After weeks of no communication from Lufthansa my husband finally received an email last week from Lufthansa's customer service center in the USA informing him that they would be sending him a letter with a FedEx shipping slip which he should use to send the damaged suitcase to their agent in Pennsylvania.

Last Saturday, a week after he had received the email, he received the letter and FedEx shipping slip.  He hot footed it to the nearest FedEx Kinko's outlet near our apartment  and was told to come back the next day as the suitcase had to be shipped in a box and they didn’t have a  big enough box for the suitcase.

So the next day on his way back from work he asked me to bring the suitcase down to the FedEx outlet so we could send the suitcase off for repairs.  Sure enough this time around they had a big enough box in which they could ship the damaged suitcase but when my husband presented the FedEx slip at the counter he was informed that Lufthansa would pay for the shipping charges but he would have to cough up the $14.55 for the box.

We were shocked at how shabby and cheap Lufthansa could be. First of all it was they who had damaged the suitcase and then only after numerous letters and emails had they been spurred to act on our claim.  Who in this day and age has so much time to chase a claim repeatedly? You would think in this period of intense competition from low cost and discount carriers legacy airlines like Lufthansa would respond promptly and ensure efficient customer service in order to keep their custom.

My husband was so irritated that he at once shot off another email to Lufthansa's US customer service informing them about the payment he had made to FedEx for the box. He was also tempted at that moment to claim the $10 for the TSA lock that had been ripped off and lost when the suitcase had been damaged but he was so exasperated and fed up that he decided against doing so. To Lufthansa's credit they responded swiftly this time around with an apologetic email saying that this should not have happened and that we should send them the FedEx receipt for $ 14.55 and that they would reimburse us for the amount.

After all this palaver, I can't help but think of the excellent service that I received from Singapore Airlines last summer when they smashed the pull up handle of my rolling suitcase.

Last year in June, I had landed at Changi Airport in the early hours of the morning and had discovered that the handle of my suitcase had been smashed to pieces as I pulled it off the conveyor belt. I had immediately gone to the Singapore Airlines 'Lost and Damaged baggage' department and had registered my complaint. The personnel manning the counter asked me about the length of my stay in Singapore and assured me that they would have the suitcase collected for repairs as soon as possible.

I was due to take another Singapore Airlines flight to Mumbai later that week so they asked me to unpack and empty the suitcase before they collected it.

True to their word, later that evening a Singapore Airlines damaged baggage department member came by my family's home and picked up the suitcase which was then repaired and delivered to me after forty-eight hours as they had promised me they would.

I had, had no reason to follow up or chase my claim. No wonder passengers and industry surveys consistently vote Singapore Airlines as one of the 'Best' in the business. At this point I should mention ,that unlike my husband who had flown in Business Class on Lufthansa my journey on Singapore Airlines had been in their coach cabin!