Complaint Rating:

I was travelling from New York-JFK to Chennai via Dubai, with 2 checked-in's and one carry-on on Dec 27, 2008. At Dubai (there the date was Dec 29, 2008), the crew asked me to hand over the carry-on and collect it when I board off at Chennai. The crew said there was no space, but they did not even try to see whether the carry-on could be put into over cabin. Moreover, it was a regular sized pullman with allowed dimensions for carry-on. In there, I had a laptop and some clothes. The crew tied a tag to it and handed the half of the tag for identification. I was under impression that the the pullman would be kept in some closet within the cabin, and would be kept at the exit when I borad off. For a disappointment, I did not see any of the baggages outside nor my pullman when I exited. I asked about my pullman, and I was told that it was checked-in and I would collect at baggage claim. I collected my pullman along with my other check-in luggages and went home. When I opened my pullman, I did not see my laptop. But, the power cord for the laptop was still there. I rushed back to the airport. I was back at the Emirates airport office within 2 hours. I told them that the laptop was missing, showed them the power cord too, and explained them it was a carry-on, and I was asked to handover to the crew before boarding at Dubai. I was asked to write a complaint, which I did. I was told that I would be contacted in 2 weeks. But no, they did not contact me. I had called them after 2 weeks to see the status of the claim. They did not have an answer, but said, a letter will be sent in next 5 days, they seemed polite, and it seemed like someone else, not these folks who talked over the phone, was looking into the claim. The days passed, no letters, no call. I called them up again, they again said they were sorry for the delay, the claim was still being looked at, and I would be notified in 5 days. I told them that it was my laptop and i need some action, some responsibility shown. They said, this time surely I would get the letter in next 5 days. But nothing again. I called them today (Jan 29, 2009), they said, it was my mistake to bring valuables in checked-in luggage. Come on, I did not check-in the pullman that had laptop in it, but you, Emirates, did. How could I be responsible for that action? What you, Emirates, did, resulted loss of my laptop which is worth USD 900. But they kept denying they could not do anything about it. It was a very bad experience, and it was the first time I flew Emirates. The days to come are going to be very tough for me to digest this.