I’ve concluded that airlines make handling lost bags so complicated that travelers give up and don’t process the claims for refunds. I am sitting here in 90% humidity, sweating from head to toe, and more frustrated than I’ve ever been trying to get results.
We had trouble with Ethiopian Air in the past when they canceled our flight and wouldn’t refund us. I won’t get into that story again, but it was a fiasco of endless phone calls and email messages without callbacks and no response. Finally, we reached out to our credit card company for a resolution, and they ultimately helped and got our money back. It looks as if we may have to go that route once again.
Fortunately, if we can produce receipts for each item in the bag, we may be able to be compensated for the lost items through our credit card on which we booked the flights using accumulated points. What a shame we’ve lost the points and the bags.
Yes, in the realm of things, it’s only “stuff” that we’ve learned over the years is of little importance, compared to health and well-being. But we’ve also learned that “time” is of the utmost importance as we age. Spending weeks searching online for receipts for clothing, shoes, and toiletry purchases will occupy a lot of time that we can never recover.
We’d rather have the bags back than any arbitrary amount we may be awarded for filing such a claim after doing all the work. Also, what if the bags are found during the period after we’ve done all the work and submitted the claim? I am asking our credit card company this question to see if they’d want us to invalidate the claim if the bags are returned to us by some miracle.
Right now, after spending no less than two hours on hold this morning, waiting for a callback, for the second morning in a row, from Ethiopian Air who promised to call back yesterday and never did and now made the same promise again that I will be hearing from them by noon, our time, which is 13 minutes from now. I am not hopeful we’ll receive the call.
Unfortunately, I had to use my Google Fi calling app to make these calls. The South Africa SIM card we have in an extra phone won’t let us stay on hold for an hour or more. The call cuts off within five or ten minutes, dropping the call. I gave up on using that phone days ago. Instead, we’re paying US $.20 per minute, ZAR 3.45 for each of these seemingly pointless calls.
Thank goodness for this blissful morning, albeit it was hot and humid when several animals stopped by. I hadn’t seen Norman, Nina, and their offspring since last week, but Tom welcomed them this morning while I was showering. I ended up giving “Norman’s lunch” to Tulip and Lilac this morning. Who knows when Norman will return with so much activity from tourists in the bush? It’s wild right now.
Our Christmas plans are set, simple, and easy. Tom’s 70th birthday is on Friday, which we’ll celebrate with Louise and Danie on Friday night at Jabula. No gifts. No hoopla. Food, drinks, and great conversation. On Christmas Eve, we’ll return to Jabula for an early dinner and then go back home to watch a movie on the external hard drive. The WiFi isn’t working at night enabling us to stream any shows due to the number of visitors using the WiFi in the bush.
Tech Connect says they’re having issues due to load shedding. Hmm…could easily be a problem with no power for eight to eleven hours a day. There’s not a whole lot they can do. If this doesn’t improve after the holidaymakers leave, we may have to look into some other WiFi options since streaming is an enjoyable part of our evenings after we retire for the night.
Ah, look at me whining! We always promised to tell it like it is, didn’t we? We’re certainly doing that right now. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t have smiles on our faces during the holiday season and other times and are grateful for what we have, for each other, for the beautiful animals, and of course, for our amazing friends in the bush.
Nine giraffes stopped by this morning. What is there to complain about?
Happy Day.
Photo from one year ago today, December 20, 2021:
