A little while back I indulged in a piece of Tumi luggage which suits my needs perfectly on longer trips. It has a nice looking TSA lock. We flew Jacksonville/Newark/Berlin in June. The lock was missing when we arrived in Berlin. So I went to the Tumi store when I got home - and bought a replacement. We just traveled home to Jacksonville from Phoenix via Houston (first trip since our trip to Germany). This time - not only was the lock missing - but so were the zipper pulls where the lock was placed.

Did a little bit of internet research - and this problem doesn't seem to be unusual. Moreover - I looked at Ebay - and "brand new" Tumi TSA locks seem to be a hot item there. The lock costs $20 - and when I looked at the TSA claim form - well it is more trouble than it's worth to submit a claim for $20. So I called Tumi customer support - described what happened - and asked if it could do anything about the situation in general (I'm sure Tumi has more clout than I do).

Anyway - I wonder if anyone else here has had his/her TSA lock stolen?

Note that nothing was stolen from my luggage on either occasion (nothing much of value there though - except a nice evening purse - very small - and cigarettes). And from now on I'll be using twist-ties to hold the zipper ends together. Robyn