poetic license
February 18th, 2006, 03:19 PM
Hi MSC Enthusiasts and Cruisers,
There is a 'lost luggage' thread on another forum of the board, where I posted my lost luggage experience. Upon thinking about this, I felt that everyone should be warned about the way MSC will treat you if THEY, not you, happen to lose your bags:
We had a bag that never got to the terminal from the ship, although we had placed it in the hall well before the deadline the evening prior. It was on the MSC Opera last February. DH immediately found an MSC rep, and she went back to the ship to check for it, as well as putting other staff on notice. We were asked to describe the bag in great detail, which wasn't hard, since it was red, and one of my daughters had added some 'personal artwork' to the sides of it with a Sharpie so that it would be easy to find. As we had a late afternoon flight, we hung around a long time waiting to see if it would ever show up. It didn't. We filled out a couple of forms, which they reluctantly provided, and left for the airport.
A month later, we received a phone call from MSC; they had found the bag, and wanted a credit card number. I asked why, and they said so they could charge us for shipping it back to us! I adamantly (but politely) refused, stating they had lost the bag and it was up to them to return it to us. They refused, even through several chains of command up the supervisory ladder: If we wanted the bag returned, we would have to provide a credit card number to charge the shipping, period. They took an immovable position. They told us that if we didn't provide a credit card number for its return, the bag would be sent to Genoa (company HQ) when the OPERA sailed back to Italy in May and turned over to the lost and found department, and if we wanted it returned from there, we would have to pay shipping from there!!!! I asked what would happen to the bag if it went unclaimed, and they said the contents would be sold after 30 days.
Was the bag ever returned? Nope. Did they ever apologize? Nope. Were they still insisting we pay for it's return? Yep, and rather rudely, too. They could have the contents: It was full of ... how shall I put this? ... our three teenaged daughters 'used dainty laundry' from a week of cruising. :eek::D
Forewarned is forearmed: I let the bag go, and purchased all new undies for all three girls, which wasn't a hardship, just a pain in the rear end. If, on the other hand, you lose a bag with expensive clothing and/or souvenirs and purchases, be sure you have baggage insurance before you sail on MSC! They will NOT, under any circumstances, even if at fault, ship your bag back to you unless you surrender a credit card number to bill the shipping.
There is a 'lost luggage' thread on another forum of the board, where I posted my lost luggage experience. Upon thinking about this, I felt that everyone should be warned about the way MSC will treat you if THEY, not you, happen to lose your bags:
We had a bag that never got to the terminal from the ship, although we had placed it in the hall well before the deadline the evening prior. It was on the MSC Opera last February. DH immediately found an MSC rep, and she went back to the ship to check for it, as well as putting other staff on notice. We were asked to describe the bag in great detail, which wasn't hard, since it was red, and one of my daughters had added some 'personal artwork' to the sides of it with a Sharpie so that it would be easy to find. As we had a late afternoon flight, we hung around a long time waiting to see if it would ever show up. It didn't. We filled out a couple of forms, which they reluctantly provided, and left for the airport.
A month later, we received a phone call from MSC; they had found the bag, and wanted a credit card number. I asked why, and they said so they could charge us for shipping it back to us! I adamantly (but politely) refused, stating they had lost the bag and it was up to them to return it to us. They refused, even through several chains of command up the supervisory ladder: If we wanted the bag returned, we would have to provide a credit card number to charge the shipping, period. They took an immovable position. They told us that if we didn't provide a credit card number for its return, the bag would be sent to Genoa (company HQ) when the OPERA sailed back to Italy in May and turned over to the lost and found department, and if we wanted it returned from there, we would have to pay shipping from there!!!! I asked what would happen to the bag if it went unclaimed, and they said the contents would be sold after 30 days.
Was the bag ever returned? Nope. Did they ever apologize? Nope. Were they still insisting we pay for it's return? Yep, and rather rudely, too. They could have the contents: It was full of ... how shall I put this? ... our three teenaged daughters 'used dainty laundry' from a week of cruising. :eek::D
Forewarned is forearmed: I let the bag go, and purchased all new undies for all three girls, which wasn't a hardship, just a pain in the rear end. If, on the other hand, you lose a bag with expensive clothing and/or souvenirs and purchases, be sure you have baggage insurance before you sail on MSC! They will NOT, under any circumstances, even if at fault, ship your bag back to you unless you surrender a credit card number to bill the shipping.