Note for would be international arriving visitors planning to use Flight Luggage. Here is my tale.
I have used Flight Luggage from ZRH to Zermatt perhaps 8 times in the past. One time previously the luggage was mysteriously a day late.
This time I had taken an inconvenient flight so that it would land in ZRH before 11am and be eligible for express same day delivery service.
Evidently ground staff mishandled the luggage because after I had already left ZRH (because with this service you never touch your bags) I got a notice from Delta that the bags were on Carousel 27 at ZRH. This was surprising since they normally are transferred in some unknown (to me) manner to SBB. From what I can tell talking to SwissPort at ZRH Arrivals 1, they went into unclaimed baggage eventually.
In the meantime I am calling SBB asking for help. Never mind the fact that the given numbers don’t work for overseas visitors because the .08CHFminute charges to call (unknown anywhere else in the world), SBB simply said they didnt have the bags and that I would have to contact SwissPort.
Now note, I have no relationship with SwissPort. I had a ticket with Delta and a ticket for flight luggage with SBB. Delta is not involved in flight luggage in anyway – SBB must have made an arrangement with ground staff at ZRH to have luggage with the green label routed differently than standard baggage claim, so in the end the only company that can complain about the misrouting is SBB.
I spend hours over the course of two days trying to chase down the bags. SwissPort’s website says they dont handle Delta luggage, so my information from SBB is wrong at the start. Still they try to help me and confirm that my bags are in unclaimed baggage (not in the custody of Customs for inspection, just unclaimed baggage before the customs barrier. Airprtr says they arent involved. DNata, the other company that seems to have operations in ZRH is unresponsive by phone or email despite an hour on hold. SBB takes no responsibility for following up.
Late on the following afternoon (I’ve now missed a day of skiing because of lack of bags and the time I’ve lost trying to find them), a person at SBB finally takes an active interest and investigates and then tells me they have no received the bags that are in transit but can’t tell me whether they have left ZRH or when they will arrive.
The next morning I call and I am told the bags have arrived the previous evening. At this point I am so jetlagged, sleep-deprived from the lost hours on the phone, and since I now have other obligations, I lose another day of skiing.
Finally, two days later I get a response to my complaint saying that because the bags werent received from customs unilt 11:30am the following day, it isnt their fault and there is no refund, not even of my 30CHF express fee not if I had rented skis of any equipment rental. THey also tell me that the bags arrived at 7:30pm, which is after the station is closed, so I couldnt have received them anyway.
Here are the failures of SBB:
1) Not taking responsibility for tracking down the status of the bags at ZRH that they knew because of my flight luggage order were arriving on that flight.
2) Not taking responsibility for tracking down the status after I called.
3) Giving me inaccurate information about who to call at the airport.
4) Not telling me when my bags were received
5) Not telling me when my bags arrived or would arrive.
5) Disclaiming responsibility for the handoff from Delta ground staff and SBB. Delta has no involvement once the bags leave the chain of custody from plane to baggage claim. If they were supposed to be diverted or picked up by SBB’s contracted partner at ZRH, that is not on Delta, that is on SBB and its partner. SBB is implying that the Swiss Customs caused the delay. There is no evidence this is so. SwissPort confirmed the bags were sitting in unclaimed baggage, not Customs inspection. A vendor saying they arent responsible is subpar customer service at best. Someone is always accountable in the chain. SBB is supposed to ensure that the green tag causes the bag to be pulled - if it is a contracted partner, then SBB is the chain of responsibility for supervising that partner. They don’t get to say, “sorry, our partner didnt do the job”. I have no standing to sue (not that I would spend the time) the partner for breach of contract, only SBB can.
My takeawys here are:
Don’t use Flight Luggage if you can’t live without your bags for two days.
Don’t count on SBB customer service.
Don’t use the service if you are arriving on Delta (because SwissPort won’t respond to missing baggage requests for Delta).
There is a different service, Airprtr that does something comparable but Zermatt is not an eligible delivery organization.
