Flyz

So I flew LHR-SFO and collected my suitcase to take through customs. All was well. Checked it back in at United. I arrive at my final destination, EUG, and the telescoping handle, the one you pull out to pull the suitcase, has been ripped off. I mean just pulled clean out of the suitcase and it's gone.

So it's 1:00 in the morning and I spend a long time tramping all over the tiny airport looking for anyone. None of the desks have anyone at them. I finally find a security guard who turns up a weary young United agent. I show her the suitcase. "Nothing to do with us," she says. "You could have started out with it that way." "Oh, come on," I say. "Call 1-800-UNITED1 then," she says. "It's nothing we deal with here at the airport."

So I lug the suitcase home -- hard to maneuver it without being able to wheel it! -- and call the premier number. (I'm premier silver.) The woman says, "What is your damage claim number?" I say I have no damage claim number. She says, "You should have gotten that at the airport." I say the agent at the airport told me to call United. "No," she says, "you have to deal with it at the airport." I say, "Since the agent wouldn't deal with it, who do I talk to now?' She gives me a number, after looking for a long time, and I read it back to her to make sure it's correct. When I phone it I find that it's the Delaware County Fair.

So I call 1-800-UNITED1. After finally making the system give me an agent, the agent tells me to call "the TSA." "The TSA?" I say. "Is this a United number?" She says yes. She tells me the number and I read it back to her to make sure it's correct. Then I phone it and it is a number that is out of service.

At this point I am getting pretty fed up. Any suggestions?

IAHtraveler

Per UA.com, they are not responsible for "Damage to wheels, feet, extending handles and items of fragile or perishable nature", among other things.

However, I would send a customer care note because that's severe damage. If they still don't offer any help (and tell you you needed to contact the unhelpful airport), I'd contact the Better Business Bureau and see if you can get any help. When I had issues with incorrect mileage charges for award tickets (and many agents unwilling to correct the issue), they corrected the issue within 24 hours of my contacting the BBB.

JeffS

The internet is your friend:
united.com

KenInEscazu

I have had irritating baggage issues with UA before, including a bent handle. What I have learned through the process is that each airport has one person (only one) who is in charge of baggage claims in addition to their other regular duties. They aren't given enough time each week to deal with the baggage claims, so it's not really the individual's fault. IMO, it's a huge hole in UA's customer service.

The least slow way to deal with this is to contact the airport to find out who that person is, then leave voicemails regularly until they answer. The agent you found at 1:00 AM was obviously uninformed. Explain your problem to the agent in charge once you reach them and ask them for the path to follow.

I think the odds are good that they will make it right, but it isn't likely to be an easy ride. It's going to take some tenacity. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

tornado163

They're not responsible for that on domestic flights, but they may be responsible on international flights, especially involving Europe. However since you had already claimed your suitcase at SFO, I imagine UA will consider the SFO-EUG leg purely domestic.

I had a miserable experience also, my suitcase was misplaced and the zipper was broken on a EWR-LHR flight. UA email responses kept telling me I should have showed the suitcase at the airport, which I obviously couldn't do since my suitcase arrived 2 days late by courier.

After 6 weeks of getting vague email replies and incompetent phone reps, I decided to just buy a cheap new suitcase ($50) and submit the insurance claim for both my interim expenses and the new suitcase. After about a month I got the check for the full amount for both. If you want to do that, take and send pictures of your damaged suitcase, send a copy of your receipt for a replacement suitcase, and a receipt for your broken suitcase (if you have it). Make sure to keep copies of everything you send, just in case it gets "lost" in the mail.

Claim form available at http://www.united.com/web/format/pdf...tyClaim_en.pdf

valor155

Too bad the folks at the airport weren't a friend. Or even helpful. Or gave the OP the correct information, etc.

That's 9/10ths of the problem here!

Now this, this on the other hand IS helpful! ^

BearX220

That's a sublime expression of United customer service quality. Hilarious. Sorry for your experience, OP, but I LOL'd. ^

aacharya

1.800.325.3347 is Delaware.

Not sure what UA number that would've converted to, as I use the legacy CO 866 number.

MBS MillionMiler

I've got to say, I was pleased with my recent (similar) experience...

I arrived at home at MBS, with a BRAND NEW Samsonite bag I had purchased 2 weeks earlier. It was my first trip with the bag (I still had the receipt), and while Samsonite isn't Tumi, LV or a premium brand, they're still decent--not like the throw-away $30 bags I used to buy. The bottom was cut up and one of the 4 wheels was missing. The bag was clearly dropped or a gate or aircraft door was slammed on it--something out of the norm.

Anyway, I saw one of the agents, whom I know pretty well (I'm sure THAT helped a lot). I showed him the bag, he told me he'd leave a message for the station manager, and told me to bring the bag back at my convenience. A few weeks later, I brought the bag back and told me they were sending it to a repair shop. A week after that, my bag was delivered back to me, wheel fixed and the surrounding damage 'cleaned up' well enough where it looks much better.

I was pleased...And from my experience, it's not all doom and gloom when it comes to UA and bags, let alone all of the criticisms that all-UX outstations take.