It is unfortunate that I have to write this email, but I have been left with no other option given the appalling treatment we received from Jetstar/Skycare in respect of our baggage. In short, because of stuff-ups one after another by Jetstar/Skycare, we have been without our bags for FIVE days now - that is, 1/3 of our short holiday in New Zealand.
We arrived in Auckland (from Singapore) at 9:50am on 5 February 2013 on flight XXXXX. Our checked-in luggage - all three pieces - never arrived. We were informed by Jetstar's baggage services that these bags were due to arrive in Auckland at midnight on 7 February on another flight, XXXXX , and that they would be couriered to us first thing in the morning "as a matter of priority". So we waited at our accommodation on 7 February, giving up on our plan to tour the city as we were anxious to receive the bags. But we never did.
After multiple calls to Jetstar baggage services asking for status and asking if the bags have been lost, the call centre staff told us "no", that they were awaiting confirmation from Skycare staff at Auckland Airport and that they would call us once they have an update. We were informed by the call centre that they sent a number of follow up messages to the Skycare staff at Auckland Airport, but did not have any response. When we pressed for more substantive details and timeframe, the call centre staff hung up on us. Twice.
By the evening of 8 February and having waited four days by that stage, we still had no news on the bags. Jetstar's call centre kept telling us they were waiting on your staff at the airport to respond. So, with our patience wearing thin, we drove 50 minutes to Auckland airport and waited outside Skycare's office until 9pm when the duty manager came back. The duty manager - who handles check-ins rather than baggage services - went inside to check for the bags. But when she came back, she said that there was no trace of the bags and that "Singapore airlines said that the bags didn't make it on the flight".
Left confused, and frustrated, we called up Jetstar's baggage services shortly after that. The call centre staff then said to us that they finally got a response from Auckland Airport, informing that the airport staff has not YET spoken to Singapore airlines about the bags since as they were closed for the evening. That's completely different to what your duty-manager had said when we were at the airport. But what does the call centre staff mean by YET?! The bags - if they were in Auckland - arrived nearly 48 hours ago by that stage. And given the multiple follow-up messages that the call centre claimed to have sent during that period, we were bewildered by the absence of communication between Skycare's airport staff and those of Singapore airline.
And I must pause at this point to note what your airport duty-manager said when I told her it took us 50 minutes to get to the airport with parking fees wasted. She said "we didn't ask you to come here". But we doubt it was a coincidence that your airport staff's first response to the call centre went through almost simultaneously with our physical presence outside your airport office. It's a shame that your airport staff only first attended to the matter BECAUSE we were at the office - at least, that's what appears to us to have been the case.
We've been without our spare change of clothes for five days now. It is also 9th February, Chinese New Years eve. We called up Jetstar again (we note that they haven't "updated" us as they said they would) and was informed that your Auckland airport staff have finally located the bags, which will be couriered to us. Apparently, the bags DID arrive on XXXXX on 7 February at midnight. So they were left sitting at Auckland Airport for two days. When we pressed for exact timing of delivery, the call centre said "today if you are in Auckland or tomorrow if not". Are we to wait god-knows-how-long in dim hope again, we asked. At our insistence, the call centre staff called your airport staff while we were on hold. She came back to say that the bags will definitely be couriered to us today and that she will let them know that we've requested for a call from your airport staff within the next hour on estimated timing. Obviously, your airport staff never rang. So here goes another day of waiting, unable to tour the city.
We did not sign up for this messing about by Jetstar, resulting in us having wasted a good five - and maybe even more - days that we could've spent visiting New Zealand. We would not have paid Jetstar for our checked-in baggage had we known we were going to be deprived of it for nearly 1/3 of our holiday. And as to the lack of communication and updates between your staff, and to us - we are left speechless.
You may not be able to do anything about this situation - we wouldn't be surprised since that's the general impression your staff gave us during this five day ordeal. But we do hope for adequate recognition of the consecutive errors made by Jetstart/Skycare. We also thought it best to bring this matter to your attention, in the vain hope that it would prevent the same appalling experience from occurring to another helpless Jetstar customer.