Humiliated by customs agents — am I entitled to a refund for my vacation?
What does a country owe you when its customs agents give you the once-over at the border, even though you’re completely innocent of any criminal activity? Should it refund your vacation?
That’s the question Regina Hutchings, a social worker from Media, Pa., wants Bermudan officials to answer. Last month, Hutchings decided to take a last-minute trip to the island. The experience quickly turned into a classic vacation from hell.
When I got to customs, they checked my bag and did a hand swab test. They claimed this machine indicated I had one bar to state that I was exposed to cocaine. As a social worker and instructor, I have never used illegal substances in my entire life.
From out of nowhere, the dog came and I screamed. The dog sniffed at my suitcase and barked once returning to one of the officers. One of the women officers went to speak with a male customs officer for about ten minutes. She returned and stated, I had to go through a body search due to one bar showing up on the machine.
Two women officer took me to a room, asked personal questions down to my social security number and I had to remove my clothing.
You know what’s next. Yes, the cavity search. I’ll spare you the details.
Needless to say, the experience left Hutchings traumatized.
I was frightened and scared since I was alone in an unfamiliar country. This was my first time as a tourist in Bermuda and using my passport.
They found no drugs and offered no apology. I asked them why I was singled out and they refused to answer my questions.
Hutchings wrote to the Bermudan prime minister, asking for an apology and a refund of the $1,500 for the vacation she was unable to enjoy as the result of her dehumanizing treatment at the hands of customs inspectors.
A short while later, she received the following response from W. Fostine-DeSilva, collector of customs.
While I understand how upsetting your interaction with our staff was and that the process is intrusive in nature it is important that you understand that the processes in place are congruent with internally accepted “best practice” for dealing with the examination of international travelers.
As to her request for a refund:
I regret that I am not in a position to commit to any kind of payment for damages as you suggest. It is my view that the search was lawful, approved by the manager on duty and based on information that was communicated to you.
As far as responses from government officials go, this one is better than average. If this had happened to Hutchings in the states, she would still be waiting for an answer.
There is no precedent for a country refunding someone for their vacation — at least none that I’m aware of. But Bermuda could have apologized to her in writing. Those don’t cost it anything.
For a country that is so dependent on tourism, a simple “we’re sorry” would have gone a long way to making Hutchings feel better about what was clearly a difficult and in the end, unnecessary, experience.
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56 Responses to “Humiliated by customs agents — am I entitled to a refund for my vacation?”
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Chris,
I hate to say it but I disagree with you in this case. From her description of the events, she’s lucky to have been released and allowed into the country. What do I see that you might not?
Well apparently she was either chosen at random or Bermuda has a 100% drug screening at the border. Either way, her luggage tested positive for cocaine (1st positive). The custom officials then called in a dog to check her luggage. The dog alerted on her bag indicating the presence of drugs (that’s the bark and the return to the handler) giving a 2nd positive. So at this point Bermudan customs has two positive tests for drugs, I ask you, what are they supposed to do? It seems reasonable that since they searched her baggage and found nothing that they would conduct a search of her person. When they didn’t find anything in her clothing, they ended up doing a strip search.
Look, I really feel for her. She didn’t do anything wrong other than have her bag touch a bag with drugs in it but the customs officials didn’t know that. All they knew is that they had a traveler that had tested positivefor drugs twice . I believe in the US they could have seized money or anything else that tested positive without recourse or possibility of return. In this case it appears that she was allowed to continue on her trip with all of her baggage after a hiorribly intrusive search.
You know the treaties better than I. Couldn’t she have requested an embassy representative once they started an intrusive search? Doesn’t the host country have to provide this access?
I with John on this one. I don’t know why they would apologize when according to their law and policies, they did nothing wrong. In fact, it would have been wrong not to do what they did.
I, too, feel sorry that she had to go through all that. Sometimes the innocent do get caught up in others’ illegal activity. But I don’t feel an apology is warranted, unless there’s something missing from this story.
Guess the moral of the story is stay in the US - go to Hawaii if you want a reliably warm destination.
Two positives indicators of drug possession. You’d get searched anywhere. The cavity search is to be expected.
The OP got hit on - trust me - customs people have more to do than harass people for no reason. The OP was also naive about these processes and needed to become somewhat familiar with what happens. You do not have the same ‘rights’ in Bermuda you have in the US.
Chalk it up to experience, but to think somehow she’s entitled to money? Has being an American come down to everyone is a victim now? Geesh. Good thing she was not in some Islamic nation where the dog bark is evidence of guilt, not suspicion. The consequences of that are much worse than a cavity search.
Joe,
Actually, even at the US Border, as a returning US Citizen, your 4th amendment rights are substantially constricted. Border searches are considered a special situation, and the warrants or other legal proceedings that would be required within the US are absolutely not required at the Border. This includes searches of your person, your laptop, your iPod, your luggage, anything…
This is not some new government intrusion… a customs law passed by the 1st Congress way back in the 1700’s explicitly spelled this out; we can assume that the 1st Congress was familiar with what exactly the Bill of Rights meant, and what it included, since many of them wrote it.
SirWired
I have been reviewing most of the responses. I am sorry most of you do not agree with the need for me to have a refund. In my opinion, the hand swab machine was bogus and the dog barked because I screamed. I am afraid of dogs. He did not bark because of a scent on the luggage. Nevertheless, I work three jobs in order for me to save for a vacation. I planned a holiday at the last minute and I was selected randomly before I left Philadelphia International Airport for the following reasons:
One of them is related to me planning the trip at the last minute
Staying two days in Bermuda
If I was told about Bermuda and their practices, I would have never chose that place as a vacation destination. I am not claiming the victim role, I am advocating for myself as an innocent traveler who was accused and treated unfairly. However, an apology would have gone far with me and I would have not been going on a crusade to educate individuals who are not use to traveling. An apology is the first rule of manners and good public relations which turns into dollars for the tourist industry. An apology is a custom used when someone makes a mistakes. New travelers are intoduced to new destinations by the Customs Department the second they get off the plane.
Joe, you are right. Next time, I should stay in the United States when looking for a warm climate. This is especially true when I am booking at the last minute. I will not stop traveling internationally, but will chose destinations that are friendly and interested in treating me with respect and extending their customer service to the highest level . I did choose Bermuda against the advice of my travel agent. She did not go into detail, but I will indeed next time take her advice. I do agree, I went into this with being a little naive about Bermudian law and practices. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I pray you do not ever have to go through the ordeal in which I have been through. I have traveled to St. Lucia, Bahamas and Jamaica. I never been mistreated and the people were always friendly.
When paying for something and you do not get the results and outcome you expect, I guess one would expect a refund. If nothing else, I have alerted individuals about the practices of traveling to Bermuda. When you are spending your money, as a consumer, you want excellent customer service, treated with dignity and respect
If a refund is not warrented, at least I educated less experienced travelers about Bermuda and their practices. If I assisted one person in making an informative decision and not choosing Bermuda as a vacation spot for a last minute holiday, well I have done a great service. In conclusion, they will not spend $1500.00 or more and save themselves a vacation from Hell. That indeed will be one less individual who monies they will not get. The service industry and tourism is built on the spoken as well as the written word. Thank-you for your responses and I will take some of the suggestions in which some of you offered. I also want to thank those of you who had empathy for my situation. That indeed went a long way with me.
All the foreign nationals who have been through exactly the same humiliation at a US port of entry without being guilty of anything are surely smiling at this. Don’t think any of them got any refunds by writing to the President, either.
I think what Chris is saying is that while Bermuda was certainly within its rights as a sovereign country to do what it did to a person suspected of drug trafficking, it also could have offered some token apology in the interest of their (probably) biggest national resource: tourism. It would have been a cheap concession that may have put a better face on this entire incident.
This woman certainly did not just post here. Her story was doubtlessly circulated among friends and associates. While many of them may have had the same response John had, som of them would have been equally horrified and a smaller subset of them may have even contemplated a vacation to Bermuda before, but no longer.
What would the impact of loss of 4 or 5 visitors be to the Bermuda economy? Probably small, but more than an essentially free apology.
Chris, I think you missed the boat here: this isn’t news worthy. Maybe it’s blog worthy…
The story is about a very unlucky woman. That’s it. Not only did she have two false positives, but you missed 2 other red flags: she was traveling alone and her passport was brand new.
It seems to me that the Bermudan officials went by the book and protected their boarder. This happens to Americans and non-Americans at boarders all over the world, including ours.
Agreed — to a point. This is a consumer travel blog, and I get questions like this one a lot. As you can tell from the responses, it’s an issue people care about.
Is it newsworthy? If I were a news outlet, I would probably wager an answer … but it’s just me, posting to the Web.
While I agree that Regina was badly mistreated in Bermuda, the things they do at airports today all in the name of “security” is absolute B.S., and if I was in her situation I’d want some kind of compensation too, a refund really isn’t possible here, as the transaction was between her and the travel companies (airline, hotel), not the government.
$1500 isn’t a lot of money given what she was put through but I can’t see any government in any country returning money that someone spent to vacation there. It doesn’t work that way. Maybe it should, but it just wouldn’t be feasible. What if somebody else had spent twice as much on a vacation to Bermuda and experienced the same mistreatment? Does that mean they are entited to $3000 ? Too difficult to administer.
That said, it really wouldn’t have killed the customs officials or the Mr. Fostine-Desilva to apologize. It’s amazing she even got a reply though. I never had much desire to go to Bermuda myself, and it certainly won’t be on my list of places to visit now.
While I’m amazed she got a reply at all and while she might be entitled to some compensation for the B.S. exercise in airport “security” (which we all know is just cosmetic anyway), I wouldn’t expect any government in any country to pay anybody anything, even if it is perfectely justifiable.
What disgusts me the most is that she received no apology whatsover, from the customs agents or the gentlemen who wrote the letter. “Please accept our regrets” or “Please accept our apologies” wouldn’t have killed them.
I never really had any desire to visit Bermuda (I prefer places a little more off the beaten path) but now that place will never be on my list of future places to visit.
Why think they should apologize? They’re simply following the lead of the US CBP, which does exactly the same thing on an immensely larger scale. Feel free to post any references you can find to them issuing an apology for such an incident. Too many Americans apply a double standard and think that other nations should bow and scrape at the foot of the American traveler who deigns to bestow largesse upon their humble countries while the USA tramples on the dignities of visitors like so many cattle. Turn that jaundiced eye homeward.
[...] innocent of any criminal activity? Should it refund your vacation? Christopher Elliott has the details of one woman’s trip to Bermuda that began with an invasive search of her body for drugs. Officers found no drugs and offered no [...]
I think everything has been summed up pretty well here, but remember that the US is an extremely litigious society and in a court of law, an apology can be seen as an admisison of guilt. In this case, her asking/demanding a refund for her trip (unreasonable) indicates a litigious mindset and she shouldn’t expect to receive an apology for a standard practice search.
This sounds just like a standard drug search to me. It is very intrusive, but most of us agree that drug are bad, and we all want our and other governments working together to get rid of drugs and smuggling.
It is not surprising that you occasionally get a little drug contamination. Most money bills, contains considerable amounts of coke from those few users. Her bag could have been on the ground in a public place where someone spilled a bit of drugs. Note that she was coming from the US.
As far as the treatment, these things can always be more friendly, and they stay very intrusive, but they are standard policy in most civilized countries, including the US. In fact, the US is very strict itself on drugs and in general doesn’t let people with a drugs past in. And good for you, I wish my country did that.
It is also a fact that many people are not aware of the enormous amount of drugs that get smuggled through airport. To reinforce the druggie image of my own country the following example. It is generally known that a lot of drugs get to the Netherlands (and the US for that matter) through the Caribbean. So to see how bad it was, the immigration in Amsterdam Airport decided that they would start searching *everybody* traveling from Curacao and Suriname. Aside for the enormous protests they got for “discrimination” (I don’t know, checking everybody doesn’t seem very discriminating to me), they found planes with up to 90% of the passengers smuggling drugs of some kind. They had to stop the program, because they couldn’t handle the amount of arrests. The local jail filled up within a month, and they got tired of dealing with idiots and laxatives. Yeah yeah blah blah, beat the Netherlands up for our easy drug policies.
But do you really think this is different for the US? We have the Dutch Antilles, the US has Puerto Rico and the VIs. Why do you think the Coast Guard is incredibly present around those islands? The US has on average more drug users than the Netherlands, and hence the supply must be larger. I know for a matter of a fact that the US targets youngsters coming back form Amsterdam, because many of them (Dutch, American, and everybody else) try to bring in/back some stuff from our ‘lovely’ Coffeeshops. Dumb dumb dumb, but hey, that characterizes drug users.
The Caribbean authorities get beaten by all the ‘receiving’ countries for not doing enough on drug smuggling. I assume this goes for the Bahamas too. So, in a sense, we should be happy to see an example of a country that is trying to fight drugs. And we should not be so hypocrite to not want to take the discomfort from those searches.
Oh and last: it is correct that if you are worried about foreign authorities, you should stay home. In my humble opinion, that would be short sighted, but it’s a choice everybody is free to make. When you enter any country on the world, their laws apply to you - no matter how crazy they appear. And (foreign) authorities have every right to apply their laws to you, and usually are not very sympathetic to your feeling about them. Always remember that you are a guest in someone else’s country, and should behave like that.
Regina,
It is certainly unfortunate that you were stopped and subjected to this humiliating search. However, you should know that if you were a foreign national entering the United States, and the same inidications of drugs were present (the machine, the dog, your new passport, and your reaction to the dog) the exact same thing would have happened. This is not something special to Bermuda.
SirWired
I am a relatively frequent traveller to the Caribbean (Dutch Antilles) and have never been searched closely by either the Antillean customs folks in Saint Martin or by the US Customs folks when returning to the US. I’m quite sure that my bags have been sniffed by drug dogs, and swabbed besides. Unlike Regina, I’ve been lucky I suppose, in that I have not collaterally picked up a trace amount of illicit narcotics.
The thing is to stay calm, and not act suspicious whenever you are at the port of entry. If you’ve nothing to hide, that should be easy enough. Regina, when you reacted to the dog, you hit a third mark on their profiling: two positive indicators and another one indicating that you were very nervous with the situation. Plus, you were alone and with a new passport. Putting 1+1+1+1+1 together, you certainly had the appearance of a drug mule carrying the load for someone else.
That in mind, can you really blame them? Quite honestly, the Customs folks were simply doing their job searching every part of your belongings, even if it included your most personal of spaces.
You could probably return to Bermuda and would be waved in with a smile and wave.
The best way to get rid of drug smuggling is to get rid of our stupid drug laws. These kinds of searches have done little or nothing to abate the torrents of drugs being smuggled into the USA. If these searches are so efficient, how come we still have drugs coming in? Illegal drugs today are cheaper and of better quality than at any time in our past. That doesn’t say much for our interdiction efforts.
Fact is that most of the security found at airports these days is little more than window dressing. Drug smugglers and terrorists know how to get around them. I am certain that the security personnel in Bermuda get less training than the one in the US. Who knows how well that drug sniffing dog was trained. If their personnel and their dog were trained properly they might have been able to tell the difference between fear of dogs and a nervous drug smuggler. Drug sniffing dogs in the US don’t bark or make a fuss. They simply sit next to the bag awaiting their handler. It is hard to be intimidated by a small beagle moving around a room quietly and unobtrusively. Proper training and procedures go a long way towards eliminating false positives that inconvenience travelers and distract security personnel.
I am sure that the exaggerated security procedures in these countries have been forced onto them by the US government as part of our inane drug and terrorism policies. I doubt that millions of pounds of drugs are making its way to Bermuda through its airports. Most likely smugglers would find it much easier to bribe an official or to bring in the drugs elsewhere.
Most of these searches do little else besides inconvenience and in this case humiliate innocent travelers. Our drug laws have not reduced the consumption of illegal drugs one whit in the past forty years. Wasting out time and making travel more inconvenient and less enjoyable doesn’t help reduce the drug trade and doesn’t make us any safer. All that these increased security measures have accomplished is giving the terrorists the satisfaction of seeing us going through security in our bare feet, holding on to our pants by the waist as they enjoy a good laugh at our expense while they plan the next attack.
Don’t confuse inconvenience with security.
Regina,
You may be under the impression your scream caused the dog to bark, but I’ll bet that isn’t the case. Drug dogs are trained under a very strict protocol, and the handler ishave able to the tell the difference between a reactionary bark to a situation (your scream) and a bark/behavior indicating detection of a controlled substance. It doesn’t mean you had cocaine in your luggage, but it also doesn’t mean the dog didn’t still smell it. All it takes sometimes is for you and your bags to be in the vicinity of a perfect stranger at some point during your trip who happened to be stupid enough to bring along some drugs. Maybe he left behind some drug residue that you touched but couldn’t see. I don’t think anyone here really believes you had the drugs, but I do think most of us believe the authorities were simply doing their jobs and no apology is warranted.
I do have to answer. These drug dogs are trained not to react to loud noises and other such distractions. There was a PBS special about two years ago about the training of a Bloodhound by the name of “Holly.” Part of the testing involved seeing how the dog reacted with Gun shots and helicopters.
This dog in particular is currently in service with the Massachusetts State Police Department.
My daughter, currently age 12, had to be singled out at the airport because she set off the metals detectors at the airport. It was her clothing, but you can imagine the embarrassment of this child to having to step aside and a screener coming over to make sure it was only her clothing. She was 9 or 10 at the time and I had to stand a distance away from her.
In this case, it looks like you were the victim of a false positive. However, I believe you are wrong in asking for additional compensation. This things unfortunately happen, and I am sorry that you that it happened to you.
That being said, I do not fault the Customs agents for doing their job in light of the two positive tests. It’s a shame the person that truly had the drugs wasn’t found but no system is perfect.
I agree with some of the statements from Juicius on March 12th, 2008 and Alex on March 13th, 2008. Ms Hutchings’ ordeal is profiling. Focusing on a lone female with a new passport reminds me of drug smugglers from 1980’s when I watched “Miami Vice” and other shows. Real drug trafficking does not need a lone person as a mule; they can afford a whole family with old passports and become anonymous.
I wish she could get the $1500 dollars back; maybe it could force them to upgrade this procedure to 21st Century technology but Ms Hutchings does deserve at least an apology. Anyone owning a business needs to have good customer service; even though the American dollar is weaker these days, tourism worldwide still values go old green back. Anyone falsely suspected of anything may feel lousy enough to cascade those feelings to all other events, in her case a vacation.
Blog or not, the response to Ms Hutching’s experience is large; maybe this indicates that we all wish not to go through this or are love ones. We would rather travel to at least a friendly place; I don’t know about Bermuda being one.
I have been to Bermuda 8 times with no problems. While I understand that this woman’s experience was unpleasant, unfortunately that’s the way things are in today’s world. It’s not up to her to say that the swab machine was “bogus.” Obviously, scores of other people got through customs without being searched, so why should they believe her positive reading was “bogus.” As for the dog, I’m not willing simply to take her word about the sequence of events — that the dog barked because she screamed. Drug-sniffing dogs are trained not to react to screams and other loud noises. The Bermuda customs officials followed protocol, and when it was determined that the woman was not carrying drugs, she was allowed to enter the country. I don’t think she is owed an apology, and she certainly isn’t owed a refund. The prime minister’s response was far more than she would have received from any TSA or U.S. official. The fact that Bermuda is so careful about drug screening and such things as not allowing people into the country unless they can prove they have a place to stay are two of the reasons Bermuda is one of my favorite destinations.
Brandon has hit the nail right on the head! He is 100% correct. There is not enough space here to describe my own experiences or those of relatives and friends when leaving and entering our own and other countries. These are troublesome times and the authorities have their jobs to do. Get used to it and do your research to find out each country’s laws and requirements. All the information you will ever need is available on the Web. If you don’t like what you find about a country, choose another vacation destination. Do not expect the laws of a country to change for you. Leaving your arrangements to the last minute is most unwise.
I have a question regarding Regina’s response on March 12th - in her very well worded and reasonable response to other replies, she states:
“I did choose Bermuda against the advice of my travel agent. She did not go into detail, but I will indeed next time take her advice.”
I am curious to know why the agent advised her against heading to Bermuda. Does the agent have knowledge of other similar experiences, or was there some other reason?
Regina wisely decided to use an agent to assist her and unfortunately, belatedly, realized the value of the advice she had received.
Good question, Kristin.
Regina, care to answer?
i am sorry this had to happen, my son 5 years ago at the age of 24 traveled alone to scotland to meet up with us his parents for a nice holiday, well he was strip searched in glasgow, we dont no why he has never had or did any kind of drugs, he had a horrible time of first time at traveveling alone, they did not give him any reason or appoligy iether, we feel they have to do these searches to keep us all safe, he also was alone and new passport, i have traveled a lot the last 10 years and i am glad of how they are all over the world, we have seen many people we wish they would search,
Kristen and Chris:
The travel agent was vague. However, she mentioned the weather and the people were not friendly. I didn’t think that was important since I was looking for solitude with a such a stressful job. She did not mention they had a problem with drug trafficking or I was going to be subject to strip searches. For now on, I will pay attention to key advice and learn to read in between the lines.
I realyy want to thank all those who had empathy for my situation. Especially Sirwired, Kathy, Chris and so many of you all that felt my pain. I learned alot from all of you. Those of you who were not empathetic, I pray you never go through what I’ve been through or pay for something and you received terrible service. When that happens, I guess you will not feel a need for a refund. For example , this is especially true when the food is terrible and you were mistreated by a waitress and you must pay the bill. Regardless of the service and customer service, you should pay the bill and do not seek a refund. It is always easy to blame someone for something when you have never expeienced the situation. Some of the review blamed me toatally and were not empathetic. Some had opinions and never went through an ordeal such as mine. My mistake is when I did not listen to the travel agent about the country not being friendly. Paulette B. was very insensitive. You never know, maybe on your next visit you will be strp searched and maybe it will still be your favorite destination. It was my first and last. You go somewhere for the first time and I woner how you would feel if you were not extended the higest level of customer service. I wonder how you would feel. I did not read in between the lines and had been to several destinations prior to the usage of passports and I never had a problem. It had been three years since I left the country and again, I did not realize all the changes that took place. I do travel alone frequently, I do not have individuals in my life that share my pastime for traveling. I am not going to let my dream of traveling die because I do not have anyone to share it with. Many people who do not have anyone to share it with, would simply not travel. I am going to pat myself on the back for being brave and courageous.
In summary, Chris and Kristien the travel agent was vague and my biggest mistake consisted of me not reading in between the lines.
This is so interesting, because my fiancé and I just returned from Bermuda Saturday, March 15, and we both were pulled for this additional search! In Bermuda, you submit your passport and tourist card to an official. He asks a few questions, then you pass. Then we stood in another line and and another official asked us similar questions–how long will you be here, what is your reason for travel, where are you staying, etc. And for some reason, he made us go to the line where they swab and search your bags. They gave my fiancé a very hard time but I went to a different agent and was barely searched. But we both wondered what we did or said to be selected–we are both professionals–he works for a major US company and I am a college instructor. While we were being searched, another woman nearby was upset because they also told her they had found cocaine residue in her suitcase. When I first saw this post, I thought it was her! But this experience was on March 9, not last month!
Beth:
Thank-you for telling that story. A month later from the time when I went, they are tageting many women who travel alone. If they keep up such practices, eventually it will have a trickle down effect on tourism to that specific region. I know exactly how that woman must have felt. Yet, this is a nation which thrives on the tourism industry. I am also so sorry your fiancee had to go through an additional hard time with custom officials.
I guess I just don’t get what the fuss is about. Had Ms. Hutchinson been inappropriately singled out, then yes, she would have a claim. But the presumably impartial machine gave a test, which was then corrobated by the equally impartial dog. What is the custom agent supposed to think. They do a search. If they find drugs you go to jail, if they find nothing they send you on your way.
An apology implies wrongdoing. My question, what exactly are the Bermuda official supposed to have done that was wrong?
Instead of doing the cavity search, why didn’t they get the dog to sniff it?
Empathy for Regina? I have loads. Sympathy? Loads of that too. In a “been there, had that done to me” way. But… you set off half the red flags in the system.
Booking a flight to a vacation spot a day or two before travelling is a huge red flag; that doesn’t sound like someone booking a vacation, which is normally done way in advance. Try booking a domestic US flight on the day of travel; the odds are very good you’ll see SSSS on your boarding pass and spend some quality time with a secondary screener.
2-day trip? Again, not typical vacation behavior.
Travelling alone? Not typical. (I have no idea if “woman travelling alone” got you another red flag; I suspect your gender wasn’t relevant to you being pulled out for searching.)
Bag swab systems are pretty darn accurate when you understand what they’re testing for. They’re looking for very small traces of drugs, explosives, and some precursor chemicals to both. If you had a poppy seed bagel and then picked up your bag without wiping some of the seeds from your hands, you might conceivably have put enough poppy residue on the bag to trigger the chemical check for opium. If you touched a $100 bill and then touched the handle of the bag - the vast majority of $100 bills in circulation are contaminated with cocaine residue.
The dog barking thing has been addressed by others.
New passport? Big red flag.
More questions: were you in a rush, trying to be first off the plane? Were you hanging back, in no rush, last off? Both of those are red flags.
While I have empathy and sympathy for the discomfort of the search, based on personal experience, that’s where it ends for me. You were not wronged. You were searched in a professional manner. The cavity search, painful though it may be, was conducted in private by guards of your own gender. You were not physically harmed. The exam was about as uncomfortable as a really thorough physical and gyn. exam. (I’m a male over 40; I get my prostate checked as part of my physical, so I know what “intrusive” means.)
You chose not to enjoy your vacation. They allowed you into the country; you could have gone to the resort, enjoyed your couple of days of solitude, and returned home. Not as relaxing as you might have hoped, but still… Instead, you chose to feel like a victim, ruining your own vacation. Again, I speak from experience here. You could have chosen differently.
Finally, you’re asking the government for a “refund”. They never got your money; some companies did. The companies did nothing our of the ordinary, so they’re not going to give you your money back. The government of Bermuda doesn’t have your money, and governments don’t give “refunds”; the way you get money from a government is through a suit, in its courts, under its legal system. Good luck with that.
I have empathy for the discomfort you suffered during the physical search of your person. I hope you soon recover from any ill effects and regain your strength of self. But your money? Sorry, you don’t get that back, and nothing happened that would cause you to deserve to get it back.
If I was on an aircraft and used the sanitary facilites I would be VERY careful what I touched. With one to several hundred persons who could use any particular loo, any could have residue that could be trasferred to ones hands, clothes or body parts.
Perosnally I wash afterward, but that doesn’t protect the rest of the body unless one uses the seat paper cover between you and the plastic. After washing I would shake my hands as dry as possible, and if there are one use paper towels would toss the first one and use the second. Paranoid? Of course. But, there are other things beside drug residue that could be transferred. Fortunatly the water controls are self closing.
Your story will encourage our family to remove Bermuda from our plans for future travel.
duke
Many of the writers have compared US border practices to the practices of Bermuda and other countries. This is quite true - Here’s an example of a young, single woman trying to get back INTO the U.S. and getting the full strip search! In this case the woman is 20 years old - and my daughter. This happened quite a few years ago, but it is still interesting. As other writers stated, other countries do no more nor less than what the U.S. does every day!
My daughter worked in the Museum of Modern Art in San Diego, and was an art and Spanish major at the Univ. of San Diego. She had a good friend (a young Mexican girl) who lived across the border. My daughter met this young friend on a Habitat for Humanity build. The young girl quite often came into the US to spend the day with my daughter; the girl was studying English in Mexico and my daughter is bi-lingual…They had a lot in common. The girl would come up from the border on the train - a short ride, or my daughter would drive into Mexico to pick her up at her family’s home. My daughter’s border crossings were always uneventful.
One early evening the young woman was going home later than usual and my daughter was concerned for her safety alone on the train, so my daughter decided to drive her home. There was NO problem getting across the border into Mexico. However on the return into the U.S. my daughter was stopped. Her car was meticulously searched by US customs agents with dogs. They told her that everything about the situation was suspect. She had no luggage, and they didn’t believe the explanation about dropping her young friend off. More and more questioning ensued. The fact that my daughter is bi-lingual caused them even more concern! Eventually my daughter was strip- searched. They never referred to “positives” or gave her any explanation - only that the situation was suspect. No drugs were found in her car, or on her person. At the time I was livid - I was beyond livid - I was ready to fly to San Diego and give them a piece of my mind. I wondered if the agents had lost their mind -my daughter was 20 years old! Suprisingly, my daughter took it all in stride - her perspective…
“Mom, don’t even worry about it. It happens all the time - it’s their job!” So Ms. Hutchings, I do not mean to be callous toward your situation; rather I ask that you take another look at it. Our border agents do it, and so do the agents in other countries. It’s their job.
I think the apology would be for leaving Regina feeling the way she did. Again, saying you’re sorry costs the Bermudan government nothing and can go a long way to making a potential return visitor feel better. I don’t think anyone expects the customs agents to apologize for doing their job, though.
I think all she can do is NEVER go back to the country. She was treated unfairly and while they were well within their rights to do what they did, they didn’t question her in a manner to determine exactly what happened before the search. A simple search of baggage and double check of the machine that came up with a positive (don’t they sometimes get false positives?) and perhaps another snif test by a different dog before they bring in the gestapo would have gone a long way to avoid a lot of hastle.
Of course none of us were there and didn’t see what happened. Perhaps the scream when the dog appeared and other actions that weren’t articulated may have made the officials more concerned.
Regina, I am very sorry to hear about your experience and it always sucks when innocent people get into situations like yours. But I agree with other posts…Bermuda customs did their job “by the book” and professionally. (Do you think they enjoy doing the invasive searches?) This could have happened at any airport on the planet and you’ve no doubt heard similar horror stories that took place in the US.
Your first response said “I was selected randomly before I left Philadelphia International Airport “. It is very likely that US authorities profiled you and alerted Bermuda Customs, and the positive screenings were the tipping point. The US government applies a lot of political and economic pressure on other sovereign nations to step up enforcement.
Alex’s post was right on- drug laws are pretty much useless and ineffective, a huge amount of organized and petty crimes would disappear if drugs were decriminalized, and innocent travelers would not get hassled. I’m not holding my breath since drug enforcement and interdiction is a growth industry for governments.
I disagree you are owed any compensation. Nobody can judge your being traumatized and humiliated as inappropriate since they didn’t go through the experience and they are not you. But it is the reaction that you chose, and that makes you responsible and (as you stated) not a victim. Presuming you were truly a victim, putting a price tag on negative emotions and bad experiences is part of our American culture I despise.
It sounds horrible but when one is out of US no one cares about the rights and liberties you receive here. Even though we’ve heard of our own citizens being singled out because for all sorts of weird reasons it doesn’t make it right. The only way to get money back for a vacation is to insure your vacation before you leave, with the right sort of policy. The indignity of a strip search I’m sure never goes away. While they were busy wabbing her hand and sniffing the handle of the luggage, the person with the real stuff went merrily along their way. You also have to be ready for any type of safety measures, in this country and outside, dogs of all sizes and sorts are commonly used. This may mean addressing it now so in the future, you remain calm. As another poster remarked, you don’t know how the scream and reaction to the dope dog were interpreted. Be thankful that these were women searching you and not men, there aren’t a lot of laws saying who can and cannot do body or cavity searches. Do I think this would have happened if she were some high ranking official…probably a definite no. Do I think they official could have apologized as a gesture…definitely yes. Do I think there is room for improvements in screen methods around the globe…definitely yes. I certainly hope you have a better time if you decide on a vacation out of the country again. Bottom line, if these searches were to become an issue that blocks travel, then and only then, would someone take a look at what may or may not need to be done differently. Wasn’t there articles in the 80s regarding money being covered in cocaine residue? Not sure if this holds true any more. Would one of the costly luggage courier services prevent having to deal with these sorts of issues?
You seem to be comparing your experience to checking into a hotel as if arriving in a foreign country is the same.
Officials at a country’s border are not in the business of providing customer service. Their primary mandate is the protection of the country, i.e., the enforcement of that particular country’s laws. While we would like all of them to be friendly all of the time and wish us well on our journeys through their countries, that is just not realistic. However, your circumstance is not one in which a customs official subjected you to a body search for no reason. Your bag was swabbed and came back positive. Then, a drug dog alerted on your suitcase. It was only at this point that you were taken to a room for a search. To those that think what happened is the result of profiling, you are wrong. She was searched because of two positive hits on her luggage and Bermuda is not the only country that would have done the same.
The sense of entitlement is what is really appalling. To think that a country is going to refund the money for your trip is laughable. The agents were following the laws and procedures in place for a situation like yours. The swab tests positive, the dog alerts on your suitcase. These dogs do not just bark because someone is frightened. What are the agents supposed to do, trust you? They do not know you or what your intentions are. While you were telling the truth, they have no basis for believing you. Again, they were doing their job.
As for your request for an apology, what should it state - “We are sorry we followed our laws and procedures. We should have listened to you when you told us that the test result produced by our machine was bogus and our highly trained drug dog simply barked because you were scared. Please accept our deepest sympathies for what transpired. We typically do not expect citizens of the United States to follow our laws and regulations. What were we thinking.”
you don’t even have to be traveling internationally to have a problem. I was stopped because the machine detected trace amounts of some substance. Which in the end was a foreign glue. But for months after I was singled out for close inspection of my bags and person here in the US. My Brother has a very bad experience with Canadian coustoms officials when driving across that border. They literally tore his Corvette apart down to taking the wheels off. And when they found nothing; they just said; ok you can go now and it took him six hours to put his car back together and repack eveything. You can bet they didin’t say sorry. they were pissed about not finding anythng on him!
Bermuda is no longer on my “to do” list.
Weren’t there thousands of new passports isssued in the last 12 months?
If a person, was not on the singles scene, it may have been a long time since a stranger has been pawing around in what most of us call our private area.
I would think that a strip/cavity search could have much the same emotional damage of a rape. I’m sure I would be bitter, at the very least.
X-ray machines for mammograms and dental cavities detect all sorts of things, why not use a machine something like this? With STDs being such a danger these days, why not automate this intrusive and emotionally damaging practice.
As a women who travels alone, I appreciate the warning you have given me. Thank you Regina.
Refund..come on now. I am with the majority here, it was a bummer, but it is what it is.
You talk of traveling internationally yet the whole passport thing seems new to you. If you have just been in the Caribbean Basin, I do not consider that truly international.
When we travel we are subject to the laws of the receiving country. PERIOD! Everyone that was screaming about Natalee Holloway and how the police did not do this and that—we have no jurisdiction.
Got a recent DUI?–don’t think about going to Canada. ANd certainly don’t think about a refund when they turn you back,
Carver Farrow said that an apology can be seen as an admission of guilt…yes it can and because of that you did not get it. They are sorry for how you feel but not sorry for what happened.
I also disagree wth your agent about BDA not being a friendly place. BUt that is all perception I imagine.
JayDrew on March 18th said it perfectly.
I have just one thing to add: Get over it Regina… and yourself.
I would like to continue to thank everyone for their comments. An apology really would have went a long way with me. When I make a mistake in doing my job, I do say, ” I am sorry. ” Nevertheless, I will heal. I do not need to continue to give information why I travel alone. I do not have people in my life to share that pastime and I should pursue my goals whether I have someone to travel with or not. Am I am not suppose to travel because I am single? That is hog wash. I am a professional and I desrve to treat myself. I have been single for a couple of years and believe in enjoying life when I can.
Thank-you B for taking the hint about not putting Bermuda on your to do list. I believe in advocating and helping others. If someone, including myself can learn from my mistakes, I try to share it. Yes, as B put it, there were thousands of passports given out because you can no longer use documents that were once accepted as a part of identification. Therefore, I had to get a new passport. Thanks for the critics and the empatheizers. For the record, I am not a victim. I am adovacating and using this as a teachable moment. In addition, I am hoping to make a difference.
You just don’t get it. They did not make any mistakes in doing their job and they owe you no apology simply because you didn’t like it.
And yes dear, you are a victim because you have made yourself one.
Rebecca:
Of couse this is your opinion. No, I don’t get it. I didn’t have drugs. That is the point. Whether you can appreciate it or not, I have educated people who do not travel frequently. Regardless of what you say, it is not about You and I am trying to educate others. That is the goal here. I have already planned my next two trips and Bermuda is not on the list. Thank Goodness, I know who I am and what you say at this point does not matter. Victims do not continue to plan trips and continue to travel alone. Again, this is about educatiing others as well as me geting a teachable moment. The next time you pay for something and do not get what you expect or accused falsely of something, I hope you take it in stride without saying a word or say, “they are doing their job.”.
I travel to Bermuda fairly often. My husband also travels there on business often.
I usually travel on my own to meet my husband while he is there.
Regina’s experience has me concerned about an upcoming trip I have planned to Bermuda.
My husband & I have never seen people being pulled aside from the customs area to be swabbed. I suspect this is either something new, or because of increased drug traffic they are being more agressive. On occassion I have seen the dog, and it is intimidating, and not an especially warm welcome to the country. But keep in mind that Bermuda, like everywhere else, has drug problems.
Most Bermudians are very friendly, but in a more formal way than Americans are used to. The island is rather “sleepy” and there is not much of a singles scene so I think this may be why Regina’s travel agent advised against Bermuda. The weather is chilly during the winter months unlike some of the other islands which remain summer- like all year round. Also Bermuda is very expensive.
I sympathize with Regina and hope I never have to go through anything similar.
Jane, This isn’t just a Bermuda thing. Luggage and people get swabbed all the time and occasionally cavity-searched at US airports . In many cases, US Homeland Security applies political and economic pressure to other coutries to iimplement data collection, profiling, and screening. I’ve never been to Bermuda but if their Customs is being more strict, it could be due to the US. In which case, Regina ought to sue the US Government.
BTW, it would have been totally within the legal rights of Bermuda (or any other coutry) to bar Regina entry and send her on the next flight home. They still would have owed zero compensation.
As far as “education”, thanks to the person who mentioned the new Canadian restrictions. A total non-issue for me, but I keep abreast of travel info and hadn’t heard that before. Suggest this be spotlighted in Elliott.
I am very sorry for Regina’s experience. I can imagine how uncomfortable and scary that was. But I don’t believe the system failed or that any wrong was done toward her. The people were doing their jobs, and no apology is required at all for it. I don’t feel they made any sort of a mistake.
I’m not sure what Regina thinks she’s advocating / teaching everyone. It doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong with Bermuda. She just had a rotten experience at the airport. Do you mean to tell me, Regina, that you’re going to make sure you tell everyone you know not to go to Bermuda because the customs agents do random drug checks? For me that’s not a good enough reason to avoid a destination.
I plan on going to Bermuda next year with my daughter, and can’t wait! My best friend was there not long ago and loved it, and I have a friend from college that lives there and he’s obviously a fan, lol.
Bottom line for me is, I’m very sorry you were the one singled out, but they did their jobs and I can find no fault in anything they did.
I think most people would say that the situation was unfortunate. I agree that it can be used as a jumping off point for education about travel, although the lessons could be very divergent (eg. plan ahead vs. never travel to a potential hot spot drug country).
I think the point that is being missed by Ms. Hutchings is that there is no comparison between enforcement arms of a government and customer service at a hotel or restaurant. In either case it is your choice not to show repeat patronage to a country or a hotel/restaurant, but in the case of a hotel/restaurant their charged with providing you customer service and a pleasant experience and that is not the case for customs/border patrol. They are charged with defending their borders with their set of laws and restrictions.
I’m sorry that you had to go through this experience and I do hope that the one lesson you learn is that travel is filled with surprises and good planning can handle 90% of them and a good attitude can take care of the remaining 10%. Best wishes.
[...] A cursory look back over just the last few months, reminds us of such incidents as the one involving foreign customs agents who accused a Pennsylvania social worker of “being in contact with an illegal substance” and forced to a body cavity search. [...]
Most repondants have already covered that this is standard practice and something one should come to expect might happen when travelling abroad. The search was done by officers of the same sex and, I’m assuming, in a private room, so where is the humiliation? I don’t suppose the officers were particularly thrilled to be exploring Reginas cavities either but it is their job so they get on with it and as a result keep the citizens and the tourists protected, including Regina.
If they were not so diligent and a terrorist smuggled plastic explosives through customs in a body cavity that was then subsequently used to blow up a hotel Regina was staying in, in juring her; I’m sure she would be the first to complain that the government, and the customs agents in particular, were negligent.
I don’t think she is owed an apology from anyone and she certainly shouldn’t expect a refund.
I think many here are confusing airport security and customs agents. The two are completely unrelated. Also, customer satisfaction for a trip has nothing to do with law enforcement (which is what customs agents do). The agents did their job, period. They had 2 positives and needed to investigate further. Granted, the full search is no fun for anyone, but being American doesn’t exempt you just because. No apology was required and certainly no refund. At least she received a reply to her query by the customs collector, which is more than I could say for any customs agency in the US of A would have offered. I am constantly baffled at the sense of entitlement and arrogance displayed by traveling Americans to other countries.
I’d really like to see Regina actually respond to people like Jay Drew who had serious empathy and similar experiences, and yet felt that these people were just doing their jobs, and she wasn’t entitled to any kind of refund.
Up until this point, I haven’t seen her even acknowledge these people, other than to just say that every one of her critics just doesn’t get it. These people *do*. And they’re still telling her that she needs to stop feeling so victimized. She hasn’t acknowledged any points of view that the dogs were highly trained, that the detectors could have picked up trace elements, and that she redflagged on several behaviors. Regina, to me, this really seems as if you’re unwilling to listen to, or acknowledge, that your point of view might be wrong. I am truly sorry for your experience; it’s not one that any innocent person should have to endure. Still, as long as the guards were professional in how they treated you (you weren’t abused by these people, right? And your search was conducted professionally, by a woman? You just had to go through the searches?) I really think you are heavily overreacting, especially when you refuse to respond to anyone’s very valid, very proven points with anything other than “you don’t know what it’s like to be me!” Even when they do, you seem to not want to respond to them…
I’ve also been pulled over for random searches. My boyfriend is a photographer and he gets singled out -every time- in the lines because of his equipment, and it’s pretty intrusive (though not as intrusive as a cavity search, I’ll grant you!). It doesn’t stop me from traveling, and won’t, and shouldn’t stop anybody. It’s quite true that you can vote with your feet and not go somewhere after a bad experience, and that’s your right. And maybe it’s true that all customs agents everywhere should get a little sensitivity training… but seriously, this sort of stuff is everywhere and won’t end anytime soon. Innocent people get caught up in things they shouldn’t. It’s not right… but it happens.
Regina, my husband experienced the exact same thing when we flew into Bermuda 2 years ago. The only difference being he was searched for evidence of marijuana instead of cocaine. Funny enough there was another couple on the same flight coming from ATL and the wife was singled out as well. We are expats and frequent travelers so I stood to the side and laughed at my husband during his dilemma. In the end we pulled out our diplomatic credential’s and explained we were posted in Haiti and there is no telling what our luggage has been exposed to in the baggage area in Port-Au-Prince. They did apologize and stated they were just doing their job and that Bermuda has a zero tolerance policy for drugs.
Look at it from their perspective as well, you are a traveler subject to the laws of their country and they do not want drugs entering their country. Bermuda takes a very proactive approach to stop drugs from entering their borders. They have the right to scrutinize, search, detain and refuse entry to anyone they suspect of attempting to break their laws. It is always a guessing game when you travel outside the US. It seems that this point needs to be stressed with you, once outside the US you are not protected by US law/morals/ethics etc., the US embassies are not there to bail you out and you ARE subject to law of the country you visit.
I’m sorry your trip was ruined and I feel for you but they do not owe you an official apology or a refund. Just be gald it wasn’t the middle east or asia, you would still be in jail.
Regina, sorry I didn’t mean to imply you went to jail. I meant that in a lot of countries their laws allow them to detain you because of suspicion and that in regions like the middle east or asia they have been known to arrest first and ask questions later.