TSA Wrecked my bag
 

Here's a new one: (I think)

Checked in my brand new Hardsided TravelPro Bag at EWR, and left it unlocked. When it appeared on the luggage belt at SAN, the bag was open with items falling out. The TSA had put "inspected" stickers on it. A closer inspection showed that someone had broken the latches with a screwdriver or similar device, and the case was pried open, and will no longer latch closed.

I went to the TSA office at SAN, and all they would do was give me the TSA hotline number, saying it was not their responsibility since the "inspection" stickers were from Newark.

The person on the TSA Hotline told me that since it was the TSA's policy not to break locks/latches on unlocked bags, my bag must have been locked, and they are not responsible for damage to locked bags.

I filed a claim anyway... let's see what happens.

It's nice to know that the people we depend on to detect hidden explosives, etc. cannot figure out how to open an unlocked bag without breaking it.

I should add the bag contained only clothes and a toiletries kit. I wonder why they decided it needed to be opened?

[This message has been edited by cranrob (edited 11-06-2003).]

Did you connect anywhere?

It sounds like like you had some bad luvk, cranbob.

My problem, from a legal perspective, is one of proof. How can you provide evidence that the damage occurred at the hands of TSA? After it was security screened, your bag was in the custody of your airline. It seems to me that your bag could very well have been damaged in the airline's custody. Bottom line is that you really cannot know.

[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited 11-06-2003).]

From my understanding, I don't work in baggage, btw.

If they open your bag, then they place a note inside. If they just run it through the Xray, some airports just place a sticker on the bag to show the baggage guys outside it's been cleared.

You sure it wasn't someone from the airline? I know thats the question always asked but it is a fair question to ask.

And Spiff before you say it, TSA still causes a problem because of the unlocked bag policy.

I think TSA’s SOP is to take suspicious bags to a remote location and BLOW THEM UP.

Maybe they were outta C4 that day but had just confiscated an axe from a little old lady and needed lock breaking practice. Consider yourself lucky this time.

MisterNice

Exactly! I had a bag mangled that had a TSA seal on it, but no note in the bag. No note = no TSA in the bag. The airline paid for the bag in the end. I know it's easy to jump to conclusions here, but I have a feeling the airline got your bag.

No Note DOES NOT equal no TSA.

There are plenty of times that the TSA has rifled through my equipment case and left NO note. Before any of you TSA apologists ask me how I know this, I have stayed behind in DCA, LAS and PHX to watch them rifle through my case and have NOT gotten the note.

If a screener wants to steal something, they are going to open a bag, steal the item and close it back up, with no note. Then the TSA will say "No note, we didn't open it".

This is just another example of typical TSA idiocy. These intrusions should be done under DUAL CONTROL and VIDEO SURVEILLANCE. The Screeners employee # should be on the note and the bag should be SECURED.

This is how it SHOULD be done.

Right now, the TSA should be held responsible for ALL claims. The funds should come directly out of the pockets of any employee at the FSD level and higher. If these morons started feeling the financial pain that they are causing, they might actually fix this idiotic system.

Why would they bother putting a note in if you were there watching them?

Also, I think the term 'TSA apologists' is needlessly divisive. Most of the TSA people I see on this site are pretty level-headed and fair and don't deserve to be labelled like that.

Correct. CamGuy makes no secret how he feels and generalizes TSA employees. However, he is in the minority. Not all folks, FF or otherwise, feel like this. He is basing his postings on bad experience. Don’t get me wrong though, if you have a bad experience then by all means deal with it, but you shouldn’t judge all based on that alone.

This is probably the only time I will ever agree with you.

If the regulations are "Put the note in the bag", then they should put the note in the bag. PERIOD. How do they know that I am the owner of the bag?

The TSA is a JOKE. It's policies are a JOKE.

The TSA and MOST of it's employees feel that they are above any accountability. This attitude MUST change.

Ok, here's the rundown. And this is 100% by the book. Starting with airports that have CTX (Xrays). If the xrays are "behind the scenes", so to speak, then once the bag has been checked in and sent down the belt, it is run through the xray. They operate much in the same way an MRI does. It displays a 3D image of the bag and contents on the xray screen. If the machine detects anything suspicious, it highlights it on the screen and a screener searches it. If the bag is locked, it is my understanding that the passenger is to be paged, however, we are not going to wait forever. If the passenger does not show up within a reasonable amount of time then the bag is opened by whatever means possible. Then a note is supposed to be placed inside the bag, and sealed with tsa appointed materials. If the machines are out front, the passengers may stay and watch, if not requested to stay and watch, and if bag needs to be opened, it should be done in front of the passenger. With ETD's, which are usually in front of the counters, passengers usually stay with the bags. If checking in curbside, it's usually a drop and go station where we don't request a passenger to stay with their bags because of the amount of traffic at curbside. However, should bags need to be opened out of view of the passengers, a note should be placed inside the bag and sealed.

Now, as far as TSA employees stealing anything, I can't speak for anyone except the people I work with. And I do know none of them would do such a thing. Maybe there are some low-lifes employeed at airports that would do something of this nature, but not many. And, just to let you know....there are cameras. So if you do decide to accuse someone of stealing, ask to see the tape. But I will say, watch who you call which names.

EWR does "behind the scenes" screening. I was not paged, and the bag was unlocked.

Quote:

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> Then a note is supposed to be placed inside the bag, and sealed with tsa appointed materials.

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There was no note inside the bag (however the bag was wide open on the carousel, so it could have fallen out). There were, however, a numbered TSA sticker over both latches, but they were torn when the bag reopened.

Quote:

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
ask to see the tape.

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Who do I ask for this?



[This message has been edited by cranrob (edited 11-07-2003).]

Well, as long as I have been with the TSA, it's a rarity when a passenger actually hears the page and returns. At least at our airport if you're in the restroom or any of the shops food courts, etc.. you can't hear the pages. So we can't exactly wait forever. But, I did learn this afternoon, that some of our fellow airports don't even page passengers. It seems that we DO have some ignorant employees that feel paging isn't going to do any good. I will say, however, not all of our TSA employees are like this. I've come to learn that the airlines as well like to put as much blame on busted bags and other things on TSA. Here's what I usually tell people that complain to me. All the flyers that we give out have the same number. So it really doesn't matter where you complain to. You can go to the FSD of the airport and he won't be able to get you a new bag. It has to be done through washington, and they won't authorize us to pay for the bag or damage unless there is proof that we did it. It is very difficult to find proof that we did anything to the bag unless it is found on video or it would only be possible to be our fault. Busted bags are usually not going to be blamed on us. The reason being. The only time we load bags on the belts you would see us doing it. We do not load them on the aircraft nor bring them from the aircraft to the baggage claim belts. We only touch them to screen them, and load them on the belts behind the ticket counters in view of the public. Even with the behind the scenes luggage, we only screen it then it continues down a belt to the air carrier. I can try to answer your question for the video feed. At my airport we have an airport authority. They control the camera room for our security cameras. I'm not sure whom you would speak to at other airports. You may have to ask several employees, or if you see an officer standing around, they usually know. However, it is at their discretion whether or not to let you see the video footage. It was a slow day at work, and I had a page load of questions, so I got some answers for you. In the end. TSA is going to blame it on the airlines, and the airlines are going to blame it on TSA.

Say that again? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif Just want to make sure that this is official TSA policy of paging for ALL airports with behind-the-scenes screening. This is good news to my ears.

- Pat