Comments on: Southwest Airlines: Sorry, your lost bag never existed

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:22:50 +0000

This is very concerning to me because I lost a car seat on Southwest a couple days ago. I reported the loss to the local baggage office, and handed the agent at the counter my claim tag for the item. I find out today that I’ll need the claim tag to file for reimbursement — but the agent KEPT THE CLAIM TAG! Southwest has a few more days to find the item, then I have a feeling I might be fighting a battle to get reimbursed.

By: Larry Garza

Larry Garza — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:28:52 +0000

I went to Vegas for the Memorial Day weekend and one of my bags never made it. I wonder if there’s a problem in Las Vegas. It’s been 5 days no luggage.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:32:24 +0000

My daughter traveled from STL to OAK via LAS in December to visit her boyfriend’s family for the first time and spend the Christmas holidays with them. The outbound flight was delayed 3 hours, and this is not unusual during unpredictable weather in December and the fact that it’s one of the busiest times to travel. When she arrived in Oakland, no bag. Many many calls, a lot of waiting, the usual aggravation that follows when discovering your luggage is “lost”… and lots of trying to make the best of it. She and I were both told the standard procedures and she was offered 50 dollars to purchase “essentials”. She did not drive the hour back to the airport for the 50. The bag was never found, and she and I filled out the necessary paperwork, and made a claim of approx. 2000, the total of all her new holiday clothes, shoes, and gifts she had packed for her hosts. After waiting a month, we phoned again for the status of the claim. GUESS WHAT? Her claim was “lost”. First the bag was lost, now the claim is lost. So we faxed the copies of the original claim. We waited another month as we were told to do, and called again. The most rude agent to sit at a desk was of course the one we were lucky enough to have, and she continually insisted on robotically reading us the rules, much like a recording. A very poor representative of SWA. Well, the claim was approved for approximately a third less than the amount we claimed due to “depreciation” even though most of the items were just purchased specifically for the trip. She informed me that all cosmetics are automatically depreciated 1/2 since they are not returnable, a point I disputed, but arguing with her was getting me nowhere. So we were told that we would receive a check. I inquired that even though it was now 3 months later, what happens if the bag does indeed show up at some point, and I was told that if it does we will get it back. Unlikely, but you never know. Well yesterday, now four months later, we recieve a letter stating that the bag was “found” in Dallas and upon them receiving a cashier’s check for half the money back, we can have our bag. We are in STL and the bag is in Dallas. Who knows what kind of condition it’s in, what is left inside the bag, and they want to sell it back to us for 800 dollars!! If we don’t send them 800 then they will “donate” it to the Goodwill!!! I am FURIOUS. The flight was late, misconnected, late again, bag was lost, agent was ruder than rude, calls weren’t returned, after finally getting through once, an hour later they called back and asked if WE found our luggage, a month of calls, they lost our claim, didn’t reimburse the value, then want to sell us our bag back without even showing it to us!! What the heck, talk about depreciation, who knows how many people have gone through it, etc., the LEAST they can do is just give it back like they said they would. We saved up and spent 400 to go, bought new clothes, shopped wrapped and packed nice gifts, spent 14 hours getting to the destination, arrived with only the clothes on her back, tennis shoes and sweats for a holiday gala that evening which she was late for, got rude treatment all week and then for months, totally lost money on the vacation having to re-buy clothes and gifts, and now they want 800 more from us for property that is ours, and we pay either give them 800 or Goodwill gets it free! I would say that our property has depreciated quite a bit, and I should be able to have it back for 50, which is what they originally offered us!! I am furious at Southwest, and it’s too bad. I used to be a huge fan of theirs and now want all my family and friends to sell their stock. It is a shame, and I’ll be expressing this to the corporate office in the morning. Thanks for listening and/or commenting.

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:02:32 +0000

Days late here, but travelers really should take some measures to help themselves and stop relying on others. Most have a camera available. Utilize them for other than the pretty shots. I take pictures: of bag before closing to show what is in them, my travel documents, my luggage being tagged if possible (not too busy), and anything I receive during the process. I also put into each bag my personal and travel information. I also confirm all reservations beforehand. People are only human, and technology can error as well. There are many steps, people, and expenses involved in getting from point A to point B, that it is pretty dumb to trust that everything will always fall into place effortlessly.

By: carver

carver — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:20:54 +0000

Since Paula had not answered my question, I must conclude that my premise is correct. SW didn’t believe that a bag was checked and Sophia was trying to scam them which is why SW denied the claim. When it was made public, SW realized that it wasn’t a scam and made a real effort to find the bag which is why it was found, miraculously within hours after the blog was posted.

Shame on Southwest.

To those who think that SW was right to deny the claim, I argue that SW’s system should be able to track bags based on ticket number.

By: Debo Hobo

Debo Hobo — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:28:57 +0000

Here in Texas a guy was busted for stealing luggage from the baggage claim carousel and reselling them at the flee market.

By: Buckster

Buckster — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:16:56 +0000

Ithink there clearly was a resolution. No receipt. Is the airline suppsoed to pay every claim regardless of proof??? At your company, would you give money out with no proof of purchase?

I feel bad for thse people but come on. this is basic.

By: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:59:51 +0000

@David, I’ve approved every comment that’s come in on this post. Your browser might be caching an old version of this story. Try clearing out your cache.

By: David Z

David Z — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:55:03 +0000

Hmm, I could’ve sworn there were other comments after Rob’s. What gives?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:25:39 +0000

Well I learned I’ve never going to toss any of those checked bag receipts in the garbage after checking in ever again!

I am impressed the SW took the time on the post here to help. You have to wonder though that this bag was sitting somewhere collecting dust for SO long, doesn’t anyone think to re-check those “lost bags” every once in a while for someone looking for one?