Originally Posted by
jackvogt
But they did accept the bags making it Delta's responsibility to put it on the flight. They could have told the OP that they wouldn't be able to guarantee it would make the original flight and they would put it on the next flight out. I'm saying OP may potentially have a case for having Delta pay for some of the damage to the bag and things inside the bag. It likely could have been related to pressure, but we've all seen how some baggage handlers treat bags. It's probably unlikely that Delta will take responsibility for that. It has nothing to do with whether the bags were delayed, I am putting them as 2 separate issues.
On the delay issue, it sounds to me like OP was told the bag(s) might not make it. The OP was given the choice of flying with the risk of late bags, or waiting for the next flight 3 hrs later..
The damage issue is impossible to assign w/o better data. Most containers would never "explode" under low pressure. But some would.