DME and Lost Bags

[Tropics]

I'm not sure if this is the proper board for this question but I figure that a large percentage of people on this board will have used DME and might be able to answer this question.

What happens if we take DME to our resort and have our bags tagged for DME pick up but the airline looses the bags so DME does not get them? Do we only discover this when we have waited for hours at our resort and do not get our bags and then have to contact DME to get them? Does it make it more difficult to deal with the airline to track down your bags?

We've never taken DME as we've always rented a car but I love the idea of letting DME take care of our luggage. However, if there are problems with the airline loosing our luggage then I would think that this would make if more difficult to track down. I'd just like to know how lost luggage (airline's fault) is dealt with. I'm not really as worried about DME loosing our luggage as I am the airline.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I'm not sure if this is the proper board for this question but I figure that a large percentage of people on this board will have used DME and might be able to answer this question.

What happens if we take DME to our resort and have our bags tagged for DME pick up but the airline looses the bags so DME does not get them? Do we only discover this when we have waited for hours at our resort and do not get our bags and then have to contact DME to get them? Does it make it more difficult to deal with the airline to track down your bags?

We've never taken DME as we've always rented a car but I love the idea of letting DME take care of our luggage. However, if there are problems with the airline loosing our luggage then I would think that this would make if more difficult to track down. I'd just like to know how lost luggage (airline's fault) is dealt with. I'm not really as worried about DME loosing our luggage as I am the airline.

Ok. In 2011, we ran into this issue. We have used DME many times both before this incident and after this incident with no issues, but this one time....

We arrived at CBR fairly late...around 9:30 pm. We expected our luggage by 12:30 am...but no one ever came. We called the front desk, thinking that perhaps they held it because it was so late (which we have experienced before) but they told us they didn't have the luggage!!! We made many, many, many phone calls -- to front desk, to DME, to SW airlines, and made many visits to the front desk at CBR over the course of 2 days...until finally our luggage showed up in our room.

Luckily, our daughters had all of their belongings, but DH and I only had enough in our carryons for one day...I have to say that the front desk at CBR was amazing! The manager actually comped us $150 (unsolicited) to go to the gift shop and buy some clothes to wear and toiletries, so we were still able to go and enjoy the parks.

My theory is that SW lost it. We had flown to Orlando from NH and our flight stopped in Baltimore and Nashville along the way...I think our luggage got off at one of those stops without us...

Anyway, Disney was great about it, and I'm not even convinced it was their fault but we were taken care of. And, this only happened one time out of the 7 times we have used DME, so I think that's a pretty good record.

 

[Tropics]

Thanks mousemommy1. I wanted to get an idea of the worst case scenario.

Based on your experience of going back and forth between front desk, DME, and SW, has that scared you off tagging your bags for DME (as opposed to collecting your bags at the airport and brining them to the bus)?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

This happened to us several years ago. Luckily enough, we were staying Club Level at the Grand. One of the cast members called Delta non-stop for us until they found the bags. He also brought us downstairs to the shops at GF and bought me a new dress and my husband a new suit for dinner at Citrico's.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Thanks mousemommy1. I wanted to get an idea of the worst case scenario.

Based on your experience of going back and forth between front desk, DME, and SW, has that scared you off tagging your bags for DME (as opposed to collecting your bags at the airport and brining them to the bus)?

Nope! We have used DME twice since then and no problems!!!

 

[lylone]

We used DME awhile ago and at one point it seemed like forever to get our bags. This was when we had to be in the room to get them. The next time we didn't have to be in the room and they never showed up until we called about them and they were found and sent to our room.
We do carryons down and that way we don't have to worry about lost or delayed luggage. On the way back we check them at the airport, that way if they are lost....we know who to blame!

There were a lot of complaints of lost/damaged luggage years back on the boards... haven't seen too many lately.

 

[Missytara]

In the future, there is tons of info re: ME on the transportation board.

 

[psindone]

I like to take the extra few minutes and pick up my own bags before I head for the ME. I like to know I have my things and don't have to wait hours and possibly a day to get my luggage. To many people I know had to wait so long that the did not get their bags until the next day. Not the way I like to start my vacation. So even though the thought of not having to cart your bag over to the ME seems nice, for me picking them up is the way to go.

 

[emilyindisney]

We picked up our own luggage (and brought it on ME) last time and it was super easy. We had a super late flight and didn't want to have to wait up for our luggage to arrive. This was very easy/convenient and I'm sure we'll do that again.

 

[pamkat1820]

We have never had an issue with ME and we wouldn't travel any other way. But I also feel like if the luggage gets lost by the air line whether I personal go myself and freak in the air port or freak when it doesn't make it to the room. I'm still freaking out! It's not ME's fault it would be the air line, your still at the mercy of the air line.

I also feel like disney would do their best to help out.

 

[nkereina]

OP, to answer your question, it sounds like based on previous posters' experiences you would in fact have to wait hours of not receiving your bag in order to find out your bag has been lost. If you call before their window of delivery is over, I would guess they would tell you that it hasn't been long enough for them to know yet.

I always collect our own bags but only because I like to unpack and get settled before I can go and enjoy the parks. Plus we're just two adults with one bag each so they're easy enough to wheel around. But in the instance that the airline were to lose one of our bags, I would rather know immediately so I can take action while still at the airport than to have to sit on the phone with call centers, etc.

One time Delta lost my bag on a direct flight to Atlanta I sat in the Delta office at the airport for four hours while they searched for my bag. Finally, I gave up and went to my hotel, but I was able to leave with the direct phone number to the Delta desk at the airport that I could follow up with. A few hours later, they found my bag and delivered it. But I would think it would have been much more of a headache had a call center rep been acting as an intermediary.

 

[disnut8]

I'm not sure if this is the proper board for this question but I figure that a large percentage of people on this board will have used DME and might be able to answer this question.

What happens if we take DME to our resort and have our bags tagged for DME pick up but the airline looses the bags so DME does not get them? Do we only discover this when we have waited for hours at our resort and do not get our bags and then have to contact DME to get them? Does it make it more difficult to deal with the airline to track down your bags?

We've never taken DME as we've always rented a car but I love the idea of letting DME take care of our luggage. However, if there are problems with the airline loosing our luggage then I would think that this would make if more difficult to track down. I'd just like to know how lost luggage (airline's fault) is dealt with. I'm not really as worried about DME loosing our luggage as I am the airline.

Whether or not you check your luggage with Magical Express, you can't control an airline losing your luggage. We had that happen before Magical Express when Delta lost one of my son's family's bags. The other one was there, the big one came later. When they did use Magical Express a few years later, everything was great.

I think you are worrying about nothing. Could it happen? Yes. But there's not much you can do about it. Take essentials in a carry on bag including a change of clothes.

 

[longrf01]

If you're concerned, you might want to do as we do and ship your items down a week and half beforehand and confirm their arrival. Then you have enough time to ship a second box-of-stuff down while UPS hunts down the first one. We carry a single carry-on with an overnight kit for our family of four just in case we get stranded somewhere overnight.

 

[goofy4tink]

'If' a bag goes missing, it is most likely that the airline misdirected it...not DME. But here's the thing..if a bag gets misdirected, DME is supposed to act on your behalf and find it, or at least alert the airline that it is missing! DME used to ask how many bags you have. They don't anymore...at least I've never been asked. So how do they know if a bag goes missing? And if you don't know about it, for hours, the airline is going to tell you that you should have let them know much earlier in the day.
Now, I'm not sure when it was that we had to be in our rooms to get our DME bags...that has never been the case for me and I've been using DME since the very beginning. In fact, that was a selling point for using it....Disney had taken care of the tips so you can just go right to a park..no need to be in your room for baggage delivery.
I have never had an issue, and I don't personally know anyone that has had an issue. But it is an interesting thing to think about....I should have asked DME people about it when I was there a few weeks ago.

 

[Tropics]

Thank for all of your replies!

As I said, I'm far more worried about the airline loosing our luggage (yes, it has happened for other destinations but never for more than a few hours.) I was trying to get a sense of the process IF that happened. I do have a tendency to over think/over analyze/worry about/prepare for a worst case scenario. This will give me something to think about so that I can decide if I am comfortable with DME taking my bags or if I should pick them up... DH says definitely let someone else worry about it!

I wasn't able to find any official information or anything current on their procedures for this scenario as things do seem to have changed over the years. I appreciate everyone taking the time to reply.