Holland LuggageFail

[chicopaige]

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I had used Port Valet in Seattle and one of my bags didn’t make it.  I wanted to report an update about the disappointing service I have received from Hal and ask for any suggestions from Cruise Critic experts on what they would suggest I do.

Both Southwest Airlines and Port Valet showed no record of receiving the missing luggage.  Holland told me to email a lost luggage report and they would then search for my bag.  I received an auto reply from Holland with a report number Id. I called them a week later and I got a “don’t call us, we will email you” response.  Today, I got an email saying they were continuing to search for bag.  I called them to ask what the next step would be and they told me, sorry we don’t have any record of a report!  Why don’t you submit another report?  Is this unusual- getting very frustrated!  Any suggestions would be most welcome

[syesmar]

So sorry to hear you are still experiencing this hassle!  Did you call this number 1-877-847-0045?  They were a help to me last year before I used the service.  They might be able to help.  (Luggage Direct and Port Valet are operated by the same service, only it's free in Seattle).

 

You likely already have this number, but this is for the Port of Seattle Lost & Found 206-787-5312.  It may be answered at the airport, but they'll likely be able to get you to the appropriate center for cruise passengers if your bag is not at the airport.

Edited July 12, 2019 by syesmar

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am so sorry to hear that you still have not resolved the lost luggage issue.

[chicopaige]

Thanks for the phone numbers to port, I asked Holland and they wouldn’t give them to me. Cruise critic members are the best!

[bEwAbG]

Someone on the Celebrity board had a similar issue happen in Seattle.  He said he waited for 8 days and finally contacted the CEO's office, who took over the case and located the bag in about 4 hours.  I know it's a different company but at this point I think it's time to escalate your complaint to someone in the corporate office.  My guess is that it's sitting in a room at the port somewhere.

 

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/holland-america/

Edited July 13, 2019 by bEwAbG

[chicopaige]

Thank you so much for contact numbers.

[chicopaige]

You are my hero bEwAbG!

Sent an email to corporate names you provided at 4:30pm Saturday.

At 6:30pm Saturday I received a call from the manager of property claims.  She said that she would be in contact with the port first thing Monday morning to try and locate the missing bag. I got a call this morning from the port saying they believed they had my bag.  After confirming the contents, they said they would ship it Federal Express at no charge to my house.

I highly recommend saving the contact numbers provided by bEwWAbG, they work wonders!

[puppycanducruise]

Hooray for you!

Great outcome.

Thanks for letting us know.

[ChinaShrek]

3 minutes ago, chicopaige said:

You are my hero bEwAbG!

Sent an email to corporate names you provided at 4:30pm Saturday.

At 6:30pm Saturday I received a call from the manager of property claims.  She said that she would be in contact with the port first thing Monday morning to try and locate the missing bag. I got a call this morning from the port saying they believed they had my bag.  After confirming the contents, they said they would ship it Federal Express at no charge to my house.

I highly recommend saving the contact numbers provided by bEwWAbG, they work wonders!

 

Any idea what happened to your bag?

[cat shepard]

Woo hoo!

[bEwAbG]

Very pleased they were able to help you find your bag!  I always try to give the first-line people the benefit of the doubt + the time to do their thing, but, when it comes to missing stuff, they really should handle it with priority or at least let you know that they're actively looking.  The Port Valet service is great when it works, and they should be doing everything in their power to recover from lost bag issues like this.

[JudithLynne]

Chicopaige....I am so happy to hear that you are getting resolution and your bag back to your home address.  Losing luggage is one of our biggest fears!

 

One thing that we do when traveling is we put a full size sheet of cardstock that is a color, not white, inside our suitcase on top of all of our visible things.  It has our full names, address, and phone numbers for contact purposes.

[canadianbear]

1 hour ago, JudithLynne said:

Chicopaige....I am so happy to hear that you are getting resolution and your bag back to your home address.  Losing luggage is one of our biggest fears!

 

One thing that we do when traveling is we put a full size sheet of cardstock that is a color, not white, inside our suitcase on top of all of our visible things.  It has our full names, address, and phone numbers for contact purposes.

Also happy to hear it’s been located!!

 

We also put a detailed itinerary and contact information in our suitcase, just in case.  

[chicopaige]

Lessons learned-will definitely include name and address, plus itinerary in bag in future.  Never got a straight answer as to why it took so long to locate my bag.  I believe a few people dropped the ball initially, one person told me that the 4th of July holiday may have slowed progress in tracking the missing bag.  Although the luggage tag was in a heavy duty cable locked tag they said tag was missing.  I truly  believe if I had not gotten corporate email contacts from bEwAbG my bag would have remained in a storage room at the port.  In any event glad we are getting our bag back.  Husband swears he will only do carry on from now on, as long as we can continue vacationing I am a happy camper!

Again thank you for all the help and positive feedback.