Although I understand the frustration of the OP, it seems inconsistent that the OP did not notice the damage while at the airport but also claims that there is no way he or she could have talked to a CO employee while at the airport because the baggage office was closed. You can't say that you didn't notice the damage till you were home and at the same time say that you tried to deal with it while at the airport but no one was there. It is unfortunate that you did not notice the damage while you were at the airport, but we all do things we regret and we all have lots of reasons for acting too fast (children, jobs, aging parents, illness, etc.). But it sounds to me that you have transferred that regret on to CO for not having someone around to help you when you arrived although we will never know if that is true or not.

I also find the tone of the comments of the OP to sfogate offensive. Sfogate is just trying to help give information on CO policy and was always polite to the OP. I appreciate the many times that sfogate has posted on this forum with extremely helpful information on how CO works. Whether we like the way it works or not, let's not confuse the messager with the message.