TAP Air Portugal - Poor Client Service

I want to complain about the poor service I received from TAP Air Portugal. My wife and I and our two little girls, aged 6 and 8, booked flights for 23 June 2022 from Johannesburg via Luanda to Lisbon with TAAG and from Lisbon to Funchal with TAP, to return to South Africa on 9 July 2022. We did it like this to save costs to be able to visit my parents who last saw the children when they were born.

Our flight number: DT 578 to DT650 to TP 1697 And ticket numbers: 118212046269101 to 118212046269102 to 0472173880105 118212046269201 to 118212046269202 to 0472173880104 118212046269301 to 118212046269302 to 0472173880107 118212046269401 to 118212046269402 to 0472173880106

In Johannesburg we asked that our luggage be sent directly to Funchal, and they said it was no problem. When we landed in Funchal on 24 July 2022 our luggage was gone or lost. They couldn’t tell us where it was. Cargo control informed us that we will be informed as soon as it was found. They said that any expenses we incurred to replace the clothes would be refunded on the provision that we keep all the purchase evidence. We had to spend $50 per person per day to replace clothes. Our luggage was delivered to us three days later, on the evening of 26 July 2022.

We thought our problems were over.

At the airport on 9 July 2022 on our way back to South Africa, I again asked that our luggage be sent directly to Johannesburg. They informed us that it cannot be done, because it is a different booking and a different airline. We had to collect our luggage in Lisbon and book it in again. We were unhappy about this, but our booking was done with enough time between flights to be able to do this.

Our flight from Funchal to Lisbon was supposed to depart at 19:25 and land in Lisbon at 21:00, but it was delayed. The plane was not even in Funchal when we were due to leave at 19:25! We didn’t land in Lisbon until 22:00, where we first had to collect our luggage and then check it in again for the next flight. When we finally had our luggage, the boarding gates for our next flight were already closed. The lady at the TAAG office said the plane was still there, but there was no way that we were going to be allowed to board, because the gates were already closed. We were told that we had to buy new tickets and wait for the next flight. After a long argument, we bought new tickets which were for the next evening at 23:00.

My wife and I with our two little girls, had to sleep on the floor and spend the next 25 hours at the airport waiting for the next fight. We were also forced to do new covid tests and pay 20 Euros for each test, seeing that we had to spend the day at the airport.

After the unpleasant experience was over and we were finally back home, I started the process of claiming back our expenses. On the TAP website, I filled in all the necessary forms and attached everything they requested. Three months later, after calling frequently for information, I received an email from TAP, which informed us that according to their records, the flight from Funchal to Lisbon was only 39 minutes late and because it was 2 separate sets of tickets booked, they have no further liability and do not need to compensate us for anything. They also said that I should have lodged a claim and received a claim number at the airport for the compensation of the expenses incurred due to our lost luggage. We were never told anything like that!

We are now left with traumatised children because we had to sleep at the airport, and we are left with an extra 342.42 Euros of clothes we had to buy unnecessarily and 2154 Euros worth of debt that we had to borrow to be able to buy new tickets to return home. And all TAP says to us is: “Sorry for the inconvenience, it is not our fault.”

We are looking for better answers and compensation for the traumatic experience that we and our children had to go through.

Joao Carlos Pestana Dos Ramos