Just curious did customs make you pay duty?

hopefully op can use this to sue if it comes to that. What a nightmare :( i recently had to make the same choices for my handbag

The zipper, edging, and lining resemble Hartmann, but not the lock and not the herringbone fabric. Hartmann tends to use tweed (or solid colors).

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Looks the same to me.

I can empathize with the OP. Forced gate checking usually happens at the last minute when the door is about to close. I've had agents say "give me your bag now and get on or you will be rebooked on the next available flight." That doesn't leave a lot of time for pulling valuables.

No wonder. Do not buy anything more than $40. Assuming that the baggage handlers are thieves, with a 90 seconds window, do you think they will open a Hartmann/LV or a $30 bag?

I used to give training to the traveling sales team on how to pack their bags and suitcases although this wasn't my job. I did that because if the lost of equipment affect their deals, it will cost my boss his bonus therefore affecting me.

It is not just the last minute. Sometimes small commuter jet do not have luggage bin in the cabin. I used to fly a lot on LGA-YYZ and they used small jet. The whole cabin are all Y class and the first person can see the last seat on the plane. All carryon get gate checked to the belly of the plane. Only the laptop bag was allowed.

True but RJ gate checked bags are returned planeside. Clearly the OP was on mainline as the gate checked bag was tagged to final destination.

Sorry you had to go through this OP.

Every now & then the airline will make me gate check my carry on. I always make sure I take out anything expensive & keep it in my backpack.

Many years ago I got back home to discover that TSA had gone through my checked in luggage (I had the TSA 'Notice of Baggage Inspection' slip in my bag when I opened it). My blazer & shoes were missing. Both were fairly expensive items. I contacted both the airline & TSA regarding this but neither did anything about it. From that point onward I never check in anything that is expensive. If I can't carry it on me then I won't take it on the trip with me.

Sadly not how the conventions/annexes work.

Was it a Chanel bag or a Channel bag as spelled in the original post? Was it a Hartman or a Hartmann? Knockoff's not worth as much, sorry for your loss, though.

Forcing a gate check changes nothing about the check itself. You don't want to risk a newly purchased Chanel bag (or anything else), don't check it.

If you're flying a small connecting plane with a big bag, expect to check it.

OK, now the devil's advocate perspective: They track checked bags pretty closely these days, so it seems that this kind of mishap is rare. Someone had to specifically break into that bag, and steal that specific high priced item. How would they know that item was there? Why would they tear up the inner bag? And whoever did that would have to risk their clearance, their job and their career over it. And they would know you'd know about it on arrival. It seems more like the kind of think that might happen if one left their bag unattended.

An easier compensation route might be the insurance of a credit card used to purchase the item.

that’s a super not funny joke

It can very easily be a 10k item.. do they have to scan the bag before opening? Seems like someone just busted the lock open with some kind of glue rather than TSA key.

Maybe customs was able to get a preview of the items, then text their friends in ground crew to look out for a specific bag. Basically a spotter. I mean how much qualification do you need for that job?

Lot of Victim blaming here in this thread. Assuming many of you have never had a lapse in judgement and forgotten to take something valuable out of a forced gate checked carry on?

Delta cancelled our original flight from CDG to ATL due to a mechanical and we were re-booked through IAD, had been awake over 24 hours by the time we boarded the flight to ATL.

The carry-on itself is Hartmann spinner which fits within Delta's baggage sizer, the Agent's reasoning for the forced check was space and there was none available where we were sitting on the plane to ATL (717)

@Play by Plane it was a Chanel, purchased from their store in Nice, forgive my spelling.