Well, here’s what happened to me in the end.. just in case someone else in a similar circumstance ends up wanting to hear an experience.
Went to T1 International Airport this morning in Sydney. Went to the first Baggage Services Counter and it was closed. No one around just a sign directing to call a number. I found the other Qantas Baggage Services entry, a security door with a sign directing you to call the number. A woman in a qantas uniform came out and I asked her for help, she told me she was going on a break and said i should call the number, I pleaded with her for help but she wasn’t interested.
A chap who worked in baggage services happened to come by, I explained the story to him and he actually took me inside the baggage services area and showed me all the bags they had and which ones they hadn’t found owners for and welcomed me to look through the bags. My bag was not amongst them. The airtag showed that the bag was actually further inside the airport, I showed him this and he shrugged and said he had no idea where it could be and since my bag was on a Melbourne-Sydney flight, it wouldn’t be at the t1 international terminal so the airtag was obviously wrong and said i should head over to Domestic as thats where my bag was likely to be.
I went to Domestic baggage services, spoke to a lovely lady at the counter who took me through and showed me all their bags and my bag was not present. I explained my experience at international baggage services and asked her “If my bag has been sitting there a week and neither of you have it, how likely am i to ever get the bag back?” she shot me a look that said “I cant answer that.”, but I knew the answer.
She said my bags tag probably came off and I should try the other baggage services companies at international terminal. I went to Swiss and the chap their was friendly but said they had no untagged bags. He said at the international terminal they have a room underground where all the ‘lost’ bags go, and that thats where my bag was but customers are not allowed in and that Qantas really should be taking me there.
I tried Menzies next and the chap actually took it upon himself to go to the lost bag room and look for my bag for me. He couldn’t find it.
Next I approached some of the “Do you need help?” staff at Sydney Airport and asked them for help, the chap was quite friendly and worried about my situation but confessed their was littl ehe could do, he took me to his supervisor, eventually they decided to take me up to departures to the qantas check in area, and we spoke to a lady serving First Class customers. The lady at first class suggested it was very very unlikely our bag could be anywhere near International Terminal and that the AirTag was wrong, but if we wanted to speak to a supervisor we could, but it would be hard as she was very very busy, however she actually used to work in baggage services so she would probably be quite helpful.
She pointed out the supervisor to us, she was talking on 2 phones and a radio at the same time and juggling a few issues. Eventually we got her attention and she was very lovely, she asked me for a description of the bag and she smiled and said she knew exactly where my bag was, she had seen it last night and she remembered the sticker i described on the bag. She radioed someone and told them where my bag was and I had it 20 minutes later.
I am very grateful I got the bag back, but I wonder what would have happened if I had given up and listened to all the people who suggested I had no hope of getting my bag back. It WAS in the international terminal as the airtag suggested and it had sat there for a week.
Whoever checked the bag in at the gate in melbourne did not secure a tag to the bag, so it was an unidentified bag when it got to Sydney and somehow ended up sitting in T1 International Terminal for a week.
Good luck if you are going with Qantas, your bag is at their mercy.
