Dallas Frasca Tour Grounded By Etihad's 'Crippling' Mistake

It’s not uncommon for bands to attack airlines for damaging gear, but a problem just as common and maybe more problematic is lost baggage coupled with poor customer service, as Melbourne’s Dallas Frasca have discovered during their current European tour.

After landing in Paris via Etihad Airways yesterday, the band discovered that drummer Josh Eales’ cymbals and snare worth $4000 and a “tonne of merch” packed inside had been lost by the airline, with the company eventually claiming to have no record of the baggage, something the band have described as a “crippling” error.

“Apart from Josh never being able to replace these loved musical items, we will have the loss of Merch sales from them being inside his snare case,” the band told The Music.

“It's hard enough financially touring international but this is crippling.

“Etihad have been so unhelpful and til this hour we still have nothing. We leave Paris shortly and are unsure of what to do for the show tonight."

Despite Etihad Airways responding to the band’s numerous Facebook posts, Dallas Frasca say they have seen no real progress.

“Thank you for your message. We will ask our dedicated Team for a follow up request for you, thank you for your understanding,” Etihad commented on a Facebook post, to which the band responded they had heard the same sentiment five times already.

“We borrowed and bought bits and pieces to make the gig work tonight but not sure what to do for the rest of the tour,” Dallas Frasca said in a follow-up post.

“There is no way we could ever replace some of these loved items and no way we could afford to find alternatives in such a short amount of time... We need answers Etihad! Please share so Josh gets his gear back...#‎NotGoodEnoughEtihad.”

Past social media efforts from bands wronged by airlines have seen huge exposure, with Jon English shaming Virgin Australia earlier this year for damaging his instruments, and a similar complaint to that of Thundamentals in 2014.

UPDATE

Etihad Airways told The Music they had been in contact with the band and were trying to resolve the issue.

"We have been in contact with the band member to apologise for the inconvenience caused while we locate his luggage," an airline spokesperson said.

"Our airport team is working around the clock to return it to him."