The employee was totally in the wrong -- but this is an unusual bag, and I think I can understand why this might have happened. When you remove the battery from most battery-equipped bags, you also remove the USB port. This is the only one I've ever seen where you still have a USB port even when you have no battery.

I would honestly consider getting a custom-embroidered bag tag that says "NO BATTERY" or similar to put on the bag to prevent confusion in the future.

Why did you fly JetBlue before this happened? In the end, your problem involved two or three employees, out of thousands, who have presumably provided service you valued in the past. Putting myself in your shoes, I would be mad as heck, and would absolutely be fighting for better compensation. However, I also can't imagine one screwup causing a delay of less than 4 hours being enough to make me completely change my opinion of an airline.

You've only really given them one opportunity to fix this adequately, so far, and often airport personnel don't have the ability to offer a ton of compensation. I would take it up via a more formal customer service process, and/or Twitter, and see if you can do better.

Going out on a limb, but I would argue that this should qualify as IDB: you followed all the rules, and they denied you boarding on your flight nonetheless. Saying "if you board the plane we'll throw out your suitcase" is pretty much indistinguishable from being denied boarding.

This was an unfortunate mistake, but there's no way it was an IDB.

Not in a legal sense, but it's equivalent in terms of effect and responsibility. I think it's a useful comparison in terms of requesting compensation.

The airline industry is full of low skill labor who'd have the same false reaction to a suitcase pocket. While B6 effed up here, not sure other airlines would handle any better.

Also, B6 is the only airline with direct service to BOS from SJC, so you're paying to get to SFO if you move.

Wrong.

A consequential damage is one which occurs because a party fails to meet a contractual obligation.

That is exactly what this is.

No. Consequential damages are those indirectly resulting from the contract breach. (For goodness' sake, you can figure this out just by googling, it's not like you even need Black's Law.) When an airline delivers a passenger to SFO and the contract was to deliver the passenger to SJC, that the passenger now needs to find a way from SFO to SJC is a direct damage - one that immediately (not consequentially) results from the contract breach. It is really not advisable to play lawyer when you have no idea what you're talking about.

Only because I don't go to most of their most popular destinations. Southwest and AA are a better fit. Nothing against Delta.

Hello Everyone, I wanted to share the latest information.

JetBlue has finally compensated me about as much as could be expected. It took more effort on my part than I would've liked, but at the end of the day I think they made up for everything as much as they could. First, I went on twitter, and then Facebook, and then I called the Mosaic phone number, and then I finally had to email. But the end of the story is they reimbursed my $85 cab fare (they can't reimburse the tip, so that's fine) PLUS they added $450 to my travel bank. I think that is pretty fair, maybe even generous.

The long story is it took some effort. When this originally happened, the agent in Boston said they would credit $100 to my travel bank. I posted the experience on twitter that same day and got a private message saying they would add another $100 but that is all they could do. When I checked my travel bank a few days later, there was only $100 added, not $200.

So then I called the Mosaic line. The woman on the phone patiently listed to my calm rant and was very apologetic. She said the largest amount that she is authorized to deposit is $250, and she would do that. She also recommended that I email the JetBlue Mosaic address with receipts to ask for reimbursement for the cab fare, which I did. In the same email I re-explained again everything that happened, and I also asked if there was anything else they could offer that might help make up for the experience.

JetBlue replied to the email confirming the cab fare would be reimbursed, plus they would add another $100 to my travel bank. So that was $100 from either the Boston agent or twitter, then another $250 from the Mosaic telephone agent, then $85 for the cab fare plus another $100 from the Mosaic email, for a total of $535. So all in all I have to say they took care of it.

I realize that people make mistakes and this same thing could've happened on any airline. I am very patient and understanding and it takes a lot for me to get upset. I wish the JetBlue agents in Boston had been a little more pro-active, but I guess I can't justify leaving JetBlue for this experience based on their final reimbursement.

Thanks everyone for all your thoughts and advice. The JetBlue agents in Boston put a big JETBLUE APPROVED sticker on the battery pocket of my luggage, and I would leave it there forever if I didn't also travel on other airlines. The USB cable is sewn into the bag and I cant find an easy way to get it out, but you better believe I am going to cut it or rip it out or do whatever I have to before I check the bag again. Hopefully if I can remove any visual cues on the outside that indicate it is a "smart bag" with a battery pocket no one else will repeat the same mistake in the future.

Glad to see you got a fair shake and gave one in return.