My wife and I travelled from Johannesburg (OR Tambo International Airport) to Dubai on flight EK 764 (22/08/2023) and then from Dubai to Bali on flight EK 398 (23/08/2023) and my bag was misplaced somewhere along the way. This has been an unexpected and dreadful experience as I was delayed (in a single que with many customers reporting various baggage issues), in Denpasar International (AKA - I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport) for several hours before getting a chance to report this matter. I was severely inconvenienced because I had no access to basic / essential items that were packed in my bag.
What made this experience even more unpleasant and upsetting was the fact that it was my birthday the next morning (24th August) and I only reached my hotel at approximately 3am but had to get up early and go shopping for underwear, toiletries and clothes as I was celebrating my birthday with affluent friends.
I called the Emirates assigned baggage help desk, in Denpasar Airport numerous times to enquire about there whereabouts of my luggage and they had zero information as to the location of my luggage. I was really shocked and frustrated that a professional and renowned airline such as Emirates were not aware of the inventory of luggage placed on every flight and the staff investigating these missing bags do not have full access to flight's luggage inventory so that may easier track the luggage's presence.
I cannot understand why Emirates would not have used the "DHL" business model that allows easy tracking of packages / parcels on their luggage, this method would easily identify which parcels are not loaded and as a matter of urgency have it loaded on the next flight, not 5 days later (I received my luggage almost midnight of the 28th August).
I have pre-booked my return flight on Emirates from Bali to Dubai (on the 06/09/2023, flight no: EK 369) and then from Dubai to Johannesburg, SA (on the 07/09/2023, flight no: EK 761) and I am dreading the experience.
I also believe that professional businesses such as Emirates should be held morally accountable for sub-standard service delivery and not merely dismiss such poor performance and disrupting services with a simple apology.
(My reference number from Emirates baggage desk was DPSA1122073)
Desired outcome: A travel incentive should be provided by the Airline to gratify their client and demonstrate their commitment to ensure future clients don't experience the same level of pain (both personal inconvenience and financial loss).