy handed, but the repairman on board would try to fix it for me. I was to leave it with him and when it is ready, I would get a call.

 

A few hours later, I received a call from the repairman and he said he could not fix that, or that there was not sufficient time to fix it as we were leaving the next day. He advised us to take the suitcase back from the reception. Again another 30-40 mins queue.

 

This time, I was advised to fill in a “REPORT OF LOSS, DAMAGE, THEFT” form. However, that form had to be taken to the Customer Services Director to be signed and stamped. After filling in the form, I had to leave it with the receptionist, and was told to come down to collect it later.

When I came down later, it meant another 30-40 mins queue to collect the form!

 

After getting the form signed and stamped, I was informed that there was not much they could do on board for me. I had to “struggle” with the damage suitcase and prayed that it would not crack open on my return flight back to the UK from Copenhagen. I was informed upon returning home, I could contact Princess property claims in their office in the US.

 

Once back home, I called (international) to the Princess office in the United States. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in the States, and there was no one in the property claims office. So I had to call again the following day.

 

When I called them again, the lady on the line in Princess Claims department, she told me that I had to go to a repairshop in my city and get a quote. It did not seem a problem to them that I had to travel and make my own way at my own expense to the repair shop.

 

And if the repair shop said that it could not be repaired, I think she indicated I had to get a note from them (!). I was a bit puzzled. If the repair shop could not fix something and therefore, they would not get the business, why would they be bothered to write a note to say they could not do it?

 

Anyway, assuming that I got that note they could not fix the suitcase, I was supposed to go online to search for a similar suit case and make a copy of the advert. with the price, and I was to email it to them .

 

They would then take a while before they would consider if they would reimburse me . I asked how werethey going to do so? She said they would send the money to my bank account. And for that, I think they said I have to fill in a “bank mandate” form or something. And I think they would have to send me yet another form to fill in.

 

All that for a claim for a “princely” sum of UK £53 (around USD $77).

 

In the end , I just GAVE UP!!!!

 

I got the feeling that Princess Cruises made it so onerous and difficult for customers to make the claim that they would eventually give up. For me, getting Princess to compensate for damage claim seemed to be like pulling hen's teeth.

 

If you have similar experience to share, it would at least “enlighten” me that I am not the only cruise passenger who had such an unpleasant experienced this with Princess Cruises.

 

I just wish that Princess Cruises will NOT make baggage damage claim so customer unfriendly, and instead do it like they do with airlines. (A friend of mine fly to Penang, Malaysia on a domestic flight. When he found his suitcase was damaged, he filled in a form, and the following day, the airline Firefly Malaysia, called him and brought over a replacement suitcase. Job done!)

 

We have had two occasions, 28 cruises, where a piece of luggage was damaged. Both times were on a Princess cruise and both times reported the damage to Customer Service and both times within a few hours, the luggage was returned to the cabin repaired. First time was a tear in the cloth and the second was a large dent. In fact, the last time, not only did we receive the luggage back in the cabin, while we were out, but later that day received a nice note apologizing for the damage and a large plate of chocolates. :D

[Gnoelj]

You might note the difference between your claim and that of your friend on Firefly was very timely filing of the claim.

 

I am assuming the only acceptable customer service to you would be an immediate bag replacement?

 

The difference with Princess Cruises and the airline was the airline was straight-forward and they (the airline) did not make any fuss at all.

 

The problem I found with making the claim with Princess was I was not able to send in my claim when I was on the ship. After all, their crew had seen the damage with their own eyes. And then, they had to get me to contact their head office in the US, and the claims department there had to get me to go around here and there before they even consider my claim. I would understand if the claim was a lot of money, but for such a relatively small sum, they seem to make the process a bit too "bureaucratic", in my view.

It could have been done better.

 

That was quite a shame as I found generally, the cruise itself was quite alright and there were some enjoyable moments. I found most of the crew on board to be very friendly, more than some other cruise companies I had been with. So Princess isn't all bad, but there's still room for improvement !(isn't everything in life?)

[moki'smommy]

This is honestly not unlike what I went thru with an airline when the bag was "lost" in transit and therefore could not be reported when my flight arrived. I flew from Heathrow to JFK where I claimed my damaged bag and went thru customs. I showed the damaged bag to the baggage person at JFK. They told me that they needed the bag immediately to make my flight and that I should deal with it at my home airport.

 

When I arrived at the home airport, the bag did not arrive (no surprise, it never does when going thru JFK). I did a report of the bag not arriving AND told the agent that there had been damage to the bag noted at JFK but an official damage report had not been generated. She noted this on the form. My bag got to me the next day and again, I called the airline about the damage. Initially I was told that I had to report it by e-mail and was given that address. The response was that because I had not reported it when the flight arrived, there could be no payment made! I again e-mailed them the entire story, again including the lost bag report numbers and that I had told both the agent at JFK and at my home airport about the damage.

 

I was then required to take the bag to a luggage shop (step 1, find a luggage shop!) to get a repair estimate. The man spoke almost no English. He had me write the report stating that he could attempt a repair for $40, but it would never be right again and he signed it. That had to be faxed to the airline and they ultimately sent a check for the $40. It was not an expensive bag, and I considered that to be a successful outcome. However, the bit about "no timely reporting" when there couldn't have been any due to their loss of the bag was...frustrating to say the least!

 

Sorry for your run around. As you noted, you also had a rather inexpensive bag so it wouldn't be worth trying a report to your travel insurance or homeowners insurance.

[donaldsc]

 

When I arrived at the home airport' date=' the bag did not arrive (no surprise, it never does when going thru JFK). ce.[/quote']

 

I do not understand this part of your post. I have gone through JFK many times and my luggage has always arrived with me at my home airport. Some people must just have bad luggage karma.

 

DON

[Colo Cruiser]

It is only fair that Princess required you to take your bag to a shop for an estimate. This is standard practice.

This crew onboard are not in the business of evaluating the cost of luggage repair/replacement.

[Pam in CA]

Sounds to me like Princess made the appropriate effort while you were still on board. It's very possible that with more time, they could have repaired it.

 

When I've had luggage damaged while embarking or disembarking a ship (different cruise lines), I've either sent the bag to the manufacturer who repaired it for free or submitted a claim to my insurance. Either way, I was made whole with a minimum of fuss.

[moki'smommy]

I do not understand this part of your post. I have gone through JFK many times and my luggage has always arrived with me at my home airport. Some people must just have bad luggage karma.

 

DON

 

Must be so....my daughter attended grad school in London so I made many trips. I eventually quit flying Delta as their flights all went thru JFK and quite literally, my luggage never made it to my home airport on the same flight I did. At least twice, it didn't get to Heathrow when I did. Honestly, I started taking United thru O'Hare or American thru Charlotte because my JFK experiences were so bad.

[caribill]

DAMAGED BAGS? PRINCESS DAMAGE LUGGAGE CLAIMS NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY?

 

Has anyone experienced having your luggage damaged while being transferred onto/off a Princess ship, and having difficulty in making a baggage damage claim? Perhaps you can share your experience with me.

From my experience, reported property damage and getting it attended to or replaced was UNLIKE the relatively easy , standard procedure with flying with an airline and reporting property damage at an airport. Reporting damage bags with a cruise line, in my case with Princess Cruises, was a lot more difficult, and quite customer unfriendly.

 

I have had two experiences with luggage damage that was while the luggage was in the hands of the cruise line (or its onshore contractors).

 

a) Boarding a Princess ship the bag was delivered to my cabin with a wheel missing. Brought the empty bag to the Purser's desk and left it with them. Two or three days later it was returned to my cabin with what appeared to be the original wheel (they must have found it someplace) reattached in a way that it is more securely attached than the other three wheels.

 

b) Leaving a Carnival ship a bag had a damaged wheel assembly and a crack in the hard case. (The Princess procedure you had to follow was identical to the Carnival procedure.) I reported it before I left the cruise terminal and was given a filled out form verifying the damage by a Carnival supervisor. Like you, I was told to bring it to a repair shop and get it repaired or get a note that it could not be repaired. Since it was not repairable, I sent that note along with the form I had from disembarkation day to Carnival. They agreed that they would pay for a replacement suitcase. So I sent them a copy of the receipt from the replacement purchase and a few weeks later received a check for 100% of the replacement cost.

[GreenTea13]

I just went on a Princess cruise and my brand new bag got damaged somewhere between dropping it off with the bag handler and our room. They only had it for a couple hours and yet when it arrived at our room the handle was broken off.

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by GreenTea13
added photo

[StolidCruiser]

I just went on a Princess cruise and my brand new bag got damaged somewhere between dropping it off with the bag handler and our room. They only had it for a couple hours and yet when it arrived at our room the handle was broken off.

 

 

What was the remedy offered when you brought it to their attention on board?

[GreenTea13]

What was the remedy offered when you brought it to their attention on board?

They sent it to the on board repair guy to see if he could fix it. After it was confirmed that they didn't have the spare parts to fix it they had me fill out a damage claim. I was told that I needed to call the number on the form after the cruise, but unfortunately they aren't open on the weekend so I will have to wait till this Monday to call them. I'm not really sure what's going to happen after that.

[Coral]

It is only fair that Princess required you to take your bag to a shop for an estimate. This is standard practice.

This crew onboard are not in the business of evaluating the cost of luggage repair/replacement.

 

This is what United Airlines made me do also. They didn't immediately deliver a new suitcase. I had to take it somewhere and get an estimate, etc...

[joeyancho]

The airlines are just as bad.

[kruisey]

DAMAGED BAGS? PRINCESS DAMAGE LUGGAGE CLAIMS NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY?

 

Has anyone experienced having your luggage damaged while being transferred onto/off a Princess ship, and having difficulty in making a baggage damage claim? Perhaps you can share your experience with me.

From my experience, reported property damage and getting it attended to or replaced was UNLIKE the relatively easy , standard procedure with flying with an airline and reporting property damage at an airport. Reporting damage bags with a cruise line, in my case with Princess Cruises, was a lot more difficult, and quite customer unfriendly.

 

This was what happened:

 

I was on the Regal Princess recently on one of their Baltic cruises. The day before the end of the cruise, I discovered that my suitcase had been damaged. One of the wheels had been nearly ripped off and part of the side of the suitcase was cracked. I know I should have been more aware of that when I first got on board the ship at the beginning of the cruise, but I guess I was so excited then that I just unpacked quickly and put the suitcase away in the separate luggage/clothes quarter. And as that area was usually dark, I did not notice it until the day before we got off when I had to take suitcase out to pack my clothes.

 

I went down to the reception but unfortunately, on the last days of the cruise, there was a long queue as passengers wanted to sort out their accounts. I waited around 30-40 mins. I was told I had to bring my suitcase down. So, I went to my cabin, brought it down and queued another 30-40 mins. I had to explain my problem again to another receptionist. He indicated it could possibly be the stevedore at the port who were rather heavy handed, but the repairman on board would try to fix it for me. I was to leave it with him and when it is ready, I would get a call.

 

A few hours later, I received a call from the repairman and he said he could not fix that, or that there was not sufficient time to fix it as we were leaving the next day. He advised us to take the suitcase back from the reception. Again another 30-40 mins queue.

 

This time, I was advised to fill in a “REPORT OF LOSS, DAMAGE, THEFT” form. However, that form had to be taken to the Customer Services Director to be signed and stamped. After filling in the form, I had to leave it with the receptionist, and was told to come down to collect it later.

When I came down later, it meant another 30-40 mins queue to collect the form!

 

After getting the form signed and stamped, I was informed that there was not much they could do on board for me. I had to “struggle” with the damage suitcase and prayed that it would not crack open on my return flight back to the UK from Copenhagen. I was informed upon returning home, I could contact Princess property claims in their office in the US.

 

Once back home, I called (international) to the Princess office in the United States. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in the States, and there was no one in the property claims office. So I had to call again the following day.

 

When I called them again, the lady on the line in Princess Claims department, she told me that I had to go to a repairshop in my city and get a quote. It did not seem a problem to them that I had to travel and make my own way at my own expense to the repair shop.

 

And if the repair shop said that it could not be repaired, I think she indicated I had to get a note from them (!). I was a bit puzzled. If the repair shop could not fix something and therefore, they would not get the business, why would they be bothered to write a note to say they could not do it?

 

Anyway, assuming that I got that note they could not fix the suitcase, I was supposed to go online to search for a similar suit case and make a copy of the advert. with the price, and I was to email it to them .

 

They would then take a while before they would consider if they would reimburse me . I asked how werethey going to do so? She said they would send the money to my bank account. And for that, I think they said I have to fill in a “bank mandate” form or something. And I think they would have to send me yet another form to fill in.

 

All that for a claim for a “princely” sum of UK £53 (around USD $77).

 

In the end , I just GAVE UP!!!!

 

I got the feeling that Princess Cruises made it so onerous and difficult for customers to make the claim that they would eventually give up. For me, getting Princess to compensate for damage claim seemed to be like pulling hen's teeth.

 

If you have similar experience to share, it would at least “enlighten” me that I am not the only cruise passenger who had such an unpleasant experienced this with Princess Cruises.

 

I just wish that Princess Cruises will NOT make baggage damage claim so customer unfriendly, and instead do it like they do with airlines. (A friend of mine fly to Penang, Malaysia on a domestic flight. When he found his suitcase was damaged, he filled in a form, and the following day, the airline Firefly Malaysia, called him and brought over a replacement suitcase. Job done!)

 

When you boarded that moving the luggage in your room would have been difficult due to the wheel having been ripped off and not noticing the luggage had been cracked?. The last day of the cruise must be a nightmare for the crew coping with over 3000 passengers plus the luggage being gathered that evening.:eek:

[Lucky TGO]

This can only happen to me. I purchase luggage with a lifetime guarantee just to avoid all of this. So after they fixed it 2 or 3 times. Guess what they went out of business :eek: :eek: That's why they call me lucky :D :D

Tony

[easyboy]

They sent it to the on board repair guy to see if he could fix it. After it was confirmed that they didn't have the spare parts to fix it they had me fill out a damage claim. I was told that I needed to call the number on the form after the cruise, but unfortunately they aren't open on the weekend so I will have to wait till this Monday to call them. I'm not really sure what's going to happen after that.

Even if you claim from an insurance, it will be similar to what you were asked to do.

[Wehwalt]

I had a bag on the Crown that had a wheel sheered off. I did not notice it until the end because my steward "helpfully" placed it in my closet and I had no reason to move it, until disembarkation morning and there was no time to put in a claim. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but doing that and not mentioning the damage didn't help his rating on my survey.

[newcruzer2]

submitted a claim to my insurance. Either way, I was made whole with a minimum of fuss.

That was my thought while reading op's original post, why even deal with it while on vacation.... file claim with travel insurance once home :)

[TracieABD]

Honestly, between the airlines and the cruiselines. I have stopped buying nice luggage. I now buy inexpensive and "light" luggage. I think of it as Bic disposable lighters. I know that I will have to replace it every 10 trips or so...

 

Oh, how I long for the day when you could own a good suitcase (Hartman, Tumi, etc...) for years and year- knowing that baggage handlers would treat your luggage with a bit of respect.

[pris993]

I do not understand this part of your post. I have gone through JFK many times and my luggage has always arrived with me at my home airport. Some people must just have bad luggage karma.

 

DON

 

Yes, I don't understand this either, with 30 years of travel... returning through JFK from Europe... never had any problem with luggage not arriving.

 

Beside this, we have had luggage repair problems on both Princess and HAL... in each case we reported right away...when we unpacked and in each case the suitecase was either repaired or we where given cash to purchase another one in port -- that was done on HAL, we got another suitecase for $150 in St Martin.

 

So I guess the lesson here is pay attention to luggage when you unpack and report problems asap so cruise has time to do the right thing. l

[TracieABD]

Yes, I don't understand this either, with 30 years of travel... returning through JFK from Europe... never had any problem with luggage not arriving.

 

Beside this, we have had luggage repair problems on both Princess and HAL... in each case we reported right away...when we unpacked and in each case the suitecase was either repaired or we where given cash to purchase another one in port -- that was done on HAL, we got another suitecase for $150 in St Martin.

 

So I guess the lesson here is pay attention to luggage when you unpack and report problems asap so cruise has time to do the right thing. l

 

I think that some of the "good luggage karma" comes from having very clearly marked bags. I always have prominent luggage tags on each of the handles. I also put the hotel addresses, cruise port address, and home address on the inside of the bag- right on top of the clothing. That way, if the bag is lost, there is additional information inside that may help to reunite me and my luggage.

Edited September 11, 2016 by TracieABD

[rbt001]

DAMAGED BAGS? PRINCESS DAMAGE LUGGAGE CLAIMS NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY?

 

Has anyone experienced having your luggage damaged while being transferred onto/off a Princess ship, and having difficulty in making a baggage damage claim? Perhaps you can share your experience with me.

From my experience, reported property damage and getting it attended to or replaced was UNLIKE the relatively easy , standard procedure with flying with an airline and reporting property damage at an airport. Reporting damage bags with a cruise line, in my case with Princess Cruises, was a lot more difficult, and quite customer unfriendly.

 

This was what happened:

 

I was on the Regal Princess recently on one of their Baltic cruises. The day before the end of the cruise, I discovered that my suitcase had been damaged. One of the wheels had been nearly ripped off and part of the side of the suitcase was cracked. I know I should have been more aware of that when I first got on board the ship at the beginning of the cruise, but I guess I was so excited then that I just unpacked quickly and put the suitcase away in the separate luggage/clothes quarter. And as that area was usually dark, I did not notice it until the day before we got off when I had to take suitcase out to pack my clothes.

 

I went down to the reception but unfortunately, on the last days of the cruise, there was a long queue as passengers wanted to sort out their accounts. I waited around 30-40 mins. I was told I had to bring my suitcase down. So, I went to my cabin, brought it down and queued another 30-40 mins. I had to explain my problem again to another receptionist. He indicated it could possibly be the stevedore at the port who were rather heavy handed, but the repairman on board would try to fix it for me. I was to leave it with him and when it is ready, I would get a call.

 

A few hours later, I received a call from the repairman and he said he could not fix that, or that there was not sufficient time to fix it as we were leaving the next day. He advised us to take the suitcase back from the reception. Again another 30-40 mins queue.

 

This time, I was advised to fill in a “REPORT OF LOSS, DAMAGE, THEFT” form. However, that form had to be taken to the Customer Services Director to be signed and stamped. After filling in the form, I had to leave it with the receptionist, and was told to come down to collect it later.

When I came down later, it meant another 30-40 mins queue to collect the form!

 

After getting the form signed and stamped, I was informed that there was not much they could do on board for me. I had to “struggle” with the damage suitcase and prayed that it would not crack open on my return flight back to the UK from Copenhagen. I was informed upon returning home, I could contact Princess property claims in their office in the US.

 

Once back home, I called (international) to the Princess office in the United States. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in the States, and there was no one in the property claims office. So I had to call again the following day.

 

When I called them again, the lady on the line in Princess Claims department, she told me that I had to go to a repairshop in my city and get a quote. It did not seem a problem to them that I had to travel and make my own way at my own expense to the repair shop.

 

And if the repair shop said that it could not be repaired, I think she indicated I had to get a note from them (!). I was a bit puzzled. If the repair shop could not fix something and therefore, they would not get the business, why would they be bothered to write a note to say they could not do it?

 

Anyway, assuming that I got that note they could not fix the suitcase, I was supposed to go online to search for a similar suit case and make a copy of the advert. with the price, and I was to email it to them .

 

They would then take a while before they would consider if they would reimburse me . I asked how werethey going to do so? She said they would send the money to my bank account. And for that, I think they said I have to fill in a “bank mandate” form or something. And I think they would have to send me yet another form to fill in.

 

All that for a claim for a “princely” sum of UK £53 (around USD $77).

 

In the end , I just GAVE UP!!!!

 

I got the feeling that Princess Cruises made it so onerous and difficult for customers to make the claim that they would eventually give up. For me, getting Princess to compensate for damage claim seemed to be like pulling hen's teeth.

 

If you have similar experience to share, it would at least “enlighten” me that I am not the only cruise passenger who had such an unpleasant experienced this with Princess Cruises.

 

I just wish that Princess Cruises will NOT make baggage damage claim so customer unfriendly, and instead do it like they do with airlines. (A friend of mine fly to Penang, Malaysia on a domestic flight. When he found his suitcase was damaged, he filled in a form, and the following day, the airline Firefly Malaysia, called him and brought over a replacement suitcase. Job done!)

 

 

Wow! I was exhausted just reading your dramatic account. I think the final pain will come with the bank account remittance; as I've read in another international post, you may incur bank fees just to receive the money from the USA.

 

And was I correct in reading that the cost of the bag, when it was new equated to $77??? How long have you had it and have you gotten value from it through prior use?

 

Similarly, it wasn't until the next morning, after returning home from a domestic airline flight that I discovered my TSA approved luggage lock was gone. Had I been observant at baggage claim, I could have walked over to file a claim with the airline. But it was only a $5 or $7 lock, not worth the 10 minutes to file a claim.