Was on DL4072 last night, and when we arrived at PDX, we did the usual blocking-the-walkway-waiting-for-baggage routine. After about 5 minutes, the ramp agent appeared and informed us that the hold was empty, and that the good folks in SLC must have forgotten to load our gate-checked carry-ons. There were about two dozen of us, shaking heads in disbelief. Several people were missing documents, laptops, car keys, medication, even two pax with infants with missing supplies/strollers. Total chaos at baggage claim, DL agents apologetic, but unwilling to offer support to those stranded (e.g., missing car keys), no exception to the usual $0/24hrs policy (I personally don't care what a DL leaflet says what I'm entitled to buy/do after they lost all my stuff, but the young mother was -understandably- in panic). Not a great performance by the PDX staff, but they did keep their cool, and that's more than can be said for a lot of the passengers.

Is this type of thing common? I would like to think that such incompetence is rare (forgetting one bag, ok, but come on, two dozen?) Aren't there any mechanisms in place to prevent this type of thing from happening? (Note: I'm relaying a story and not asking for (advice on) compensation, so there's no need to bring out the big guns.)