Originally Posted by
seenitall
I am not sure I agree with the other posters that UA bears no responsibility here. The OP checked his bag with UA. When bags came out on the belt, his was never presented to him. OP has no way of knowing when the bag went missing. When the bag was returned to him by UA, it was damaged. It doesn't matter to the OP whether the damage was inflicted by UA or by the person that UA allowed to pick up the bag. Until UA returned the bag to the OP who checked it (and not just anyone who happened to pick it off the belt), UA is responsible for it.
I think the OP is owed damaged bag compensation by UA.
United doesn't "present" the bag. They put it on the belt. After that it's out of their control. If anyone failed, it's airport security.
In this particular case the OP knows that the guy picked the wrong bag off the belt.