Thieves in the Airlines....................

tailchaser · 01-25-2006, 04:52 PM

Well, after a long fishing trip to Ixtapa, tons of fun, lots of pictures and video of the entire trip I came home and opened my bags to discover both my digital camera and video camera were stolen by the tsa baggage checker, who conveniently left the checked bag note in my bag even to throw a little salt in the wound. In mexico, they do a complete bag check in front of you, so I know it wasn't that guy and we had to recheck our bags after customs in LAX where you drop it on a carosel and it gets rechecked and routed from there. It was the only place it could've happened. I guess there's a chance a random baggage person could've done it, but man what a way to ruin a vacation not to mention all of the pictures of me with sailfish and our trip. This sucks.........

tc

sandman · 01-25-2006, 05:26 PM

TC,WOW.I'd be flaming mad.Can you file a claim with the airlines??

Bluto · 01-25-2006, 05:32 PM

The exact same thing happened to someone I work with. He flew from Ontario, CA to Portland about two weeks ago. The digital camera was stolen out of his checked bag. The only laugh this guy had was that the theif took the wrong power supply (his camera PS was still in the bag, but the laptop P/S was gone).

He called AK Air to complain & inform them of the theft and got nowhere (ofcourse).

Bonita · 01-25-2006, 05:42 PM

Unbelievable!
Not only should you absolutely file a claim with the airline, I'd contact the airport, and the Security Admin. Maybe you won't get much out of them, but they need to at least be aware of it. And, hopefully they'll start watching the employees better.
You can hope, at least.

fishboys · 01-25-2006, 06:10 PM

I would think there would be a camera in areas where they check the baggage? I know at my store I have camaras set up on the till area in case a scammer want to try the I gave you a 100.00 bill not a 10.00 bill trick.Call them and ask them if they have cameras its worth a try, by the way I am sorry about your lost photos.

HazMatt · 01-25-2006, 08:31 PM

Contact TSA. We didn't have anything stolen (thank goodness), but had something broken and filed a claim with the TSA - Now it took almost 18 months, but got a check in the mail for the full amount of the broken item. Had to speak with TSA supervisors at the airport as well as TSA reps in D.C.

Tilla · 01-25-2006, 09:35 PM

Now wait a minute, the government has set up these TSA clowns to prevent terrorists and other nasty things. We go through this whole song and dance at the airport where we are treated like Gulag prisoners, yet our baggage is being broken into. National Security.... my blooming petunias! Another joke and waste of our tax dollars and my time and a playland for voyeurs.

elron · 01-26-2006, 12:50 AM

I work at Seatac in the 911 center. I cant tell you how many calls we take about baggage thefts where the logical suspect is tsa. They wont even admit its a problem. Sorry for your loss

sinker · 01-26-2006, 04:04 AM

I seen an expose' on the news on this a while back and I guess it's pretty common.

Buddy of mine left his cd walkman and a bunch of cd's on a plane one time, to tired or something, spaced it out when he got off.

He called the airlines and they called back a week later and said they found them and he could come pick them up. Shows up the next day and they magically disapeared overnight.

jokester · 01-26-2006, 09:08 AM

This is EXACTLY why I take my digital camera or anything valuable in my carry-on with me

Ticks me off to see crap like this happening. If a theif is going to get anything out of my bag, it's only gonna be stinky socks or dirty underwear

I really hate to see people get away with stunts like this

-jokester

Jeremy · 01-26-2006, 09:47 AM

Carry on is the way to go, if its worth more than $100 i wont even think about putting it in my checked baggage. Does anyone use those new locks that only the TSA can open? I would assume that if your bag was locked and they stole something out of it you would have an even better claim since they are the only ones that can open them. sorry for your loss did you at least have the memory card with you to salvage the pictures?

choppers · 01-26-2006, 10:17 AM

I doubt it's the TSA but rather baggage handlers.

1st, if it's the TSA they would have to work as a team too complicated when they open it on camera and presence of others.

2nd, i knew of a friend who worked at pdx as a baggage handler and admitted to me that they work in teams to open people's suite case and take valuable.

I just went throught 8 airports and all my clothes gifts of no value go in the suite case and digital money or anything I don't want to loose goes in my carry on. One airport I had to pay (bribe) to pass through and if nothing got taken their nothing will. Sorry to hear of your loss. File the claim.

ET · 01-26-2006, 10:32 AM

My wife works for NWA. It's impossible to know if it was someone from TSA, the airlines, or some other airport employee. It does happen way to often though. Some airports are much worse than others. FYI...Detroit is far and away the worst so keep that in mind if you are headed to the Super Bowl!

On another note, we(wife and 2 kids) travel a lot and we have not checked luggage for years! We can easily go a week living out of carry-on bags (you know the nice wheeled ones that fit perfectly in the overhead bin). Underwear, socks, a couple shirts and an extra pair of pants. If you need a suit, wear it. Do your laundry once or twice while on vacation and come home with clean clothes!

Once you learn how to travel light, you can enjoy traveling so much more! Just say "NO" to checked luggage. If that is your mindset, you can do it.

Jeremy · 01-26-2006, 11:56 AM

Quote:

FYI...Detroit is far and away the worst so keep that in mind if you are headed to the Super Bowl!

If anyone on this board is flying to the super bowl....can i be your friend?

tailchaser · 01-26-2006, 03:43 PM

I spent most of the day yesterday trying to track it down to no avail. The airlines wipe thier hands of it and blame it on TSA, I called LAX claims for lost items, but what are the chances of that, and the fact you can't lock bags anymore makes it way too easy for anyone in the process. I agree it could've been several people who had their paws on my bag, but having a TSA checked bag notice in the bag caught my attention. TSA mentioned to fill our their form on the net, include my home owners and all applicable insurance info, yada yada yada and maybe I'll get my claim processed. Basically making the process too tedious it probably weeds out many complaints. I'm ticked, but learned a valuable lesson. Man I hate thieves.

tc

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 01-26-2006, 04:20 PM

It is always unfortunate when one loses thier property to thieves.

I would suspect that the theft occurred during the baggage handling process. I have watched some of those guys loading/throwing baggage into the airplane. Watching the way some of those guys treat luggage leaves me with no doubt that they would not hesitate to rummage through your things and take what they want. Then there is the incident of the baggage handler driving into the plane and not reporting it. Plane makes emergency landing, etc.. The baggage handling aspect of flying seems to be needing reform.

Thumper · 01-26-2006, 04:39 PM

Never, ever, check anything of value. I travel every week, and I never check a bag. Period. Each summer I travel to Europe for a couple of weeks. I still do not check a bag. Good rule to follow.

1pump · 01-26-2006, 07:00 PM

Another vote for never checking bags. I carry on everything, period. I don't care for lugging a bunch of crap around the airport, but it eliminates the chance of lost luggage, theft, and standing around with all the sheep in baggage claim. I like to hit the ground running when the plane lands.

ajfishfinder · 01-26-2006, 08:49 PM

alaskan · 01-27-2006, 09:21 AM

My wife fly's back and forth between Anchorage and Seattle 4 or 5 times a year. I alway's laugh at her because she puts everything in boxes inside a large duffle bag. It makes for a pretty bulky bag but she has never had anything stolen, even when carrying Christmas presents.
I figure if they can't get to the items easily, they'll just move on to the next bag.

judyfish99 · 01-27-2006, 09:39 AM

Thanks for the good pointers,

I'll be flying to Santa Barbara about mid April.

Seefood Man · 01-28-2006, 10:25 AM

Man sorry for your loss

. One would think that the TSA would have a close monitoring system in place that the theft would be reduced

Not a chance

Pre-911 I had my bags riffled between Portland and Denver, nothing taken but I was really mad none-the-less. After that I always wanted to mount a bear trap in the suitcase with a shirt over it and then tie wire a camera to the release.

I could see some SOB

running down the runway with my bag firmly clamped to their arm.

Anyway, once again sorry for your loss and the memories that went with it.