I'm sympathetic, because it has happened to me a couple of times. One time, the bag was never recovered. Scanned upon arrival at DEN, but it arrived several hours before me, and it appeared to have been stolen from the airport (don't get me started on why my bag rode nonstop Spokane-Denver when I was connecting through SEA). Bottom line, United was really quite good about compensating me for lost items, and they did it quickly too once I provided the list of items lost and applicable receipts (didn't need receipts for the less expensive items). I still wasn't happy to lose my favorite suit and a few gifts from friends in Seattle, but United stepped up to the plate when we realized the bag wasn't going to turn up. Good luck.