Vanda gets airline row off her chest

11:03am Friday 25th July 2008

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An airline has been battered for the second time in two weeks.

Fish and chip shop owner Vanda Bardgett is naming and shaming Jet2 as she serves customers at her chippie, in South Street, Keighley.

The T-shirt she wears behind the counter asks "Jet2.com where is my bag?"

And the reason? Because she has not seen her luggage ever since landing at Leeds-Bradford Airport from her holiday in Alicante on May 14.

"And I'm planning to get other T-shirts for the staff and we will wear them till I get my bag back," she pledged.

After umpteen telephone calls and a registered letter to the company, her precious cargo - it contains cigarettes for her sister which cost £400 - has still not been located.

It is the second time the Leeds-Bradford based company has been criticised for misplacing luggage in two weeks.

Journalist Richard Sutcliffe, of Riddlesden, and his friend Mark Wind, 35, waited 11 days for their bag to be returned from Palma, Majorca, where they had been on a stag party.

Mr Sutcliffe had to dash out and buy a complete new wardrobe for his honeymoon because the luggage had not arrived back home in time.

Mrs Bardgett said she alerted the company when her luggage failed to arrive with her from Alicante and she later telephoned to ask when she would get it back.

"But I was later told that they stop looking after ten days and that I would have to contact a call centre," she said. "They told me that I had to keep ringing over the next 21 days and then, if it still hadn't been found, write to Jet2 saying it was irretrievably lost.

"I did that and sent a registered letter. That was on June 13. I've had no reply by letter or telephone from Jet2 - nothing." As well as her clothing, the luggage contained a camcorder and 3,000 cigarettes.

"I'm a good Jet2 customer. I go away with them again on August 24, to Spain, to see my relatives and I'm flying with them to Paris later in the year.

"In March, I used Jet2 to fly to Germany. I can do four flights a year with them," said 37-year-old Mrs Bardgett.

Six days after being contacted by the media, Mrs Bardgett finally received a letter from Jet2 which stated: "On behalf of Jet2 we apologise that your luggage has gone astray and rest assured we are making inquiries on its whereabouts.

"As soon as we receive any positive information in relation to your missing baggage we will let you know straightaway and continue to look for 100 days of being lost."

But the letter further warns that in "the unlikely event" of it not being found, payment would be limited.

And the letter advises Mrs Bardgett that it would be better for her to pursue a claim for compensation through her travel insurer.