It’s taken nearly eight months for a Christchurch man’s luggage to be returned to him after a cycling trip overseas went off track.
Roger Conroy’s UK holiday in August 2023 took a turn when he arrived in London to find his two checked items – which included his bicycle – weren’t there.
The 78-year-old had booked through Air New Zealand but flew into Heathrow Airport on a British Airways jet. He had packed his bike into a big cardboard box and other items, such as the bike’s pedals, basket and waterproof gear, into a smaller one.
When his two boxes didn’t show up, he approached the British Airways counter for help and was given a pamphlet with advice on what to do about missing or delayed baggage. The pamphlet said the airline returned “most bags within 72 hours” and that passengers could provide an address to have their bag delivered to.
Roger had three months of travel mapped out ahead of him and had paid for all his accommodation, so after those 72 hours, he was on the move.
“I said right, well I’ll give them four days notice because I’m going to York and they’ve got four days to deliver them,” he told Fair Go.
But his luggage didn’t turn up in York. Roger says this pattern continued throughout his travels despite giving British Airways plenty of warning about where his next stop would be.
In that time, Roger was supposed to be cycling between destinations, but his trip became a walking and public transport trip instead.
“The trouble with walking is that you go one kilometre every quarter of an hour and on a bike you go one kilometre in five minutes so you’re seeing a lot more scenery,” he says.
British Airway’s pamphlet also mentioned the ability to claim for essential items, so Roger recorded all of the trips he had to pay for which he would have been riding for free. He could also claim back the cost of renting sports equipment, but Roger was holding out hope that his bike and belongings were going to show up at the next address he had supplied to British Airways.
Roger says that one month into his trip he gave nearly two weeks’ notice that he’d be staying at a hostel on the Isle of Skye, and informed them of the latest date his luggage could be delivered there by. It didn’t show up.
Then in October 2023, while still in Scotland, he received an email that one of the two boxes was being sent back to Christchurch. Eventually Roger learned that this was the bigger box carrying his bicycle. It wasn’t until a week later that Roger learned the fate of his second smaller box – it had been sent to the hostel on the Isle of Skye. By then, it had been nearly three weeks since Roger was there and he had made his way back to England.
Roger arrived back in New Zealand in November 2023 and had kept a record of his extra travel expenses, which came to a total of $830. He also spent a further $382 to replace the parts in the second box in order to use his bike again. Despite this, British Airways wouldn’t compensate Roger and it wasn’t clear why. Customer service staff also didn’t acknowledge his second box, which was still stuck at the hostel in Scotland.
Roger says he was left with no choice, but to complain to Fair Go and that’s when the wheels started turning. After Fair Go contacted British Airways about Roger’s case, it prompted an investigation.
A spokesperson for the airline told the programme: “We’re sorry that our customer’s luggage was delayed. Our teams have been in touch with them to apologise and offer a gesture of goodwill.”
British Airways explained flight delays caused Roger’s luggage to “misconnect” and because he was moving around the UK, redelivery was “difficult”. It agreed to fully compensate Roger for his extra costs and offered a travel voucher worth around NZ$1000.
Finally, in March 2024, just a week after Fair Go contacted British Airways, Roger’s second box arrived back in Christchurch.
“From my point of view, I’ve had a 100% result,” says Roger.
“I’ve got my box back, I’ve got a promise that they’ll reimburse my costs. It’s really really good, it’s extraordinarily good.”