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Airline damage


Jinder

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Hi all,

An artist that I tour manage and tech for flew home from Canada a couple of days back, and the airline destroyed his J45, despite it being in a Hiscox Artist Elite hard case. It had exceptionally heavy side-on impact/crush damage which smashed both sides and cracked the top and back.

 

Where would you stand on this sort of thing? Generally we have to sign release forms to accept any damage to outsize, overweight or unusual baggage, but this wasn't just a bump-the case was obviously crushed between two pieces of machinery or run over...seems negligent rather than accidental to me.

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1505999523[/url]' post='1882528']

Hi all,

An artist that I tour manage and tech for flew home from Canada a couple of days back, and the airline destroyed his J45, despite it being in a Hiscox Artist Elite hard case. It had exceptionally heavy side-on impact/crush damage which smashed both sides and cracked the top and back.

 

Where would you stand on this sort of thing? Generally we have to sign release forms to accept any damage to outsize, overweight or unusual baggage, but this wasn't just a bump-the case was obviously crushed between two pieces of machinery or run over...seems negligent rather than accidental to me.

 

Pictures. Appraisals from somewhere like Gruhn. Escalation to the right folks at the airline. Complete replacement.

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Hi all,

An artist that I tour manage and tech for flew home from Canada a couple of days back, and the airline destroyed his J45, despite it being in a Hiscox Artist Elite hard case. It had exceptionally heavy side-on impact/crush damage which smashed both sides and cracked the top and back.

 

Where would you stand on this sort of thing? Generally we have to sign release forms to accept any damage to outsize, overweight or unusual baggage, but this wasn't just a bump-the case was obviously crushed between two pieces of machinery or run over...seems negligent rather than accidental to me.

 

Was this the same performer that had lost a Gibson a year or so ago, and you had to scramble to get him a replacement? i would file a claim and see what happens. Airlines get a lot of nuisance claims from people who try to game the system - so they have a boilerplate form where you give up your rights. Presented in a reasonable way that this is an 'exception' to what their policy is meant to prevent (performer's main tool, has no choice but to travel and bring with him, best, most expensive case ... and the probability that the damage was negligence) the airline may relent. Check to see if you all have a lot of air miles with that carrier, or can suggest you'd give them more business.

(If it had been American Airlines, I'd just suggest you grab your ankles.)

G'Luck.

 

 

 

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Yeah, I would complain to the airline for sure. What can it hurt?

 

Also, I'd send photos to Hiscox and ask their opinion of what might have caused the damage. They designed the thing, so they are probably knowledgeable about what their cases can and can't withstand.

 

I will say I have an SKB flight case for my handbuilt D-18 clone and it is 5-for-5 on protecting the guitar. It has been on five flights (in the U.S. and internationally) and while the outside of the case looks like the baggage handlers tried their best to do some damage, the guitar inside has always arrived in perfect condition. It is not a case I would want to lug around a bluegrass festival for a weekend, but I trust it to a baggage handler.

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Thanks all! Lots of good thoughts there. I'll speak to him and suggest we go down the path of protesting it and see what happens. The chap in question has been a well known public face in the UK for the last 33yrs and has a massive presence on social media so could lean on them a bit that way.

 

Forty, yes this is the same guy-we have stuff go missing once every ten flights or so.

 

Interestingly, last time I flew into London Heathrow, there was a huge dusty pile of abandoned/unclaimed luggage in the corner next to baggage reclaim. In amongst the heap there was a guitar case-I couldn't resist having a peek inside...it contained a beautiful 7-series Taylor in a cherry burst, absolutely perfect. The case was rather dusty so I have no idea how long it had been there, where it had come from or where it was going to end up. I hope it got home!

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Hence the wisdom of insuring instruments through Heritage or Clarion or somebody.

Hindsight is, of course, 20/20.

 

Still, it's hard to imagine a touring musician wouldn't see the value in that sort of insurance. I was talking with Heritage (they like the idea of a blanket $250/yearly premium for coverage in the $25->30K range of instruments) this week in preparation for the big acoustic purge. Covering your guitar for the sort of damage described in the OP is the thing that they do best, along with coverage for most types of theft. The type of claim they will question more is a long distance sale where the buyer says they did not receive the guitar.

 

I did have an uninsured guitar crushed by an airline; they ultimately paid, but not the full price I'd paid for the guitar, and dealing with them was like pulling teeth- best to have Heritage, for example, do your bidding for you. So Jinder, you said, "Generally we have to sign release forms"- hope that was not the case, here. Good luck, and let us know what transpires.

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Hi all,

An artist that I tour manage and tech for flew home from Canada a couple of days back, and the airline destroyed his J45, despite it being in a Hiscox Artist Elite hard case. It had exceptionally heavy side-on impact/crush damage which smashed both sides and cracked the top and back.

 

Where would you stand on this sort of thing? Generally we have to sign release forms to accept any damage to outsize, overweight or unusual baggage, but this wasn't just a bump-the case was obviously crushed between two pieces of machinery or run over...seems negligent rather than accidental to me.

 

 

 

I can't help with the Airline problem, but it must have been a massive smash to break through the Hiscox Artist! You could run over it with a truck and the guitar would still be in tune. My guess would be direct inpact in the side with a fork lift with the case against the end of the machinery or a wall...

 

Here are some of the Hiscox survival stories, loads more on the site:

 

 

https://www.hiscoxcases.com/survival-stories/

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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That's a bummer on the extent of damage.Hope you can get some recompense.

I had a J-45 / Airline experience that had a small silver lining.I bought a J-45 in Tokyo.When I got back to Sydney the Gibson hardcase had some minor damage - a couple of chips in the black outer face.Checked the guitar and all seemed ok.

Because I'm a honest dummy I lined up to pay duty on the guitar (purchases overseas of over $1000 attract a duty fee).In this case it was about $125.When I got to the customs guy I showed him the case damage and he said " Aw that's crook mate...don't worry about the duty this time"...he waived the fee.

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Yep. Sorry sir, there will be a small delay with the luggage while we wait for it to arrive on the next plane.. [mellow] and there is your guitar smashed to pieces with the only thing holding the case together is your old piece of gaffa tape wrapped around it......

 

Forget it. Doug (Drathbun) hired a Gibson J45 on a holiday cross country.... Seriously worth looking into, depending how often you travel to gigs.

 

 

BluesKing777.

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