A Co Down woman has opened up about the luggage nightmare that has seen her suitcase missing for over a month, after a dream trip to Paris.
Natalie Shanks flew to Paris on 4 December to go to Disneyland, after her husband organised the trip as a surprise birthday gift.
The Ballywalter woman said the trip soon turned sour though when they realised her suitcase had not showed up with them in Paris.
Read more: Belfast woman's "lost luggage" yet to be returned from before Christmas
"We got checked in in Belfast International Airport with no issues, got to Paris and it was a bit of a nightmare getting through passport control as there was only two people on, so it took two hours," she said.
"By the time we got through, there were only a few suitcases left on the carousel.
"There was one that looked like mine but it wasn't it as I had a tag on mine and another woman soon lifted it.
"There was another family and another couple who had lost their cases as well and they had gone to lost property, but they weren't much use to any of us."
Natalie said she and her husband filled in the form they were given to report her lost suitcase while on the way to their hotel.
"My suitcase had my hairdryer, my straighteners, some snow boots my husband had bought me for Paris as we knew it would be cold and a good coat," she said.
"It would have been different at least if we had been coming home, but I arrived in Paris with nothing.
"Luckily my best friend was out there and I had texted her and she had an emergency bag prepped for me with pyjamas which was really nice of her.
"We then had to grab a train to the shops to get me some clothes."
She said easyJet had proved very difficult to pin down on where her luggage was and when she could expect to be reunited with it.
"easyJet have been an absolute nightmare - they have given me phone numbers, emails to contact - I have tried everything and I'm getting nowhere," she said.
"I contacted their complaints email and they basically got back with email addresses that I'd already contacted.
"Even now when I try and check the tracker thing it still says 'searching for case'.
"When easyJet fly and everything goes smoothly, they're great but when something goes wrong like this they're an absolute disaster and it would put me off flying with them again."
A spokesperson for easyJet acknowledged the distress caused by the lost luggage and said the company was in the process of trying to find the suitcase.
“We are very sorry for the delay Ms Shanks has experienced receiving her luggage," they said.
"We continue to work on locating the bag and we are looking into why this happened with our ground handling partners at Belfast and Paris.
"We will be contacting Ms Shanks to apologise and provide her with an update, as well as offer a gesture of goodwill for her experience."
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