A US-based Guyanese who has visited his homeland with his family for the first time in 18 years says that he is leaving with a bitter taste in his mouth after his suitcase was lost at the airport.

Suitcase loss

Chabinauth Ghirdharie told Stabroek News he was very upset about the treatment he received from Travelspan and the Timehri Handling Services (THS) following the incident. The man said he arrived in Guyana on August 9 and instead of collecting nine pieces of luggage he only got eight. The next day a THS officer called to say that the suitcase was there and that he should travel to the airport to collect it. Ghirdharie said he arrived at the airport five minutes after the agreed time and was shocked to be told that a relative had collected the bag. He said the suitcase was booked in his son Ryan Ghirdharie's name and that he told the representative of the baggage handler that no one had been authorised to collect it.

The man said since then he had been back and forth between the airline and the baggage handling company and had not received any satisfactory answers. He had even met with representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce about the issue.

The man said the airline had offered him US$300 for the lost suitcase but he had refused to accept it as the contents were worth far more than this.

Travelspan Vice President of Marketing and Sales Nadine Thomassian told this newspaper that they had offered Ghirdharie US$300 as that was the sum printed on the ticket jacket for lost baggage. The woman said the airline brought the suitcase to Guyana and it was up to the handler to hand it over to the passenger. She further explained that the handler did not have physical possession of the bag as it was put through Customs for the required checks before being handed over to the passenger. Customs representatives, Thomassian said, do not make a note of the identity of the persons collecting the bag, neither do they ensure that the person collects the right bag, so it was more than likely that another passenger had collected the man's bag. She said all these scenarios had been put to Ghirdharie during meetings with him and the head of the handling service. She said the sum had then been offered to him.

Thomassian said they were very upset that Ghirdharie had not gotten his luggage but there was not much more they could do. She said the airline had even agreed to assist THS which was ultimately responsible, to help foot the bill, but the passenger did not want the money. The woman said Ghirdharie indicated that he wanted US$4,000, a sum she said would not be paid anywhere in the world for a lost suitcase. She also queried whether the man could prove that his suitcase contained items to that value. Thomassian reiterated that when a passenger bought a ticket they made an agreement to receive US$300 should a bag go missing.

Ghirdharie told this newspaper that he had a lot of expensive items in his suitcase, and because of the loss he had been forced to borrow clothing from his brother-in-law as well as buy some locally which had not given him the same "quality and satisfaction" as he would have had from that in his suitcase. He said his entire vacation had been ruined because of the incident.