ebazyl
Mon Mar 21st, 2005, 06:05 PM
Well I was flying to Atlanta, Ga to go to a track day in Barber. The bikes where already there, so it was going to be a good trip. Unfortunately, one of the bikes was wrecked the previous weekend and need a fuel pump.
So in my ignorance I packed a fuel pump of my bike along with some other essential parts and blissfully checked it into United baggage claim, not even considering the possibility that I would never see it again.
Upon my still blissful arrival at Atlanta, I was called to the baggage counter, which pretty much means "your f***ed". Turns out that my bag was "delayed due to mechanical malfunction". Knowing that it was BS I tried asking the United baggage lady what happened to it, she said there was not more info in the system. However she assured me that the bag was to be deliver Saturday mourning to the track. :roll: At this point I am highly skeptical and very agitated. I decide that the lady is not at fault, and started looking for alternatives.
Saturday: No Bag :321: . However I totally luck out, when an New Mexico road racer lets me use his bike.
Sunday: Bag shows up. 1/2 of the stuff is missing. :cry: So I call United Baggage service (41 minute wait, so I hang up). Once done with the track session, I call back only 34 minute wait this time :321: . So I sit through this, only to have the lady on the other end tell me that the system is down and that I need to back another time. However, the announcement informs me that they value my business, and a truly sorry.
Monday: After sitting through 24 minutes of United Airlines elevator music and apologies for inconvenience. I talk to another United Airlines representative. I tell her things are missing from my bag, she asks if there is a TSA sticker on the bag? I say there is. She informs me that my bag was "screened" and that I need to contact the TSA (modern day version of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) that was created on November 19 2001 )[web:fceb4eeeef]http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=5&content=0900051980002f2b[/web:fceb4eeeef]. So about 3 phone calls later and another 45 minutes on hold (this time with the "friendly" staff at TSA) I learn the following:
1. confiscated items will not be returned
2. anything carrying residue of oil or gasoline can be confiscated
3. TSA is not responsible for damage/loss of property that occurs during inspection
4. However, I can fill out at form anyways and they will make sure not to do anything about it.
Morals that I leaned from the Story:
1. TSA can to whatever they want with your luggage (I wonder if they are hiring) :idea: Rights or property do not apply to airports, or when it comes to Fatherland security
2. Despite the couple hundred times that I had to heard "we are really sorry, and appreciate your business", it is entirely possible that UA does not give a s*** about me. :dunno: At least my tax dollars are going to bail them out of a financial crisis. :up:
3. Make sure to read the TSA webpage before traveling! Probably would have saved me a lot of trouble! They are adding new regulations every year (for 2005) lighters are now considered a risk by the Airline Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB).
If you are in the same position I would recommend the following:
1. Read the guide lines, don't assume anything about your right to your own positions. <--- I screwed up here
2. Make sure nothing has the odor or gasoline/oil, if it does ship it (the irony is that it will probably also end up on a plain)
3. Vote for politicians that support the TSA, and maybe one day we can all get free in-home screening for dangerous objects, with out such pesky limitations as warrants.
So in my ignorance I packed a fuel pump of my bike along with some other essential parts and blissfully checked it into United baggage claim, not even considering the possibility that I would never see it again.
Upon my still blissful arrival at Atlanta, I was called to the baggage counter, which pretty much means "your f***ed". Turns out that my bag was "delayed due to mechanical malfunction". Knowing that it was BS I tried asking the United baggage lady what happened to it, she said there was not more info in the system. However she assured me that the bag was to be deliver Saturday mourning to the track. :roll: At this point I am highly skeptical and very agitated. I decide that the lady is not at fault, and started looking for alternatives.
Saturday: No Bag :321: . However I totally luck out, when an New Mexico road racer lets me use his bike.
Sunday: Bag shows up. 1/2 of the stuff is missing. :cry: So I call United Baggage service (41 minute wait, so I hang up). Once done with the track session, I call back only 34 minute wait this time :321: . So I sit through this, only to have the lady on the other end tell me that the system is down and that I need to back another time. However, the announcement informs me that they value my business, and a truly sorry.
Monday: After sitting through 24 minutes of United Airlines elevator music and apologies for inconvenience. I talk to another United Airlines representative. I tell her things are missing from my bag, she asks if there is a TSA sticker on the bag? I say there is. She informs me that my bag was "screened" and that I need to contact the TSA (modern day version of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) that was created on November 19 2001 )[web:fceb4eeeef]http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=5&content=0900051980002f2b[/web:fceb4eeeef]. So about 3 phone calls later and another 45 minutes on hold (this time with the "friendly" staff at TSA) I learn the following:
1. confiscated items will not be returned
2. anything carrying residue of oil or gasoline can be confiscated
3. TSA is not responsible for damage/loss of property that occurs during inspection
4. However, I can fill out at form anyways and they will make sure not to do anything about it.
Morals that I leaned from the Story:
1. TSA can to whatever they want with your luggage (I wonder if they are hiring) :idea: Rights or property do not apply to airports, or when it comes to Fatherland security
2. Despite the couple hundred times that I had to heard "we are really sorry, and appreciate your business", it is entirely possible that UA does not give a s*** about me. :dunno: At least my tax dollars are going to bail them out of a financial crisis. :up:
3. Make sure to read the TSA webpage before traveling! Probably would have saved me a lot of trouble! They are adding new regulations every year (for 2005) lighters are now considered a risk by the Airline Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB).
If you are in the same position I would recommend the following:
1. Read the guide lines, don't assume anything about your right to your own positions. <--- I screwed up here
2. Make sure nothing has the odor or gasoline/oil, if it does ship it (the irony is that it will probably also end up on a plain)
3. Vote for politicians that support the TSA, and maybe one day we can all get free in-home screening for dangerous objects, with out such pesky limitations as warrants.