A woman claims to have been shortchanged almost $12,000 by Qantas after the airline lost her bag full of designer items.
Golnaz Bassam-Tabar was travelling with her partner from Melbourne to Auckland with the airline for a weekend in April.
The publicist and kick-boxer said she did not buy travel insurance for the flight because she didn’t book her own flights.
New Zealand woman Golnaz Bassam-Tabar says Qantas lost her bag with $14,000 worth of belongings in it
She claims to have been shortchanged almost $12,000 by Qantas after the airline lost her bag full of designer items
After the plane touched down at home she was left waiting at the carousel for her bag – containing $14,000 worth of belongings – to arrive.
‘I had a expensive designer stuff in my bag like Versace bracelet worth $1,200, Louis Vuitton scarf worth about $1,500 and a omega watch,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
The watch alone was worth $7,000, a sentimental item that Ms Bassam-Tabar said she had since she was 20.
The airline could not tell her what happened to the bag and Ms Bassam-Tabar says that she has contacted them almost every day since it was lost.
‘Qantas completely lost the bag and cannot explain where it is. It’s been two months of nearly contacting them every day to get an answer and compensation.’
To add insult to injury the compensation they offered was far below the full cost of her belongings.
The boxer claims she has lost almost $12,000 form the airline who only compensated her a fraction of the price
‘They compensated me with $2,300 after i gave them a list of content lost, with proof of purchase.’
Under the Montreal Convention, an international agreement on air carriage, the airliners can cap compensation at that limit.
Bassam-Tabar said she was told by a lawyer that she should have told the check-in staff that the bag was valuable and needed to be protected.
But her message for other customers is clear.
‘Don’t fly Qantas and ensure you always tell the representative at the counter you have valuables in your bag, they are then obliged to ensure it arrives safely once a declaration has been made.’
A Qantas spokeswoman said they were looking into the matter.
She was travelling form Melbourne to Auckland when the bag was lost and says she didn’t get travel insurance because she did not book her flights