Complain about a product or service

Iberia

Deanna of New York NY (04/14/06)
5 days without my bags in Barcelona: I arrived at BCN on April 1 with my partner. The board indicated that we should go to baggage claim C, but we couldn't find because it didn't exist. So, we went to the Iberia lost baggage counter to find ALL of our fellow passengers. There, we heard that our luggage never made it onto the flight because of "belts not working" at the Madrid airport (our connecting stop).

We completed a claim form and when asked for a phone number that they could contact me at to schedule delivery of my baggage, I attempted to give them my international cell phone number. They said they would not call long distance and it had to be local. Even though they lost my luggage, they wouldn't make the call. Since i was renting an apartment (not going to a hotel), I called to ask for the apartment rental contact person's cell number. Then, we were told to call the number on the claim form to check on the status of the baggage, however only twice in five days did I actually reach someone after numerous calls.

On the fifth day, I was at the airport where I missed a flight to Mallorca on Iberia (see below), so I went to baggage claim to look for my luggage myself. There, the agent told me that the belts in MAD had not been working for a week and all of those bags were backed up and being randomly shipped to BCN. They were not logged before being shipped from MAD, but rather just shipped in bulk to BCN where they were being checked by hand at Iberia's warehouse to be matched with their missing person via a claim form.

They still had no record of my bags and sent me across the street to the warehouse in case they had arrived and not been logged. There, a woman told me to go look for my bags myself in the storage room. I found them! On my way out the woman took a portion of my claim ticket and threw it on the table. They didn't even check the tags to confirm that I picked the right luggage up. Additionally, everyone I spoke to at baggage claim and on the phone were very flip about the entire situation. It was like customer service didn't exist at all at Iberia. I will never fly them again.

Over 100 euro in international cell phone calls (I had no phone in the apartment I was renting) and about 300 in clothing and necessity expenses. More importantly, I lost 5 days of vacation time due to having to stay close to the neighborhood waiting for arrival of bags, since I had to be available for whenever the delivery person would arrive. Since I rented an apartment, I didn't have the luxury of a concierge to receive packages. I was so stressed over the constant waiting that on the 5th day I was delirious and missed a morning day-trip flight to Mallorca on Iberia (arrived 15-20 minutes prior to departure and wasn't allowed to check in, even though I had no bags to check). They wouldn't let me standby for next flight, but instead asked me to pay an additional 180-440 euro for each person (2) depending on which next departure time I would choose. We didn't incur the additional expense and sacrificed the 145euro paid for the original tickets.

Chan of Hong Kong, OTHER April 10, 2006

Chan of Hong Kong (04/10/06)
A first hand experience with Iberia Airline IBERIA is the worst airline in handling luggage. The recent survey of it having the highest baggage lost in comparison with all the European airlines tells the truth. I have lost my baggage two times in six weeks traveling between Cuba, Madrid and Hong Kong with Iberia. Besides the fact that it was incompetent in handling baggage, it has the worst communication capacity between its clients and the company.

An obvious case is the fact that they have a representative in the Havana airport to look after the arrival flights but they would not let you have his telephone number in case you want immediate assistance or follow up support. Of course in this way, you are not able to demand door to door delivery service after the bag is found. In my case, because of their lack of communication capacity or to be honest they do not care to communicate with their clients when they need emergency support from the airline, I was not able to get back my luggage after almost four weeks of it being lost.

Robin of Naples, FL April 6, 2006

Robin of Naples FL (04/06/06)
Flight from Madrid to Miami 4/3 flight#6123 was abruptly changed to 6523 Madrid to San Juan. Our entire flight was abandoned in San Juan at 3:30pm was not given a hotel room until 1:30am and then had to return to the airport by 7am for an American Airlines flight to Miami. Our luggage was lost and has not been found.

We had our most valuable collection of clothes, souviners, camera and more in this extra large piece of luggage that will never be recovered. Everyone at Iberia was rude and not helpful. They treated all of us very badly on the flight where they dumped us in San Juan. The entire group of 200+ passengers have equal complaints. I got sick and they were less than helpful. I have had to return to work without any of my business clothes or shoes. I have no money to shop with.  I was not the only one mistreated and had luggage stolen or lost.

Nicole of San Rafael, CA April 6, 2006

Nicole of San Rafael CA (04/06/06)
On March 27, 2006, I flew Iberia (flight 6252) to Madrid. My baggage didn't show up for 4 days. I had to buy new clothes while waiting for my luggage. I have been trying to reach Iberia to ascertain their "mishandled luggage" policy for a week, and have not been able to reach anyone who can give me any information regarding compensation for lost/late luggage. Their "lost luggage" phone number is a dead line and cuts me off. Their customer service department says they can't provide me with any information.

Aside from the inconvenience and general annoyance, I incurred over 100.00 charges in new clothes and phone calls made to Iberia from my hotels in Madrid trying to resolve this issue. Since I returned to the states, I have wasted 2 full days trying to contact someone at their above phone number to no avail.

David of Glencoe, IL March 5, 2006

David of Glencoe IL (03/05/06)
1. Flight 6274 arrived late. Ground staff took 20 minutes to Open Gate (first day at Terminal 4 is not an excuse for basics)
2. No one waited to assist in reaching connecting flight. IB 6999 to RLV arrived 5 before departure.
3. I was nor allowed to board because I was not at gate 20 minutes to departure (IB staff wants to be accommodated by customer due to new terminal, IB staff forgets to accommodate customers
4. I am denied boarding and take El-Al instead. 6 hours delay and not a single phone to call Israel and alert business partners
5. The fact that I am Emerald on the One alliance and travel 200,000 miles per year means nothing
6. Arrived to Israel with El Al with No Luggage. It too one week for it to arrive in Israel. By the time it got to Israel I was in Chicago
7. IB flight 7510 departs an hour late. Suddenly we find out that both WC in Economy are broken (I understand one but 2?) the flight is one long line of people waiting for the Business Class WC
8. Despite late arrival I run to make the IB6275 I arrive 5 minutes before departure but again I am told that I should have been there 20 minutes before (this type of policy I had never seen in my life)
9. After a fight with customer service they send me to Chicago via BA and AA The agent takes 35 minutes to issue the new ticket as most printer don't work
10. I fly to LHR - at a gate an AA agent waits for me and 3 other passenger heading to ORD. He drives us through the airport from T4 to T3 and our flight!

Cristina of Union City, NJ July 11, 2003

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |