Flew Virgin Bus Class last November from Nadi to Melbourne but luggage did not appear, and now they concede it is lost. As such we have put in an itemised claim with stat. dec. They are now saying we have to provide receipts for the entire claim. This is clearly unreasonable as no one would have receipts for everything in their luggage (even if they did they just fade over time). Anyway just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and what the best course of action would be to progress things. You cannot ring their claims department they just reply by email or claim they call but they don’t? Thanks
Hi @cath.melb,
So sorry to hear of your woes. That really is THE worst thing when travelling. It certainly sounds like an unfair request to have proof of purchase for all the sorts of items one would have in their suitcase when travelling. Maybe Virgin is hoping you’ll just give up and go away?
Do you have travel insurance? If so, claiming on that would be an option, depending on the policy and fine print etc… There would no doubt be an excess to pay as well which likely adds insult to injury a bit. I guess though, that taking out insurance is meant to cover us for exactly these sorts of things. Having said that though, generally insurance is not about “making you whole” again, rather providing some arbitrary token amounts for certain events occurring during your trip. Loss of luggage would be one of those.
Personally, I would try and escalate your claim with the airline directly, if not done already. Airlines have specific processes to lodge disputes and complaints that are separate to the interaction you would have initiated at the airport when left bagless at the carousel. Sometimes they will minimise the impact experienced by a loss of luggage event on the last leg of a trip, because you are back home and have full access to the remainder of your clothes, personal items etc… (I’m not suggesting Virgin is necessarily doing this in this case) which is just plain rude (no pun intended!). Anyway, this would be your starting point if you’ve not done so already:
The good thing about lodging a formal complaint through the airline channels is that it gets you a reference number that helps with the next step you can take… lodge a formal complaint with the Department of Consumer Protection in your state. I’m assuming from your post that you’re in Melbourne, so that would be Consumer Affairs Victoria:
This is a more appropriate option to take for a problem with an airline than lodging a case with the ACCC (Contact us or report an issue | ACCC) as they don’t deal with specific personal complaints.
Your consumer protection case will be allocated to a case manager who will liaise between yourself and the company in question. They will have their own steps to manage the complaint and work through any offers of resolution. If a stalemate is reached, they can help you take the complaint further, which may include taking action in the Magistrates Court of your state or with the State Administrative Tribunal (or equivalent).
From personal experience, I’ve found that not giving up early is helpful. Persistence can be frustrating for both parties in the mediation, however sometimes it may be prudent to accept a compensation offer that may be slightly less than what you are seeking - if offered by the company. It all depends on your tolerance level for dragging things out, the value of the items in the dispute, and I guess your own personal factors when deciding how far to push the dispute. I’ve heard it said that if both parties are not quite 100% happy with a proposed resolution, it’s probably not a bad one!
If you do reach an agreement or a resolution that doesn’t make you fully whole again, you can always lodge a claim with your travel insurance and negotiate a partial claim for the remainder of your loss. They will sometimes work with you in situations like this and of course are always going to be happy to pay out less on your policy than the full amount if you’ve already received partial compensation directly from the airline.
I hope this info helps and I hope you can reach an acceptable outcome.
Best of luck! 
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Thanks so much for your excellent suggestions. I appreciate the time you have take to respond.