A woman was left devastated after discovering £2,000 worth of items including £600 of makeup and a Vivienne Westwood jumper, were missing from her suitcase following a flight from Manchester to Belfast
After flying with easyJet, an unfortunate passenger was gutted to find her suitcase had arrived with a whopping £2,000 worth of items missing, she has claimed.
Leoni Crowther, from the Isle of Man, was making her way to Northern Ireland via Manchester Airport. Despite ensuring her luggage was securely checked in at 19kg, upon reaching Belfast International Airport, a shocking discovery awaited – £2,000 worth of items had vanished, the unhappy passenger said.
The depleted case should have contained her pricey makeup haul valued at £600, a chic £150 handbag, and an exclusive £250 Vivienne Westwood jumper, Leoni claimed.
Not only were her three pairs of £100 trainers gone, but also her £50 Victoria Secret dressing gown, three pairs of £60 jeans, and most heartbreakingly, sentimental gifts from her grandmother, Leoni said. All that remained in the desolate suitcase were a pair of sports leggings, a lunchbox, a sports bra, and a laptop charger.
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Speaking to Need to Know, the 21-year-old recounted the moment she realised something was amiss: “My suitcase was the first one that came through on the conveyor belt and it looked absolutely fine. It was all zipped up but when I picked it up, it was really light.
“I opened it up and my heart sank. It was empty apart from my leggings, bra, lunchbox and laptop charger. I thought it must be a joke. It’s so weird. I didn’t understand it. The suitcase had almost everything I own in it including some gifts from my nan.”
Leoni approached an easyJet helpdesk seeking assistance and recalls being told to contact Manchester Airport since “the plane she’d flown on had already been checked.” Frustratingly, they informed her that no luggage had been left behind.
In a bid to resolve the issue, Leoni also reported the incident to the police. “Everyone said they’d never heard of anything like this before,” she stated, adding that the investigation at the airport yielded no results. “They said they checked the hold and there was nothing there so whatever happened must have happened at Manchester Airport.”
The ordeal has impacted her studies and daily life significantly: “I’ve had to put off university work to email easyJet. It’s been a nightmare.”
Being a student exacerbated the situation, with financial constraints making it impossible to replace the lost items: “I’ve had to borrow my friend’s clothes and I have no way of replacing the items because I’m a third year student. I just want to know what happened.
“It’s hard to contact the right people because when you call there’s no option for someone who has their suitcase but the contents are missing.”
On a brighter note, Leoni might have a ray of hope as she fortunately opted for travel insurance: “I never usually get travel insurance but I just happened to this time. My flight from the Isle of Man to Manchester was delayed by three hours so I missed the flight to Belfast and had to wait until 7am the next day. It was such a long day anyway so I really didn’t need this.”
An easyJet spokesperson responded to the incident, stating: “We were sorry to learn of Ms Crowther’s experience. We take all allegations of this nature very seriously and are now investigating this with our baggage handlers. We work closely with all of our airport partners to ensure our passengers’ bags are handled securely.”
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has been approached for comment.
