The Ginger’s blog

I received a call today that I was not expecting.  George with US Airways in North Carolina called to tell me that they had my luggage!  He needed to confirm my address and the luggage will be shipped via FedEx 2 Day air tomorrow.  I'll receive it on Thursday at my home address.  I will be taking a half-day at work to ensure I am here when my luggage shows up.

I asked George how the suitcase looked (such as was it beat up and damaged) to which he replied that it looked "yellow".  The suitcase is kind of a gold/yellow color.  Not sure if that means it's damaged and George didn't want to be the bearer of more bad news for me or if he misunderstood what I meant.

Either way, I'm excited that I may have all my lost things again.  But, I am skeptical and worried about a few things -

• It may not be mine
• The suitcase and contents could be badly damaged
• Items could be missing/stolen

I need to use this public forum to vent about a recent tragedy in my life.  After all my years of flying and checking baggage I finally had the unthinkable happen, my luggage has been lost! 

On June 28th I flew on US Airways from SLC, UT to San Jose, CA with a layover in Phoenix, AZ.  My carry-on was my laptop and such so I checked my one piece of luggage.  I should have known it was doomed from the beginning.  I had booked a 7am flight to ensure I'd be in San Jose early enough to pick up the rental car and check in to my hotel before meeting the rest of the eBay Developers team for some fun.  I am a firm believer that nothing good happens before 9 am and I was right.

I arrive at the airport with plenty of time to check-in and get through security.  There are only two couples in front of me and 3 ticket agents working...with those numbers who could go wrong?  Well....40 mins later the line hadn't moved and my level of impatience and irritation was rising, notably so.  I have no idea what all 3 ticket agents were doing as they seemed busy but no one was actually getting checked in or moving.  I'd like to point out once you get to the ticket counter you actually check yourself in via a computer.  For some reason this computer thingy befuddled many a US Airways passenger and ticket agent.  It'd be nice if people could step into the 21st century, but that's another issue.

Finally I get to the ticket counter and quickly check myself in.  No sweat!  How it took everyone else so long is beyond me, until I'm told I have to wait for the ticket agent to put the tag on my bag indicating my destination.  I ask the male agent to tag my bag and I'm told "Just a minute".  Well a minute turns into 10 and I'm watching the line at security grow...by now I've lost nearly an hour of just standing in line to get checked in.  I'm worried about getting through security and getting to the gate.  I'm sure my irritation is all over my face.  Finally the ticket agent decides he can now put the sticker on my bag indicating my destination.  Seems easy enough, right?

4 hours later I arrive in San Jose, CA and wait for my luggage to come and it never does.  I take my flight and baggage info to the US Airways baggage claim desk where the gentleman tells me my luggage has gone to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!!!!!  I am shocked and exclaim how did that happen?  To which I am actually asked, "Aren't you going to Mexico?"  I am thus treated as though I have no idea where I am going and I'm in the wrong airport.  It seems the original ticket agent put the wrong destination tag on my bag.  I realize it's a hard job of tagging bags and must be really confusing, especially when they move slower than mud and only help one person every 20 mins or so.  You'd think they were extremely thorough, not so!

I file my claim with US Airways and I'm told my bag will most likely show up in the next 24 hours.  I think I can deal with that.  Well time passes and no sign of my bag.  I can track the status online and it shows me nothing.  I call the baggage claim toll-free number US Airways gave me and of course at that number I am redirected to Domestic Reservations for some reason and then re-directed to another number that is a dead number and goes nowhere.  Really, the customer service is outstanding!   <---immense sarcasm

Naturally I lost all my toiletries and my friend/co-worker Kumar is kind enough to run me to Target to grab a few things to get me through the next 24 hours until my bag shows up.  I buy all the necessities and a few pieces of clothing just in case.  All in all I spent about $100 to buy back some of the items I've lost.  US Airways later tells me they only reimburse you $25 a day for each 24 hours you are w/out your luggage up to a maximum of $75.  So really I'm already out $25 thanks to their error.

My luggage does not show up while I'm in San Jose.  I have to actually go to the post office and mail to myself the few items I bought as I can't take them on the plane due to new security measures.  And it will be a cold day in hell before I check another item with US Airways.  So I have that added inconvenience and cost.

On the way back I have another layover in Phoenix.  I stop by the US Airways customer service desk there to get some help to which I'm asked the question "Why did your luggage go to Mexico?"  I almost lost it, please consider I was wearing the same clothes for 3 days.  Next question "Aren't you going to Mexico?"  AAARRGGHHH  The unhelpful and uncaring customer service woman tells me I need to address this issue with the SLC baggage claim people.  Fine, I'll hit SLC on fire.

I land in SLC and realize my car keys and house keys were in my luggage and I'm locked out.  I go to the US Airways baggage desk and ask that they help me out here by getting a locksmith or something to which I'm told "We don't do that."  Oh, and I'm again asked the same two questions "Aren't you going to Mexico?"  and "Why did your bag go to Mexico?"  Finally I had a good response when asked that and it was, "Hell if I know, you tell me!" 

All I could get the SLC representative to do was look up my file reference # online and tell me what I already knew, no new news.  I'm astounded at the complete apathy and lazy attitude of every US Airways employee I encountered through this whole process.  From the ticket agent to the SLC baggage claim employee...no one can be bothered to do much of anything besides hold up a desk.

Lucky for me I flew on business and eBay has a corporate account.  I have been able to get some assistance on a corporate level but still my luggage has not been found.  Filing a claim is going to be a hassle as they require receipts for everything in your bag!  Who has receipts for items of clothing they bought a couple of years or more ago?

The overall feeling I get from US Airways is that they screwed up and it's now my problem and not theirs.

Please do not fly with US Airways.  Not only has my experience with them been absolutely horrible, but I have since found out they are #1 in lost luggage!

To be continued...the drama of "Will Ginger recover her lost items?"