Golly, FT disappoints (and delights) in many ways, but this is one of the most disappointing threads across which I've stumbled.

To the OP: If you indeed dropped off your bag with a skycap who then intentionally delayed or mis-routed your bag because you did not tip him, then he should be fired. What's even scarier is that the mishandling of baggage because of not tipping is actually/apparently known by the company and the behavior of the offenders has not been modified. Perhaps it's even condoned.

Now, let's get back to the discussion of whether or not the OP deserved cruddy treatment and the merits and demerits of tipping. After all, the title of the thread is Extortion alert - baggage handling scam by Delta - so judgment of the OP specifically and tipping in general should be focus of this thread in the DL forum.