(USA): Luggage Looters - How to file claims
Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009
Source: WREG
Date: 28/7/2009
Description: Luggage Looters - How to file claims
Luggage Looters-How To File Claims
Keli Rabon
4:50 PM CDT, July 28, 2009
- Lost or stolen luggage policies differ from airline to airline, so be careful before you check luggage
- Some airlines require you to submit claims immediatelyat the airport, while others allow up to 45 days
- TSA will allow passengers to view surveillance video for 30 days after an incident to determine if theft was involved
(Memphis 7/28/09) Eddie Berryhill kisses his family goodbye as he flies back to California. He hopes he's not kissing his baggage goodbye too.
"It's a little ironic that I have to go through these turn stiles, because they don't trust me. But I don't trust them!" Berryhill said.
Thousands of other passengers have lost their trust too, after claiming to lose their luggage at the hands of TSA and airline employees.
Nancy Allen - a WREG employee - says someone stole more than $1400 worth of electronics from her family's luggage.
"They took her IPod, his wallet, my camera equipment, my XD cards," Nancy Allen said. "I was going through my other luggage, and realized, it's not there," Nancy Allen said.
Nancy doesn't know where it happened or who was responsible.
"When I called the airline, and I discovered what happened, they said, "Oh you've waited more than 24 hours, you're out of luck. We can't do anything about it," she said.
In fact, each airline has its own, unique policy. The common factor -- you must notify the airlines immediately, sometimes before you ever leave the airport. But like most of us, Nancy Allen didn't open her suitcase until she got home.
"I was worried about getting back to work. I didn't unpack for another day or so, and I tried to find all the stuff," Allen said.
The airlines wouldn't share their claims with us, but the TSA did. The On Your Side Investigators found hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims.
"If someone has some ill intent, there's always a possibility that someone can get into bags," Kevin McCarthy, the Federal Security Director for Memphis International Airport, said.
He says the TSA has "zero tolerance" for luggage theft, and two Memphis TSA employees were fired in 2003 after being caught stealing luggage items.
"We'll gather photographic evidence, and if we find that the officer was guilty of misconduct, he'll be dealt with through the civil system to be prosecuted, and if necessary, he'll go to jail," McCarthy said.
When you make a claim with TSA, they say passengers can examine video evidence of their time with your bags. But even then, there's no promise you'll be reimbursed.
In the last 6 years, passengers filed more than $220,000 in claims for missing luggage and items. The TSA reimbursed passengers less than $28,000. About $192,000 worth of valuables are still unaccounted for.
"TSA is just one of several different organizations that touch the bag through the travel process. the airline touches it, the TSA touches it, and once we put it on that bag belt, it goes into the airline system, and for the most part, we'll never touch that bag again," McCarthy said.
That's why the TSA says don't pack anything you're not willing to lose, because neither TSA nor the airlines can guarantee its safety.
Nancy Allen says she learned the hard way. Passengers like Eddie Berryhill say, they'll heed the warning.
"If it can't go in a carry-on, I won't take it," Berryhill said.