Would it be correct to assume that you have never had checked baggage lost, stolen, damaged, or delayed, but that the poster you are replying to has?
For me, that's almost correct.
According to FlightMemory, I have flown 523,115 miles, and done the equivalent of 21 circumnavigations of the world. And that's only the flights I could remember
. So far, I've visited 56 countries.
I have never had checked baggage stolen or damaged (even in the USA or at LHR) and only once has baggage gone astray. On that flight (Fiji to New Zealand) our bags went to Australia instead. They were delivered right to our door the following day.
It seems to me, from what I have read, that baggage goes astray more in the USA, and that Americans are obsessed with the concept of carrying everything with them.
Here in Australasia, as someone else noted, the size and weight of hand baggage is a Health and Safety issue - people have been injured by heavy bags falling from overhead lockers. The last time I flew out of AKL, they were stopping people with large or heavy-looking hand baggage (just before the security line) and weighing the bags. Anything oversize or overweight had to be checked.
I think our baggage handlers here in NZ are great - maybe it''s because we don't tip!
Last year, my cousin flew from LAX to AKL. She inadvertently forgot to claim one bag from the carousel (she was a bit vague).
3 days later, I received a phone call, asking if she was staying with us. It was the baggage handlers at AKL. They had opened her case, found an address book inside and phoned all the contacts listed in it, until they found her son in New York. He gave them my phone number and they phoned me. The bag was delivered to our home the following day. It cost us nothing.
Now, that's honesty and going the extra mile!