jkhuggins

Seems to me like most people here are missing the point of the original question.

Yes, we all understand why the OP was asked to produce his luggage receipts. Yes, we understand that the procedure is in place to try to reduce the incidence of lost/stolen luggage.

But the question was this: was the OP required to produce the information upon demand? By what authority? And upon whose demand?

After all ... if I buy myself a nice spiffy jacket and a shiny badge and walk into the LGA baggage claim area and start demanding that passengers produce the receipts for their bags, how is anyone suppose to know that I'm an @#$!hole just doing this for entertainment and not someone authorized to demand that information?

puddinhead

OK, wearing a red coat and hanging at the airport for fun would mean your life really sucks - maybe it is preferable to living in a box over a subway vent but I can think of about a billion things I would rather do.

I remember LAS was one of the few airports that checked tags but stopped because it was cheaper to pay for 'lost' luggage than pay people to check it. I wish all airports did,it after having my,luggage stolen twice. It had scanned leaving the plane but I never saw it.

I would like it if all airports checked bag tags, it only takes about 10 seconds to check them - less time than one would spend filling out forms, looking for receipts and following up to get your stuff replaced.

bhatnasx

Thank you. I did ask if I was required and that wasn't answered, so I kept moving.

My bag tags were buried somewhere in my carryon laptop bag. Didn't see the value in waiting in line to show someone that isn't an airline employee or a uniformed officer any sort of ID if I'm not required to do so.

Maybe if they had 10 people checking bag tags to make the process go faster - but I saw no purpose in sitting around waiting for my turn to leave with my property.

puddinhead

You have to show your receipt as Sam's Club and Costco - it is part of your membership agreement unless you want it to be terminated.

At other stores just ask if you are under arrest - legally it is your stuff, ownership changed at the point of purchase. They could detain you but without probable cause they will be liable for false imprisonment. The probable cause would have to be something besides not showing a receipt.

RJNYC

I can't stand these red coat morons at LGA either. They serve no purpose other than to create bottle necks leaving the baggage claim area. Only airport in the system where I've seen this asinine process in place.

FlyingNone

------------
Hate that, get it when I'm leaving Wal-Mart all the time.....annoying as most of the time the receipt is at the bottom of my purse or thrown into the one of six bags I'm lugging. Nevertheless, in relation to this incident, it's quite easy for thieves to steal bags....there have been many examples of thieves stealing bags off belts and just walking away, one was a husband/wife team that stole hundreds of bags over a long period of time (in Arizona) - when finally caught, the authorities found these bags in the perpetrators home. I understand the OP's frustration. Most passengers are in a hurry once they step foot off the airplane and short of going to a restroom they just want out of the airport if they are unfortunate enough to have to wait for their bag(s) at the claim.

heraclitus

The outcome of this story underscores the pointlessness of it all.

You have a typical officious jerk in uniform who thinks everyone must obey his command... but in the end he is useless because if the OP was in fact a thief it's not like said officious jerk would have prevented him from walking off with the bag anyway.

That said, I have to wonder about the wisdom of placing luggage carousels in non-secure areas. Sometimes I would like to stop and have a bite to eat after disembarking, but I always feel the need to hurry up and collect my bags and not leave them circling around for an hour lest someone snatch them away. And inevitably when you leave the carousel you're pretty much on the curb, well away from the airport's amenities.

PresRDC

Amen. And ^ to you for taking a stand.

I don't need nor want help preventing my bags from being stolen. I can solve for that problem myself by making sure that I am at the belt before the bags start coming and positioned so that I am the first person a bag must pass when it comes out of the spagetti monster.

Where did I learn this? From my Dad at LGA many years ago.

Loose Cannon

There was a time when it was routine for someone to check your claim stub against your baggage tag when exiting baggage reclaim. I remember that happening in the early 1970's both before and after the Nixon Administration implemented screening checkpoints at airports.

javabytes

No. As long as they are polite and know their bounds, often times I'll consent. The more power they invent for themselves, or the more aggressive/hostile they act, the more I will hold my ground. Because at that point they've stopped doing their jobs, and I absolutely will take the opportunity to retrain them. Same way I deal with the TSA.

Loose Cannon

I understand that baggage reclaim in Canada is considered part of the secure area.

grahampros

That kinda response is just BS. The OP by his own admission was being LAZY and didn't want to be BOTHERED with fishing them out. So the choice was simple fish them out or produce ID. It is not at all unsual to expect such things at an airport these days. Dont like it DONT travel. Simple as that.

heraclitus

Not really. In my brand-new home airport of YWG, the baggage claim area is designed to be wide open to anyone who walks in off the street. It's the same thing in several Canadian airports.

Even in T1 at YYZ which separates the baggage claim area from the public spaces with frosted glass doors that open only when people leave, there is absolutely nothing preventing you from walking the "wrong way" through. No one ever stops you or challenges you.

I think there might be some wisdom to keeping the carousels at least somewhat off-limits to the general public. But the airports don't seem to think so. I guess if someone is intent on pilfering something, they'll find a way to do it?

spyvsspy

Didn't the British wear red coats back in the day? These red coats had no authority to grab or detain the passenger or his property. They should have called law enforcement officers if they believed there was theft in progress. We have seen these situations numerous times at Walmart and it usually ends poorly for the private security.

spyvsspy

Some of YYZ baggage claim is secure, but there is no way in the near future that the US is going to retrofit baggage claim areas to be secure.