The column for anyone fed up with bureaucracy, frustrated with delays or furious with poor service. Tell us your complaint and we'll try to fix it ... Dhillon Ravinder flew to New Delhi this month with Cathay Pacific, but her flight was overloaded and her luggage, containing important documents for a meeting, was offloaded and the airline failed to deliver it to her in time. 'I travelled to Delhi by CX753 on January 11 to attend an urgent meeting on January 14. I was unable to collect my baggage on arrival at Delhi airport on the morning of January 12. I was told at Delhi airport by Cathay staff that the flight was overloaded and Cathay Pacific had had to offload my baggage. They said it would arrive on the morning flight, on the 13th. 'I clearly told Cathay ground staff at Delhi I had to have my baggage by the afternoon of the 13th because I needed it to attend to an urgent matter on the 14th in Delhi. I told them not to send my baggage to my home address, in Amritsar in the northwestern part of India, and specifically said I was coming back to Delhi on the night of the 13th because I had to attend to the urgent matter on the 14th. 'One staff member called me on the afternoon of the 12th to say my baggage would be arriving on that night's flight and asked where I wanted it delivered. I clearly told the lady to send it to Grand Sartaj Hotel in Delhi. She asked for the address of the hotel. I told her I did not know it, but I gave her the mobile phone number of someone who had been arranged to pick me up and take me to the hotel, who would be able to tell her the address. After that, I did not hear anything from Cathay and presumed my luggage would be delivered to the hotel. 'I was shocked when I discovered from the person who came to pick me up on the afternoon of the 13th that nobody had called him and nobody at the hotel knew about my luggage. 'On the morning of the 14th, I hired a car to go to Delhi airport to collect my baggage before 11am. I was shocked to be told by Cathay staff that nobody knew the status of my luggage. I gave the driver's mobile number to Cathay staff at the airport and told him to contact me as soon as they had any news about my baggage. 'Cathay staff called the driver and told him that my baggage had been sent to Amritsar. I cannot express the anger and anxiety I felt when I was told of Cathay's stupid mistake. 'My mother received a call from somebody saying my baggage had arrived in Fraid Kot, Punjab (very far from Amritsar). My mother (aged 74) was unable to contact me in Delhi and she called my family in Hong Kong to let me know about the situation. 'I asked Cathay in Delhi to send my baggage to Hong Kong, and I gave them my home address and contact number in Hong Kong. They promised that my baggage would arrive in Hong Kong on January 15. On the morning of January 16, I called Cathay's baggage-handling department and spoke to a Mr Manson, who gave me another shock by saying they had no information about the new arrangement and I should have received my baggage in Delhi. 'Mr Manson said he would send a telex (we all know e-mail is much cheaper and faster, but Cathay still depends on telex; very strange) to Delhi to find out about my luggage and would get back to me. But by today, January 17, I have still not received any news from Mr Manson. 'All the expenses of my trip plus my airfare (total HK$30,000 - and this amount does not include my personal things and the documents in my suitcase) should be paid by Cathay, whose mistake meant I was let down in front of my people in Delhi, and the purpose of my trip to Delhi was thwarted because of the lack of documents. My whole family (in Hong Kong and in India) was affected by this mess, which was created by Cathay's negligence. 'I am travelling again on January 22 by Cathay to Frankfurt and back to Hong Kong on January 26. Both tickets were issued some time ago, and I hope this time Cathay will not make any mistakes.' Cathay Pacific said it immediately investigated Ms Ravinder's problem and confirmed that internal miscommunication led to the late delivery of her luggage. 'As Ms Ravinder mentioned in her letter that she would be flying on a Cathay Pacific flight on January 22, our duty airport-services managers at Hong Kong airport were there to greet her and to apologise on behalf of the airline for the inconvenience caused to her. 'We also made service recovery arrangements for her, which were gladly accepted. We thank Ms Ravinder for her understanding and continued support of Cathay Pacific.'
