TSA opened my checked luggage and something is missing
 

I opened my luggage, locked by a TSA approved lock and found one of those "we opened your luggage" things. One of my adapters for my tripod is now missing. Do I have any recourse?

You are not the first person to experience this. I will say that after purchasing TSA locks and/or lockable bags I haven't had anything come up missing. Generally its your word against their's but having the locks does assign some for of accountability. I seriously doubt anyone will just happen to remember STEALING it. Of course, it could be an honest mistake but I wouldn't count on it. You can go through the motions of filing a complaint. With a little luck you *MIGHT* receive some type of compensation. Then again, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one either. If TSA doesn't want to claim responsibility, you can always complain to the airline and/or airport management. They tend to frown upon security ripping off their paying customers. You will also get a lot further if you can produce a receipt for the gear.

Are you sure you even packed it? Sounds like an odd thing for a screener to steal. They seem to prefer prescription drugs, gift cards, ipods, etc.

Probably not stolen, but dropped.

TSA Forms Site
 

Probably stolen by the goons....either out of spite (they hate their jobs) or to hock it...(they claim they are underpaid).

Idiots and Morons.

I don't hate my job or claim that I'm underpaid. And I would never consider stealing anything from anyone. Could you maybe consider using something other than narrow-minded, general terms to describe us. We're not goons and we're not all idiots or morons.

I could easily generalize frequent travelers or give you examples of when the first class line is longer than the normal line, but the people at the end of the "elite" line wouldn't think of expediting their screening process by using the same line everyone else does because it might mean giving up their perceived status in front on their friends.

There are some in every bunch....

The TSA is, as a group, acts like a bunch of goons. Individual employees may be honest, but when they represent a dishonest and incompetent organization they become agents of those of goons. IME theft and loss of baggage contents by friends and coworkers (nothing major, thankfully) is responded to with indifference or hostility.

I would venture a guess that, if you people stopped opening our luggage out of our presence and stealing from us, this would go a long way to eliminating the need for generalizations.

No you cannot, and therein lies the problem. Exactly how can you generalize or degrade your paying customers? There is only one answer and that is that you are a government employee and thus safe from the corrections of a free market.

I believe you that as an individual you are honest and don't dislike your job. However, having been a victim of checked-baggage-content theft myself (a set of small iPod speakers...clearly something that would be attractive to someone inspecting my luggage - and don't tell me it was the airline baggage folks because there was no reason they would have opened my generic black 26" roller), the problem you have is that there ARE more than a few "of you" who hate their jobs and feel underpaid and take luggage inspection as an opportunity to get some "just desserts". DON'T DENY THAT THIS HAPPENS, because you KNOW that it does. YOU DO.

The result of your few "bad apples" is that like it or not, we will generalize and tag you all as dishonest thieves. As individuals I'm sure that 90% of you are good, honest, hard-working folks who maybe (maybe) think you're making a difference; OR, maybe you're good, honest, hard-working folks who are just doing what the rest of us do: "just workin' a job" and taking care of your families. The problem is, thanks to the other 10%, the dishonest, officious, offensive 10%, I HATE YOU ALL and everything you stand for. I view EVERY ONE of you with DISDAIN and CONTEMPT every time I pass through a checkpoint.

Don't like it, tmspa? Thank your 10% co-workers.

And therein is part of the problem: we are really not seen as "customers" by the TSA. They'll have their job no matter what, and we have no choice of vendor nor price.

That was my thought, also.

I have had my locks opened and have "lost" items in my bags on occasion. But in most cases, because of the item, I just assumed it was forgotten and didn't think twice. One of the times, I had some merchandise that was for a convention, each item was marked carefully and I had written on the top what was in each bubble wrap and how many. Each item was opened and one item from each package went "missing". I don't find that accidental. I filed a claim with TSA and of course it was denied even though I could provide receipts for the missing items. It was quite frustrating.

Ship it as cargo. It is WAY more expensive, but I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be screened :p

So you won't be joining the union when it comes to your airport.....

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cf...dcn=todaysnews

Yeah...and I gotta bridge in Brooklyn you can buy.


Morons and Idiots.

Good for you that you don't steal. But I bet you KNOW who does and that you just look the other way....

Don't you like the shiny tiraras the perceived majesties wear? :D

We have had the opportunity to join the union AFGE (Allied Federal Government Employees) since day one, however, without any real bargaining rights. I haven't joined and may never do so. I feel that I'm compensated appropriately for what I do. I have enough education and experience to earn more if I choose. Currently, I enjoy what I do and the people I work with (including passengers).

I do not KNOW the people that steal. I would hope that it doesn't happen at MSP. I would not look the other way if I saw someone steal. I wouldn't hesitate to turn someone in for anything that resembled misuse of a public trust position.

This is why I don't check anything of value.
 

The fact that some TSA or baggage handlers will steal something petty out of my checked bag (last time it was some chocolate-covered macadamia nuts I was taking to a friend) unfortunately means I can't extend trust to any of them.

So if it's worth anything, it goes in my carry-on. In fact, lately I've just stopped checking baggage entirely. Yeah, I have to do laundry more often - but I don't have to wonder about government-sanctioned kleptomania.

If I want to leave my bag in the hands of people I trust, I'll head for a lounge.

Given the current job market, and their lack of any kind of transferrable skill, or work experience, or education, they are very much overpaid.

They're LUCKY they're not unemployed, given the professional acumen most screeners I've seen have, the arrogant attitudes, the lack of education, etc. If you graduated top of your class at Harvard Law School and interned at 3 different law firms where your research helped win a dozen different class action cases, no, you can be a complete ......... and firms will STILL be banging down your door giving you job offers. But this isn't the case. The TSA screeners, as far as I can tell, aren't very smart, do they think critically all that much. And as far as I can tell, no TSA screener graduated top of his/her class ANYWHERE.

They're LUCKY they're not subject to the free market. If I ran a law firm/company/bank/consultancy, I wouldn't hire these people to be the doorman. Not even the janitor. I'm afraid they'd assault my clients because they're "underpaid" and hate their jobs. If you hate your job so much, go to college and get a BA in something marketable like the rest of us.

Of course this doesn't apply to ALL screeners, there are professional, courteous screeners out there, I have yet to see one.

I use NON-TSA Locks everytime.

I want to know if someone has been in my bag.
To date, I've yet to have my lock broken.

You can buy TSA locks with indicators on them. See here

I've lost countless non TSA locks (Bi Locks) on extra bags, but I'm lucky work has a huge box of them for people to lock up their laptops :) These are no small cheap locks, if they want inside they will chop the lock off.

I should add, the only thing I've had gone missing were some matches and a lighter.

Am I really a diamond in the rough? A TSO with a college degree!

The fact is, I have worked with TSOs over the years with BAs, MAs, PhDs....etc. I have worked with people who have worked for large companies such as IBM, 3M, Imation, Wells Fargo. I have worked with chemists, computer programmers, retired police officers, former pilots. I have worked with people that have went on to be police officers, pilots, Customs / Immigration Officers, Secret Service Agents, FAMs, financial consultants....

The TSA is probably one of the most diverse workforces in the country. A lot of things happened post-911, including changes in the economy and lay-offs from work.

Not much that I have read on here has offended me, I agree with a lot of the comments I have seen posted. However, this one irks me. You are generalizing ALL screeners in your statements. (Even though you say you aren't). Yes, SOME fit your description, but the majority DO NOT. I wouldn't say that I am proud to work for the TSA, but I am proud of the work that I do for the TSA. I have a college degree, I have common sense, I treat people with respect, I don't practice retalitory secondary screening, and I am not a moron. What I am is a single woman, trying to do my job, pay my mortgage, drive a stupid truck, take care of my stupid dogs, earn a decent wage and have some health insurance. So PLEASE, don't throw me into the mix of uneducated, lazy, ignorant, moronic people who are lucky to have high school diplomas and a job! Realize that the people you are refering to make up a small portion of the TSA, and that the majority of TSA employees are decent people.

Honest TSA employees such as yourself throw themselves in with "the mix of uneducated, lazy, ignorant, moronic people who are lucky to have high school diplomas and a job." It's great (seriously) that you treat people with respect, but you tacitly accept the small portion of TSA employees that do not. If not, what are the majority of honest TSA employees doing to eliminate the goons?

One can blame it on TSA management, but when one works with goons and doesn't actively try and stop them, one will get lumped in with the goons.

When you countenance them, you become a part of them.

As for pilots, financial consultants, etc. working for TSA.....yeah right, you've got to be kidding me. The economy might have been bad, but a financial consultant HAS to have been able to get a better job. That's like telling me someone with a JD from Harvard will now go choose to become a paralegal at The Law Offices of Joe Schmoe.

You DO have a BA in something marketable. That's great. But you're underemployed. You might as well be unemployed. There's got to be a better paying job. Even a legal secretary makes more than a luggage screener.

My experience has been similar. Many TSOs are retired military, or folks who have taken advantage of a corporate buyout. Are we "underemployed"? Perhaps, but keep in mind that some of us were successful in our earlier careers, and no longer need to work full-time!

Employers who offer health insurance, life insurance, 401K, etc., to part-time employees are few and far between, making the TSA an attractive option. :)

Hey, when the TSA quits treating me and my kids like criminal suspects, maybe my attitude towards the TSA and its members will improve.

I know both former pilots that currently work for the TSA and former TSA that currently work as pilots.

As far as the financial consultant, I said that I know TSA that have went on to be financial consultants.

It may sound far fetched to you, but I'm not pulling your leg. I'm sure there are other TSA people on this board that have similar experiences.

When did this topic go from a check luggage posting to what a TSA previous life/job was?

Please agree to disagree and let us move on, back to thread topic, if there is still one.

Debating is fine, but please don't take over topics in the process, there is the New Thread Option.

The theft from my checked baggage that I referred to earlier in this thread occurred at MSP. Guess you weren't in the immediate area when your dishonest, criminal co-worker did his/her deed to me and my property.