Raw Deal: My lost weekend in Moscow with no luggage, clothes or flight home

GRANT FYFE was left seeing red on a break to Moscow when his luggage was mislaid and his plane ticket home was cancelled.

The structural engineer from Dunkeld, Perthshire, travelled to the Russian capital in early December as he wanted to view the city at its dazzling, winter wonderland best.

The outward flights from Edinburgh via Brussels went smoothly enough – but then his suitcase never showed up in freezing Moscow.

“It was minus 10 degrees and I was left with only the clothes I had travelled in,” he said. “All my winter gear was in my case.”

Grant said his luggage went missing during transfer to the connecting flight in Brussels.

“While seated on the plane I watched staff on the Tarmac pull my suitcase to the side, discuss it and then take it away,” he said.

“I informed one of the stewardesses about this and she checked and told me that it was okay. She said that it had only been moved to another compartment of the aircraft.”

However, when Grant arrived in Moscow he discovered his bag had not been loaded on to the plane in Belgium.

“I reported this to the airport’s lost baggage department and was told that my luggage should be with me by the following day and would be delivered to my hotel, which it wasn’t.

“At no point was I contacted by the airport or by Brussels Airlines to give me any kind of update on my baggage, which I felt was poor.”

Fearing his case would never turn up at all, Grant bought a new set of winter togs including a warm jacket and boots to cope with the sub-zero temperatures.

And because he had spent a full day at his hotel making phone calls while trying to locate his belongings, he missed out on visiting landmarks within Red Square and the Kremlin.

His luggage eventually showed up at the hotel on the final night of his three-day trip.

But Grant’s troubles were far from over.

When he tried to check in for his flight home he was told his reservation had been cancelled.

Then followed hours of toing and froing with airport staff who spoke little English, before he had to pay almost £550 for new flights back to Edinburgh via London on British Airways.

“I was told that records showed I had never boarded the flight from Brussels to Moscow, although I clearly had done so, and that the return part of my flight had to be cancelled for this reason.” Grant said he made numerous attempts to contact Brussels Airlines over several months to complain but had no joy.

In frustration, he wrote to Raw Deal and we contacted the airline on his behalf.

As a result, Brussels Airlines has refunded Grant £770 – £555 for his fares via London and £215 in compensation for his troubles.

The company wrote to him apologising for the mix-up and inconvenience and said they were “looking forward” to welcoming him on board one of their flights very soon.

“Raw Deal did a fantastic job in sorting this,” said Grant.

“It turned into a bit of a nightmare over in Moscow which was a shame because it is a spectacular place.

“I felt like I was getting nowhere with the airline when I got back.”