VS Ground Crew Complaint?

Hi all
Just wanted a bit of advice from you all.

Our last 5 flights in UC (all 2010 and all as Au) have been either mediocre or fairly poor other than our last return flight at the weekend which was really good (thanks to a fantastic FSM and email about to wing its way to VS about her).

Anyway, our outbound flight was on Fri 7th May (VS5) and we were delayed departing due to new flight plans with having to go around the ash cloud and then a further delay due to 10.5 hour flight time with the diversion. We were booked on one ticket with a connecting flight with Mexicana to Cancun and we knew once boarded and before take off that there was no way we were going to make that connection.

The crew were good and radioed ahead to advise ground crew who were, as advised, waiting for us and some other passengers with similar issues.

We were advised that we had missed the Mexicana flight but they had re-booked us onto the last flight of the day with AA and we were advised to go and collect our bags. We protested as our bags were checked through to CUN and were certain they would not be off-loaded for collection but he assured us that they had been off-loaded and we would need to collect and re-check them. He told us that once we had collected the bags we were to leave the terminal and go around to the AA section of the airport and he would meet us there to sort out the paperwork for the AA flight as he had another passenger he needed to escort through first to ensure that she would make her flight which had not yet departed.

You can guess what happened next - after over an hour at baggage reclaim and no bags. A staff member pointed us to a member of the VS ground baggage crew and he confirmed that our bags were in transit bags and would not be coming off, despite the missed connection and previous instruction from VS ground crew, and he had no idea what would have happened to them - he, as with most other staff we encountered at MIA, was less than helpful.

So off we trotted to find where AA was. Having never been to this section of the airport before we had no idea how big it was and there was simply no way we were going to be able to find the ground crew VS member that said he would meet us there.

By this time we only had just over one hour before this last flight of the day departed so we were starting to get pretty stressed. We spoke to umpteen members of airport staff and nobody could help us - we had no AA paperwork or anything from VS and therefore could not get anyone from AA to deal with us. Finally a very surly lady at the head of the AA check in told us our only option would be to queue at the (very long) check in line as they may be willing speak to us but she doubted they would be able to do anything in the absence of any paperwork.

So I queued and sent Mr S off with instructions to hold someone hostage until they agreed to contact someone from VS staff/ground crew to come over and meet us at AA to sort this out.

Fortunately, he lucked out and found a wonderful lady from the airport who really bent over backwards for us and took us to an AA desk and got a member of their staff to come over and sit with us all whilst we sorted it out.

Long story short was it seemed that VS had reserved some seats for us but they were not released/finalised which meant they were not visible on their system and it took some jiggery-pokery to get this sorted which they finally did and the lady at the airport kindly said she would sort out the issue of payment etc for us directly with VS after we had gone.

We also asked her to check on our bags and it seems that VS had also not advised MX that we were not taking the flight and our bags were still over in the MX area so she had to organise some AA staff to go over to MX and locate the bags to get them on board for us.

At last we were sorted and through but we only got airside with 5 mins to spare before boarding commenced so it had been pretty tight.

She did sort the bags and we were amazed when they duly arrived at CUN as we did expect the worst (particularly after a total of 23 hrs travelling door to door!).

Fortunately whilst away I did have the presence of mind to check on our return flights and, as VS had not advised MX of our delay and re-booking etc, they had cancelled our inbound flight too which I then had to sort out.

My Qs are what would you have done in this situation - should I have rung gold card line/premium VS line for help i.e. could we have sorted this quicker ourselves this route instead of running around MIA looking for help? Or (as this is a regular route for us until they start to fly direct) where would we go at MIA to find any VS staff?

Secondly, do I have a valid complaint to VS for the way we were badly advised by the ground crew and then left to sort this out with no paperwork etc and consequently nearly missed the last flight of the day and if so, who should I address the complaint to?

And finally, was it VS’s responsibility to advise MX ref our delay and missed connection and sort the bags out between AA and MX and was it their responsibility to ensure our inbounds were not cancelled as they were or would this always be our responsibility to sort out?

I am not interested in any sort of comp - just want to ensure that this does not happen again and that, if it does, we are better equipped to know the best way to deal with such issues.

Many thanks

Dunno if its just me - but when in transit via US to anywhere, inside or outside US, departing from UK, I always have had to check my bags on US entrance, go past customs, get bags x-rayed, then put on on another conveyor beyond that.. I have not transited via MIA though...

So I think the advice given by first operative to collect bags is very consistent of my experience of US airports when transiting US...

I do wonder about the rest though, poor show from VS of not having an operative to sort you out imho.... I was considering flying this route next year for a holiday, so will hope the direct service is in place before then.

I would put this complaint into VS, and let us know response.

I generally always try and avoid interlining where I can, and try to complete the trip on a single airline where possible, or if I can't, then I'll use co-operating airlines (e.g. end-to-end Star Alliance), as their e-ticket databases, baggage and check-in systems are harmonised and/or interworked.

While it may not completely eliminate these sorts of issues, it can often make them a smoother, less fraught, experience.

It's also slightly harder for co-operating airlines from the same alliance to bounce you around, shrug and fingerpoint.

Mike

Yes they always insist that you collect your bags and do customs in the US even if you are only in transit.

This applies even if your bags have been 'checked through' to your final destination (whether in or out of teh US).

I think that us 'normal' people and the 'airline' people have a different interpretation what 'checked through' means and its not alwats obvious.

VS have an interlining agreement with MX/AA from MIA to CUN. In 6 flights on this route thus far, our bags have always gone stright through without the need for collection hence why we protested so much when told we had to claim them.

I don't think this experience has put us off doing this route again - after all, there are no scheduled direct services to CUN anyway (until VS start in 2011) and to be fair to VS, it really was only the ground agent who messed everything up for us and left us high and dry.