A princess performer from County Durham has told of how her dream trip to Walt Disney World turned into a "nightmare" after her luggage worth £3,000 went missing on her flight home.
"Disney obsessed" Leah Middleton was left gutted when her suitcase packed with thousands of pounds worth of princess goodies didn't turn up at Manchester Airport following her annual holiday to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The 20-year-old had just enjoyed a 12-night break at the Disney resort with boyfriend Tommy Tiazzolla, 19, when the pair realised that their cases had gone "missing" during their return journey from Heathrow Airport to Manchester on July 3.
Determined not to let it ruin their holiday, the couple travelled back home to Dipton in the hope their luggage would soon arrive but, almost six weeks later, aspiring actress Leah said she is still waiting for her missing case.
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Leah, who works as a princess entertainer dressing up as Belle for parties, said her suitcase contained around £3,000 worth of items, including six Disney backpacks worth more than £70 each. But the most important items to go missing were her prescription sunglasses and a retainer which cost hundreds of pounds.
"My boyfriend got his case back a few days later and he was updated through the whole process but I have not been updated since I left Heathrow Airport," Leah said.
"I was ringing baggage reclaim every day for the first few weeks and was given a reference code to log in for updates and there were updates on Tommy's case but not mine. I rang every day and every single person told me something different."
She continued: "The main things are the prescription sunglasses and the retainer.
"The glasses cost £150 and I have Invisalign braces and have a retainer for them which costs £300 to replace. I need to replace these as soon as possible but, if my teeth move any more, then I’m going to have to get new braces, which will cost an additional £3,000."
Leah said she even made a second trip down to Manchester Airport on July 11 after she was told during a call with baggage claim that her case was ready to collect. However, when she arrived, she was told by customer services that it was not there.
As well as daily calls, Leah has tried contacting BA through TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter without any success. "They need to sort themselves out," she said.
"They don't seem to understand it is people's lives they are messing with. Imagine if I was a bride and my wedding dress was in there or if I had a baby and all the baby things were in there?"
Leah has also been left frustrated by the compensation process. After spending three hours filling out a form for the missing items Leah says she has to wait up to five weeks for any compensation to come through.
"I can understand BA are really busy but people seem to be reading off a script and are not bothered about helping you," she said. "The customer service has been really bad."
She continued: "It is so frustrating. For the first two weeks, I called them every day. I have spent hours on the phone.
"It has all been a bit of a nightmare."
British Airways apologised to Leah for the delay in "reuniting" her with her suitcase.
A British Airways spokesman said: "We're doing everything we can to reunite our customer with their baggage as soon as possible. We apologise for the delay and inconvenience caused."
British Airways said it sends delayed bags directly to customers, using the address that they've provided to the airline. It said always asks customers to ensure they include as much information as possible in their missing baggage reports, including details such as the make of the bag, and any contents that would aid the team in identifying their luggage more quickly.
The airline said "out-of-pocket expenses for essential items" can be submitted via its website.
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