Lost bags in Manilla....any advice or insight?

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DiverGirl1972

Contributor
Messages
397
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235
Location
South Central, PA
# of dives
200 - 499
Arrived into Dumaguete yesterday afternoon after a brutal 46 hours of travel and not one of our 5 checked bags arrived with us. We have no gear, few clean clothes and very little hope the situation is going to change anytime soon.

We stopped briefly at a shopping center on our way to Mike's Dauin Beach Resort to pick up a few articles of clothing, but weren't very successful. We're not obese people, but we definitely aren't the like the petite Filipinos that these stores cater to.

I talked to Philippine Airlines in Manila this morning and there clearly wasn't a sense of urgency as far as tracing our luggage..."maybe we'll track it down tomorrow, ma'am" was her parting comment.

This trip is 7 months in the making and this is frustrating as I'm sure you can imagine. We're going to head back into Dumaguete shortly in hopes of at least finding bathing suits and some undergarments. Anyone familiar with this area who might know where we might be successful? Also, has anyone else been in this predicament with Philippine Airlines and know what our odds are of getting our bags in the next couple of days? Seems like there is one speed here and it isn't fast...

Thanks in advance!
 
"It's more fun in the Philippines"

Welcome to the land where the consumer has no rights, customer service is abysmal and endless patience in adversity (or the face of incompetence) is an expected response.

Keep smiling, stay polite and always treat customer service agents as though they're doing you a personal favor (not just their job). Express gratitude whatever they may say or do (or not say and not do). Remember, if you get angry, you'll get nothing from them at all. Abandon all hope of 'western' standards of customer care... or any empathy for your plight. Grit your teeth and force a smile on your face... that's how it is here.

A tale of a lost Philippine Airlines luggage

Firm offers to trace lost airline luggage

Philippine Airlines Complaints & Reviews - Lost baggage

The Lost Philippine Airlines Luggage

What Happens If Someone Takes/Steals Your Suitcase on a PAL Domestic Flight???
 
Welcome to the Philippines and sorry for the bad experience. Good advice from DevonDiver. You might want to try the 2nd hand clothing stores or "ukay-ukay" which mostly sells clothes from the US. Just have them laundered before using them :). Good luck!
 
Thank you for the responses. I work for a major hotel company and understand that sugar will catch more flies than vinegar. We've been very gracious and kind to all representatives we've spoken to (even though we just want to scream! Lol) in the hopes that will help our situation. It seems like we're doing everything we can.

Were heading out shortly and have put the used clothing store on our list of stops. I appreciate the help!
 
In my experience with various travelers here it can vary hugely from case to case. Some people get their bags back the day they leave, a week after arrival. Others have bags show up in 24hrs. Have they told you they know where the bags are?
 
In general PAL is usually pretty good at solving things. Assuming that you arrived from US on PAL your bags probably didn't make the connection from Intl t domestic. If you didnt arrive from US on PAL that's definitely the problem.

[h=2]Baggage Tracing Services[/h]Mezzanine Level, South Wing
NAIA Centennial Terminal 2
Old Mia Road, Pasay City 1300
Tel : (632) 851-3011; 832-2939
Fax : (632) 879-6028
e-mail : baggage_tracing@pal.com.ph
 
Meant to post a quick update, but we've been diving :D The day after we arrived, we went to the clothing surplus store and bought a few shorts and t-shirts and then managed to get some bathing suits. The owner of Mike's Beach Resort offered to provide us with gear at no charge so we were able to go out on Sunday and do two dives at Sumilon Island as well as snorkel with the whale sharks in Cebu - awesome!!

The next day after getting back from 3 dives in Dauin, Mike told us that our bags had supposedly arrived into Dumaguete, but that the airport closed in 15 mins. Mike called the supervisor at Philippine Airlines and was able to get them to release the bags to one of his drivers. We had them within an hour!

When they arrived,they had stickers on them that said "rush to Manila", so the mix up likely happened in Toronto. Not sure if it was PA or Air Canada but in the end, it all worked out.

Having a great trip now and will post a review of our trip when we get home. Mike's team spent hours on the phone trying to locate the luggage on our behalf. I couldn't be more thankful!
 
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