Something "Borrowed" - PLEASE HELP!
 

Can anyone give us some advice on how to get a real person on the phone at United?

Last week my mom's jewelry was stolen from her carry on bag en route to Colorado. She had her bag with her the whole time (including bringing it in to restroom stalls, etc), except for from Harrisburg, Pa to Chicago when she was on a very small plane and they wouldn't allow her to bring the bag on the plane with her. So at the plane, they took her bag from her, and when she got it back plane side in Chicago all the jewelry was gone. Ordinarily she doesn't travel with much, but I'm getting married in 2 weeks so she was traveling with all of her nicest pieces to bring to the wedding including pearls my dad had bought her after he served in Vietnam, and another strand of pearls that were my grandmother's for me to wear.

We filed a "lost baggage" claim with United after wading through the automated voice system, which really doesn't help because the luggage wasn't lost, something in it was stolen. Plus, how can you provide receipts for family heirlooms? Time is of the essence here, we want this jewelry back before it hits a pawn shop. When we filed the claim I asked if there was a number that we could call back to check on progress and they refused. We've sent emails to the CEO, Customer Relations folks, etc. Please, if someone knows how we can get noticed, please let us know.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Not what you want to hear to be sure, but I would not expect to ever see that stuff again, and I would not expect them to give you anything for it. The only thing that may work out is if they catch whoever is doing it and they still have it around. They are very clear on what they won't cover and they state

If you are covered under homeowners insurance for it I would file a claim there, and file a report with the police in both Harrisburg and Chicago. Again that would only help if they catch them and are able to have stuff to return to you.

Welcome to FlyerTalk & sorry to hear about your mom's misfortune. Here the link for UA baggage related topics: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,1037,00.html

The phone number at the bottom of the page is the only # UA provides: 800-221-6903 & it appears to be fully automated system but try saying "operator" at every promt point & you should eventually get a human. Also try the CS email address (or do both.)

You can also try Twitter: @United public forum so might get help right away.

The problem I see is that your mom will have to provide proof that she had the jewelry in the bag in the first place.

Good luck!

Thanks for your response, and understanding. The problem is we believe it was stolen by a UA employee. This was not a checked bag, this was her carry-on which she intended to keep with her the whole time. However, she was forced to give United her bag literally as she was boarding the plane. All she was doing was complying with United regulations. It seems that they should be able to quickly narrow down the employees who had access to that bag, and help us. But they have to be willing to talk to us to make that happen.

One of the pieces was listed on my parents homeowners insurance since 1972, so we can claim that, but it won't bring back the piece or the numerous other pieces that were in there. It seems like United has access to be able to solve this situation, so it's frustrating they won't listen.

Have you filed a police report? That would be my first step, and will at least get their attention.

They may have access to solve the situation, but per their statement of liability, there is no "situation".

Thank you everyone for your help. My Dad tried to file a report with the Chicago police, but could not do so because there was a report filed in Harrisburg already. It seems if we need something to happen in Chicago, United has to act.

Please let me start this post by saying that it is not meant to cast doubt on the OP. My intent is to try to understand what might have transpired as this may offer clues to the situation.
From what I understand this bag was gate checked in Harrisburg (plane side) then returned in Chicago (also plane side) with missing items. From my observation of gate checked bags, they are typically moved directly from the location of gate checking, commonly outdoors, often in direct sight of people at the gate area and/or on the adjacent airplanes (and surely there are cameras capturing these areas) and loaded onto the plane. Unless the flight is delayed, the baggage handlers have little time to do this operation and work quite quickly. Then upon landing the same process happens in reverse. The bags are not scanned (or otherwise screened) in a way that would allow the baggage handlers to see their contents.
So how would a baggage handler have looked inside this specific bag? 1. By pure chance? Seems unlikely? 2. Did your mother say something when she gave up the bag ("be careful there are very valuable irreplaceable family jewels in there.."). 3. Does your mother dress or otherwise conspicuously present herself as someone who is filthy rich and might travel with expensive jewelry?
I know that "common knowledge" tells of the days when SFO was plagued by rogue baggage thieves, but that was with checked bags that have more time in processing. How could this happen with a gate checked bag?
If the OP really wants to know more, they might need to get (supoena?) the ramp tapes from both airport security cameras. How to do that, I'm not sure.

I agree and have the same sentiment (don't doubt the OPs story).

Was the bag gate checked and then picked up at baggage claim or as she left the plane? If it was the latter I can't imagine anyone having the opportunity to search bags for valuables unless they knew what they were looking for and even then someone else surely would have seen them.

+2. I live in Harrisburg and have never had a problem with any gate checked bags or the ramp personnel here. If it happened, I suspect Chicago would be the more likely location. The only person(s) who would have access to the bag out of sight of lots of other folks would be the one in the luggage hold taking the bags off or putting them on the belt used to take them between ground and plane. Even then, that person would likely be in view of the ramp crew member on the other end of the belt.

I think the chances may be much higher of it happening with a specific bag if she may have mentioned the valuables off hand when checking it as suggested.

When did she notice the items missing? Did she check into any hotels and use bellmen baggage service?

I would also add that if the bag had to be checked plane side, it was likely placed in the overhead bin on the other flight. This would have allowed access by all the passengers on the plane. I think that this is truly unfortunate, but without proof your case is going to be difficult to prove.

Sorry to hear about your mums loss. I hope you manage to resolve the situation favourably. As regards getting a person you could try ringing reservations, saying agent at the voice prompt and asking for their assistance in transferring you to a human somewhere in the baggage dept.

This is really sad to hear.

As the OP said her mom would bring the bag into the bathroom with her, I am seriously wondering why they would make her gate check it. I’m not saying it didn’t happen. My MIL was forced to gate checked her purse once which would have easily fit under her seat. It just baffles me that UA would be making someone gate check such a small bag. If something fits in a bathroom with a person, I believe it is reasonable to assume it would fit under a seat, even on an RJ.

One other thing that comes to mind is a story I saw on the news recently about thieves who would take empty suitcase, and then one of them would hide in the suitcase and then they would check that suitcase. The smaller thief would climb out of the suitcase in the luggage hold and plunder the other bags, and crawl back into the suitcase for retrieval. This was on busses in Spain, but perhaps it caught on?

I am not saying that’s what happened, but it could be another explanation as I find it hard to see when anyone would have time to go through someone’s stuff during the hectic gate check and retrieval process.

Welcome to FT, and sorry to hear about this. In my personal experience, it is much better to write a letter than to try to get someone on the phone. It's impersonal and slow, but I've had better luck with resolving situations using paper letters (though never one involving theft).

I disagree with this analysis. The sentence you quote is followed by "United prohibits the foregoing items being placed in checked baggage." It is very clear that the entire paragraph of rules regards checked baggage. Gate-checked carry-on luggage is not checked baggage, and by separating passengers from their carry-on the airline should take more responsibility.

I agree with the other posters that it seems unusual for theft to occur from gate-checked luggage unless the thief overheard that there were valuables. But that's very possible if a passenger is unexpectedly required to give up a bag and they blurt out their reason for concern. I myself have used "this bag is full of high-end camera equipment" to convince a mainline FA to find closet space for a bag rather than checking it to the destination, and if the bag had ended up checked, several people would have heard about the contents.

Huh? :confused: I am confused by smitty06's comment. Bags checked plane side are NOT placed in an overhead bin of the next flight. They are placed in the baggage compartment of the departing flight (or the next departing flight).

MDT (Harrisburg) to ORD is a United Express route. There is 3x daily ERJ-145 service.

It is standard procedure to gate check most carry on items on the ERJ-145. The only items that are permitted on board are those that will fit under the seat. There are overhead bins on this aircraft, but they will only fit (size-wise) objects which can also fit under the seat (size-wise).

Gate checked items on the ERJ-145 are tagged with a green gate check tag. They are left in the jetway (or on a cart if boarded by stairs) just outside the aircraft door. Gate checked items are returned at the jetway (or on the cart of de-planed by stairs).

Also, ground handling at MDT and ORD is contracted out. It is NOT done by UA employees. ORD ground handling is done by Air Wisconsin. I'm not sure who handles ground handling at MDT.

I suspect that this occured at MDT. There is plenty of time to go through a bag while loading. Unloading is done very quickly because passengers are waiting for the bags.