Resurrecting this thread instead of starting a new one about the same phenomenon...

I tend to take longer layovers on my outgoing business travel, just to make sure I make it to my destination on time for meetings. Inevitably, my bags don't come out on the belt for my final flight. I panic, wait for the last bag to come out, go to the baggage service office, and find out that they've had my luggage for two hours and it's safely locked away. They retrieve it for me, Then I scramble to catch my shuttle, as I've wasted a lot of time to get my Elite-tagged luggage last. Even worse, often I find it's not locked away - at LAX, it was just sitting next to a carousel for three hours. I only check bags because I have to carry conference supplies that won't make it through carry-on regulations - but I don't like them sitting unattended!

When I've done a multi-segment and asked for my bags to be checked through more directly (i.e. first and last segments if I'm passing through the same hub twice in a day), I'm told that it's illegal for my bags to travel without me. But then they do it anyway! I don't really see why this happens so regularly. Is it just me?