A reader is seeking compensation from Dragonair after his $10,000 Compaq Presario laptop was damaged in an overhead compartment when a late-arriving passenger pushed his luggage into it with the assistance of a flight attendant during a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong in October. 'I couldn't work without a computer while waiting for this issue to be settled so I purchased a less expensive model, a desktop, which cost me $8,600 so my out-of-pocket expenses at this point are $8,600,' he wrote. 'That's the tangible element. The intangibles run from the loss of data and extreme inconvenience. 'This has caused me a lot of needless stress. I also think that [a Dragonair officer] handling this was less than professional. I specifically do not appreciate her attitude that her decision was final and that I had no right to appeal to a higher authority.' Dragonair has refused to accept responsibility for the damage but agreed to offer him an upgrade the next time he travels with the airline as a goodwill gesture. It has also apologised for a delay in response to his complaint. 'Unfortunately, it is impossible for us to verify the cause of the damage,' it said in a statement. 'If an item is damaged by another passenger, our staff will help facilitate an exchange of personal details for settlement between them. 'We do sympathise with [the passenger's] situation, and that is why the case was brought to the attention of our director, customer services. He has reviewed the case and offered an upgrade on a future flight with us to demonstrate our goodwill. 'We would like to apologise for the time it took initially to respond to him. Communication with our customers is an area on which we place great importance, and the seriousness with which we view this was reflected by the fact that a senior member of our management called him personally. This case highlighted one particular area where we needed to do better. Steps have been taken to ensure this in future.' A couple paid $6.18 million for a luxury unit in September last year at No 1 Beacon Hill, Kowloon Tong, built by developer Cheung Kong, but their move-in was delayed for one year and an independent contractor listed seven pages of defects. These include a faulty sliding door to the balcony, sink plugs and the main door. 'After the standard month given to them to repair the property, we found that a large number of the defects had not been repaired,' they wrote. 'Worse still, in the process of repairing some of the defects they had created more defects and scratches to the paintwork inside the house. 'The sliding glass door to the balcony is apparently defective in many of the flats and despite instructions that this was to be replaced they refused initially to replace this completely, saying it could be repaired. 'After my wife supervised the repair of the second iteration of defects, this glass door still remains an issue. They have repaired it three times and each time the repair has been broken within a day. They have now modified it such that there are two latches [one on either side of the sliding door] which looks ugly and is likely to damage the door frame with careless use.' The couple has moved into the new flat. 'We have had to settle for what they have given us or accept up to another three months of not being able to use or decorate our flat with no penalty to Cheung Kong.' Cheung Kong said all of the works and additional items requested by the owner were completed by its contractor on November 30. But it has agreed to work on another lock design following a Take Action inquiry. 'With regard to the owner's concerns about the lock on the sliding door, it has been modified to function properly. In order to satisfy the owner, our contractor is now working on another lock design based on a one-handle locking movement.' Immigration consultant Richard Aziz Butt wrote to commend the significant improvement in efficiency and professional conduct of Immigration Department officers. 'I have made almost daily trips to the department since 1997. Over the years, I have observed the average behaviour of officers to have significantly improved,' he wrote. 'In the past, I had witnessed how many officers treated people, especially South Asians, Vietnamese and mainlanders as second-class people, but now there have been substantive changes. 'The most excellent immigration officers are on the fourth floor of Immigration Tower who handle Chinese nationality. They are very polite, lovely and professional. I wish the whole department were like them. As this section is very small, it is very easy to find all the nice officers there.'
