hi all,
DISCLAIMER: this is so far a once off incident. i am not generalizing and such an occurrence does not mean it will always happen. this information is provided for the purpose of general travellers' caution and is not intended to pinpoint a certain country nor its officers.
would like to share an experience with all. i'm in the insurance business and there was a client whose travel insurance claim was processed today. he had a wonderful trip in HCMC, vietnam, and was catching his flight back to singapore. he was a little late in reaching the airport and was one of the last few to check-in for his flight. after checking-in his luggage, he proceeded to enter the boarding gate but was stopped at the x-ray machines. he was ordered at the boarding gate, to check-in his canon 500D and his PSP. he tried to ask not to check-in these 'fragile items' but was given no chance. not wanting to miss his flight, he complied with the customs officer at HCMC airport and was escorted to a "privilege check-in" counter. put his camera & PSP in his bag, he padlocked it and checked it in. after he padlocked the bag, the customs officer did something out of the ordinary. the customs officer pasted a blue sticker on top of the padlock (do note that all other checked-in bags had no blue sticker on it).
upon arriving back here in singapore, the client found the padlock loop on the zipper to be broken, no padlock & no blue sticker left, and his camera and PSP stolen (which explains why we had to process a travel insurance claim today). he shared that apparently, he wasn't the only one. after he checked-in at HCMC, there were a few ang mohs who had also checked-in late. they also had blue stickers pasted on their bags and all their electronics that were checked-in have all been stolen. though there was travel insurance, do note that most travel insurance only pays up to a maximum of S$1,000.00 for a lost camera/laptop.
once again, i would like to highlight that this is the first time i have come across such a case. and there is no reason to discriminate or to assume that this happens on a regular basis. however, i would like to share this experience with CS members as we tend to travel with equipment that sometimes costs between $5k to $10k. do remember to take care of your belongings. and remember while travel insurance does provide some form of protection, most only provide for a value of S$1k. prevention and the knowledge of one's rights is better than seeking remedies & compensation later.
DISCLAIMER: this is so far a once off incident. i am not generalizing and such an occurrence does not mean it will always happen. this information is provided for the purpose of general travellers' caution and is not intended to pinpoint a certain country nor its officers.
would like to share an experience with all. i'm in the insurance business and there was a client whose travel insurance claim was processed today. he had a wonderful trip in HCMC, vietnam, and was catching his flight back to singapore. he was a little late in reaching the airport and was one of the last few to check-in for his flight. after checking-in his luggage, he proceeded to enter the boarding gate but was stopped at the x-ray machines. he was ordered at the boarding gate, to check-in his canon 500D and his PSP. he tried to ask not to check-in these 'fragile items' but was given no chance. not wanting to miss his flight, he complied with the customs officer at HCMC airport and was escorted to a "privilege check-in" counter. put his camera & PSP in his bag, he padlocked it and checked it in. after he padlocked the bag, the customs officer did something out of the ordinary. the customs officer pasted a blue sticker on top of the padlock (do note that all other checked-in bags had no blue sticker on it).
upon arriving back here in singapore, the client found the padlock loop on the zipper to be broken, no padlock & no blue sticker left, and his camera and PSP stolen (which explains why we had to process a travel insurance claim today). he shared that apparently, he wasn't the only one. after he checked-in at HCMC, there were a few ang mohs who had also checked-in late. they also had blue stickers pasted on their bags and all their electronics that were checked-in have all been stolen. though there was travel insurance, do note that most travel insurance only pays up to a maximum of S$1,000.00 for a lost camera/laptop.
once again, i would like to highlight that this is the first time i have come across such a case. and there is no reason to discriminate or to assume that this happens on a regular basis. however, i would like to share this experience with CS members as we tend to travel with equipment that sometimes costs between $5k to $10k. do remember to take care of your belongings. and remember while travel insurance does provide some form of protection, most only provide for a value of S$1k. prevention and the knowledge of one's rights is better than seeking remedies & compensation later.
