Suggestion for filing a complaint w/TSA
 

Based on this article
"Does the TSA really care about your customer experience?"

There seems to be a way for individuals to file complaints that may lead to improvement.

The author states that within 24 hours of filing a complaint she was asked for more detail. She submitted more information. She received a 3rd request from TSA asking for specific detail. Exact time, date, location, physical description.

I would suggest then that if you wish to file a complaint with TSA,

You gather the following information:

*Date of incident
*Time of incident
*Location (Terminal, Checkpoint, Screening Lane, TDC, AIT, xray, etc. as applicable.)
*Detailed description of yourself the day of incident - e.g. type and color of clothes, shoe color, bag color, OR same description of the person who might be complaining for.

Name of officer (if known)
Name of Supervisor (if known)

I am not sure how many are aware, but at the exit of each TSA Screening Area is a comment card. You can fill it out while it is fresh in your mind and drop it off in the box next to the cards, drop it off at any TSA Screening Area, or mail it in.
Each time I have filled out a card it was addressed and I received a response from the TSA Manager at the Screening location.

But was any action taken that you are aware of?

I complained at LAX about the wheelchair brigade delaying folks in the Pre-Check line. It took 2 complaints but now if there are Pre-Check folks who walk up before the wheelchair folks are out of the chair, you can go in front of them. Before you had to wait behind all of them.
My other complaints were at various airports for lack of getting Pre-Check. Each time they opened an Inquiry with TSA, and one saw I had 2 opened already, and escalated it to a section in TSA who worked with the airlines to get it working. I have not had anyone rude, had anything come up missing, or any other issues than those. Since it was the Managing TSA Officer at the actual Airport each time that replied, I am assuming they are the ones who check the boxes or reads the cards, which is better than the TSA person who is standing there doing the screening.

You refer to "TSA Manager" and "Managing TSA Officer" in your posts. I've never heard of these as official titles. Would you be willing to share the names and perhaps contact information of those folks, so that others on FT who have issues might be able to contact them directly?

You're new here, so I'll warn you that many, many FTers have had multiple negative experiences with TSA personnel at every airport in the country. Some are minor, others are major; some are consistently bad, others are occasional. However, TSA is thought of in the most negative fashion by most FTers, so expect to get a lot of sarcastic replies - not directed at you, just amused at the possibility that an organization which has had such a poor history of both customer relations and actually fixing problems, would actually fix things when you complained by the written traditional card method.

Anyway, it would be most appreciated by others who use the airports you mention, if you could post the contact information for those TSA representatives. If they really did effectively address your complaints, rather than just spouting platitudes and saying what you wanted to hear, then they are people we want to contact when we have a problem - the people who can get things done.

And welcome to FlyerTalk!

I do not think I would want my name on the complaining list...

Who needs for them to have your number...

I have not had anything happen worth complaining about anyhow.

I suggest that if you want to file a complaint, you do so in the most formal way possible (e.g. a formal FTCA and/or Rehab Act claim), and follow it up with a lawsuit when they refuse to respond (like with me).

That, and negative press, gets results. Nothing else does. Which is unfortunate.

I happen to have contact at the TSA at my home airport who has been very good about answering questions for me over the years. When I have run into issues at other airports I just ask him for the email of the FSD and directly send my complaint to them.

When I had a claim denied by TSA for nonsensical reasons I used my Congress critter's office to extract $12 out of the TSA (they failed to put my zipper twist tie back on). Though, several legal friends said I should have file a formal tort claim.