A Caribbean Airlines (CAL) passenger is expressing growing frustration at having to wait over a month for the airline to settle her missing baggage claim.
Jane Persaud, 75, a pensioner of New York and West Coast Demerara arrived in Guyana on November 13. Persaud said after arriving in Guyana, she received one bag which was tampered with, and then spent several hours at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri waiting on an airline agent to make enquiries for the missing bag. Speaking to Stabroek News via phone, the woman explained that after she did not get her missing bag, she went home. Persaud said she visited Caribbean Airlines’ Guyana Office the following day, expecting help, but that got her nowhere. To date, Persaud has visited CAL’s office five times and is yet to be provided with good news.
Persaud told Stabroek News that the process beginning at the JFK airport was smooth, however, when the aircraft entered Guyana’s airspace, landing was not permitted because of heavy fog and the aircraft was diverted to Trinidad and Tobago. She said the flight’s delay in T&T lasted for at least five hours before improved weather conditions [in Guyana] permitted the rescheduled flight to arrive in here. Persaud suspects that her suitcase might have been misplaced in T&T. “It is very frustrating because I had all my medication and clothing. Now I have to buy everything because I have nothing. I always come around this time and stay for some months so I bring all the medication I need”, she said. The woman also stated that in the 30 years she has been travelling with Caribbean Airlines, this is the first time she has faced such challenges and unhelpful customer service.
Persaud said she was contacted by the airline’s customer service and was asked to provide a description of her missing baggage. “I told her it is a black hard suitcase with a blue tape on it with my name and address. I don’t know what they did to my suitcase. Everything is lost. All that I spend money on to buy from January to November, all is lost,” she stressed. The woman explained that after clearing Guyana’s immigration services, she sat in a wheelchair waiting for her bags but only received one. Upon checking, she said she realised the lock was broken and the second suitcase was nowhere to be found. According to Persaud, she cannot understand what contributed to her suitcase going missing.
In her interview with Stabroek News, Persaud said that she was given several baggage claim forms to fill but even that has not yielded any success. Describing her present state of mind as one of ‘frustration’ Persaud said her missing luggage is taking a toll on her holidays here and given the uncertainty of ever recouping her missing luggage weighing on her mind, her Christmas spirit has been dampened and for her this may very well be a ‘blue Christmas’. Persaud said she is unable to share the presents and goodies she brought for family and friends. According to Persaud it has been approximately 10 days since she has heard from the airlines. “I am so frustrated at the moment because I have been sick since I come to Guyana. My pressure is high, my blood sugar is high and it is not going down. I came for a good Christmas and Guyana Christmas is the best in the world but this just throw me off,” she lamented.
Meanwhile, when Stabroek News yesterday sought to engage CAL, its Head of Corporate Communications, Dionne Ligoure, said the airline is well aware of the matter and has been working to have it resolved.
“CAL is very much aware of the situation and we are working towards a resolution,” she told Stabroek News. According to Ligoure, there is no timeline as to when the matter will be resolved but CAL continues to be in contact with the customer. The airline’s communication officer further informed Stabroek News that due to confidentiality agreements between the airline and customer, no further information could be released.
