Reader's issues raised with organisations

Stolen goods

We had travelled with British Airways from Houston, United States, to Dubai via London on May 30. Our baggage was mishandled and never made it to Dubai on our flight and we had to wait for three days to receive our delayed bags from British Airways. However, upon inspection, we found our baggage had been tampered with and contents stolen.

The stolen goods included cosmetics, two camera lenses and a keyboard for the iPad.

While British Airways has acknowledged that they have stolen from us, they are refusing to compensate for the higher value items — the iPad keyboard and the lenses. We believe that British Airways and its agents are responsible for the loss of items.

Further, we raise serious doubts about the safety of flying with them. If it is really that simple for their staff to pick an item of their choice from our baggage and walk out of a secure airport, then why is it that we, as passengers, are always treated as potential terrorists and have to walk through privacy-invading body scanners?

What if their agents replaced our items with more malicious goods, would we still have been responsible for it? Of course not. We believe that British Airways is being racist about the compensation.

We would like to give a final warning and opportunity to them to settle their liabilities to us or else they will face a class action lawsuit in UK courts for criminal misconduct and deliberate breach of passenger safety on behalf of us.

Since the airline did not inform the passenger at the time of checking in that lenses should not be placed in the baggage, their liability remains.

We believe our claims are genuine. I hope Gulf News can help us solve this issue.

 From Mr Suryanarayana Murthy Akella Sharjah

The management of British Airways responds:

We would like sincerely apologise to Mr Akella for any inconvenience caused. At British Airways we take all customer complaints seriously.

The matter is currently being investigated and we will be in touch with the customer directly. We are unable to discuss passenger disputes publicly.

Whilst we will make every attempt to ensure our customers' baggage is handled with care, passengers should know that British Airways' liability for loss, delay or damage to baggage is limited unless a higher value is declared in advance and additional charges paid.

Passengers are advised to keep valuables, important documents and money either on their person or in their hand baggage.

Mr Akella responds:

Thanks for your [Gulf News] support. British Airways agreed to compensate in full for the lost items.

Weak signal

I am a resident of an apartment in Oud Metha, Dubai. We have lodged several complaints to our building owner [over] weak etisalat signals within the apartment.

The signals are received only in the main living room, one corner of the bedroom or [on] the balcony.

Our owner has confirmed that he has sent written requests and several follow-ups to etisalat to fix the signal boosters on the building.

Etisalat has so far not responded or complied with the request. The result is that we have to suffer the indifferent attitude of the service provider.

My wife and I are both professionals and need to stay connected at all times in the course of our professional lives. Without mobile signals, it becomes highly inconvenient and irritating for us to rush to the balcony, every time the mobile [phone] rings.

We would request etisalat to look into this complaint.

 From Mr K. Swaminathan, Dubai

The management of etisalat responds:

Kindly be informed that Mr Swaminathan has been contacted and informed that for mobile coverage issues, he should contact [the] following toll free number: 800111050. This number is assigned for these type of complaints so that data required can be provided by customer.

The customer received a SMS regarding [his] complaint registration and his complaint will be followed up by the concerned department.

Mr Swaminathan responds:

I have since been contacted by etisalat and a complaint number was assigned. Etisalat has promised to [assign] their technical team to assess and give a report on my complaint and hopefully a satisfactory resolution to the issue.

I take this opportunity to thank Gulf News for their initiative in kick-starting etisalat's response.

Mr Swaminathan updates:

Although a complaint number has been assigned, so far no representative from etisalat has visited my residence.

Restricted downloads

I have two issues yet to be resolved, the first from May 2 and the second from March 30.

The first is about residence broadband — I can't download from well known websites since May 2.

Du has failed to respond so many times that I have [eventually] lost count. The original ticket [of complaint] was closed by them as I did not respond, which is totally false.

I have three working du numbers all with voicemail and none were left. I received excuses every time I contacted them.

They called me during business hours to see if I was home. I found a lack of basic knowledge, no escalation in procedures and the list goes on.

The second is about online payment — I can't pay my bills online since March 30. I can't pay my BlackBerry bill online or manage my account. It's total chaos.

When I physically went to go pay, I had to wait for the agent behind the counter to finish her selling pitch to potential clients. I then had to go to a different agent to pay for my du BlackBerry service.

From Mr Serjios El Hage Dubai

The management of du responds:

In response to Mr El Hage's complaint over his residence broadband connection, we would like to confirm that following a thorough investigation, the issue has been entirely resolved.

Our technical team has replaced a cable in order to enhance the quality of Mr El Hage's internet downloading facilities and we do hope he is not experiencing any further problems.

We regret any inconvenience caused and would like to thank Mr El Hage and Gulf News for drawing this matter to du's attention.

Mr El Hage responds:

Not acceptable. The issues are still pending with them. Inconvenience is not the issue rather it is the incompetence and lack of coordination and knowledge.

Moreover, I shouldn't have to pay for the service which I haven't received since May 2.

Also, I still cannot download site updates and no one bothered to come to my home while I was present to replace a cable.