Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
Bikes are not listed in the ACCEPTANCE OF BAGGAGE Rule 190, 8) FRAGILE AND PERISHABLE ITEMS (limited liability) section of CoC. The following are listed for Recreational & Sporting Goods (subsection IX)
but not bikes -- unless a separate liability waiver was signed at checking.
You are asked to sign a little scrap of paper waiving them from liability. And on the luggage tag itself is a highlighted section that says "LIMITED LIABILITY."
So what, for $400 round trip per bike, are you paying for?
This is a tough one. On principle, I should follow through, but things have been pretty hectic since getting back and tomorrow is Day 7 after arrival- meaning that, technically, it's the end of the window for filing claims on an International flight (24 hours for domestic). It probably isn't worth it, but then I did pay a whole lot of money for... what? If they told you up-front you'd be paying $400 with no assurance whatsoever that your bike would arrive in one piece, how would that sound? But isn't that what they're doing?
And for the mods, should this be moved over to the bike thread or is it a generic baggage thread?
Originally Posted by
PineyBob
It NEVER hurts to write and raise a little heck.
What does an e-mail or 5 or 6 cost you?
You have the DOT complaint process, small claims etc etc.
It doesn't really matter what UA's policies are. What matters is how convincing your argument is. That coupled with your persistance might just win the day. Chris Elliott can be helpful. I don't care one wit about his journalistic integrity or anything else about him personally. I don't have to like him to do business and neither do you. Chris is effective as in the middle of a reccession no airline needs negative publicity.
I say go after them. What's it going to cost you? $160.00 and you're already on the hook for that. So maybe you get a few vouchers and you can be nice to your friends. What's to lose? Do it to them BEFORE they do it to you.
I agree, but even if this was a situation where it would be likely that UA would pay, their policy requires that you take your damaged goods back to the airport. And I can't see where that's entirely unreasonable. The problem is the time period you're required to do so... many of us have lives, and airports aren't easy places to get in and out of. Short term parking gets expensive too.
On the positive side, I don't need to make use of that bike for a while (which is the reason I didn't get around to unpacking it quickly), so it can remain in its damaged state for the time being. It's my "rain" bike, not my nicer bike, and I use it for travel because it's a lot less likely to become damaged in transit. Round carbon fiber tubes are dramatically stronger (against being smashed into) than shaped tubes, for what it's worth.