pilferage of checked baggage contents

Well here's a story for you regarding theft in hecked luggage. A friend of
mine went with his wife to London and bough quite a few fairly expensive
items. At Heathrow, they attempted to get back the "taxes" they paid for the
items, which some countries allow you to do. They went to the appropriate
office at Heathrow, showed all the receipts, and got the tax refund. However
when they got back to the US, all the items were gone from the suitcase. My
friend has a feeling that the guy at the "tax" refund center had some
"connivance" with the baggage handlers and he forewarned them of items worth
pilfering. The luggage had a TSA-approved lock but we all know how useless
those things are, other than preventing the suitcase from opening
accidentally. I'm sure this happens quite a lot and by the time you realize
the items are gone when you're at home, do you really have any recourse?

"sechumlib" wrote in message
news:2006081411281316807-sechumlib@liberalnet...
On 2006-08-14 10:30:34 -0400, George Max said:

What's the deal now with the safety of the contents of checked luggage
as relates to air travel? What I'm talking about is theft.

For years we've been advised that valuable things like jewelry and
cameras should NOT be placed in checked luggage, but instead, placed
in your carry on.

While the TSA has not imposed a no carry on rule yet for the US, I can
imagine a day when they may do so ala the UK. Is the UK manner of
handling baggage much more secure that pilferage by baggage handlers
and security staff simply doesn't happen?

Or can we expect that whether or not your camera/compute/iPod may or
may not be inside when you arrive at your destination. Kind of a
Russian roulette game if you will.

Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January), while
it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a cruise.
She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And it was a
brand-new, very expensive suitcase.

"mrtravel" wrote in message
t...
sechumlib wrote:

Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January), while
it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.


Did none of the ports sell clothing?

I wondered about this. On a recent cruise we met some passengers whose
luggage did not make the cruise, and due to a long stop in St. Petersburg,
would probably not get their luggage until the end of the cruise. As I was
wandering through the port I was thinking of all the clothes they could buy
with the travel insurance reimbursement. And yet, they did not go into port
that day and buy clothes. I guess I would have considered that the upside
of losing luggage. (There has to be some upside.)

Cathy Kearns wrote:

"mrtravel" wrote in message
t...

sechumlib wrote:

Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January), while
it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.


Did none of the ports sell clothing?


I wondered about this. On a recent cruise we met some passengers whose
luggage did not make the cruise, and due to a long stop in St. Petersburg,
would probably not get their luggage until the end of the cruise. As I was
wandering through the port I was thinking of all the clothes they could buy
with the travel insurance reimbursement. And yet, they did not go into port
that day and buy clothes.

Did they go into port? It seems odd that they would be able to find
anything in St Petersburg to see Additionally, there are many
inexpensive places to shop there.

"mrtravel" wrote in message
m...
Cathy Kearns wrote:

"mrtravel" wrote in message
t...

sechumlib wrote:

Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January),
while
it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.


Did none of the ports sell clothing?


I wondered about this. On a recent cruise we met some passengers whose
luggage did not make the cruise, and due to a long stop in St.
Petersburg,
would probably not get their luggage until the end of the cruise. As I
was
wandering through the port I was thinking of all the clothes they could
buy
with the travel insurance reimbursement. And yet, they did not go into
port
that day and buy clothes.

Did they go into port? It seems odd that they would be able to find
anything in St Petersburg to see Additionally, there are many
inexpensive places to shop there.

They did go into St. Petersburg, at that point they had half their luggage.
But for some reason, the airlines will not forward luggage to Russia, but
will forward it to Estonia or Finland. Eventually they did get all their
luggage. But I told my husband if that were me, I would have been going
wild at the stores in Tallin.

On 2006-08-14 13:25:38 -0400, "Lawrence Akutagawa"
said:

But isn't that the whole point of the cruise experience? "...buying
it here & there in overpriced stores that you know nothing about?" to
wit - buying everyday things at unfamilar shops in exotic locales?

No.

On the other hand, look at the experience this way - if you didn't go
on the trip, you wouldn't have the lost/misplaced luggage. And
wouldn't have this tale to tell either. n'est-ce pas?

I wouldn't have minded that at all - especially considering the cheeky,
non-responsive responses I've gotten from people like you.

I'm NOT flying or cruising any more, after that fiasco. I'm 71 and need
no more ****ty travel experiences.

On 2006-08-14 16:15:25 -0400, mrtravel said:

sechumlib wrote:

On 2006-08-14 11:58:11 -0400, mrtravel said:

sechumlib wrote:


Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January),
while it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.


Did none of the ports sell clothing?


Oh, you don't mind having a whole bunch of stuff stolen, if you can
spend good touring time buying it here & there in overpriced stores
that you know nothing about?


I don't know where you went. Cruise ships I have been on traveled to
places where people wore clothing, plus the ship had clothing for sale
on it.

Oh, OK. Why pack ANYTHING then? We can buy it all, at grossly inflated
prices, on the ship or in ports with said grossly inflated prices.

Maybe that's YOUR version of cruising. Ours was to see new places, not
to buy, buy, buy.

But we don't fly or cruise any more, thanks to experiences like that one.

On 2006-08-14 13:04:36 -0400, jdoe said:

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:47:04 GMT, sechumlib
wrote:

On 2006-08-14 12:31:54 -0400, jdoe said:

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:28:13 GMT, sechumlib
wrote:


Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January),
while it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.

how are you certain it was stolen and just lost? did you have ID both
inside and outside of it?
why didn't you buy new clothes for her?

You want to blame the whole thing on me, right?

not too bright are you? who said it was your fault, I just noted that
maybe the baggage was lost and not stolen.
I can see why nobody at the airline did anything to help you out, did
you file a claim? were you compensated?

Yes, we were compensated. Fat lot of good that did us ON the cruise,
since the compensation came weeks later.

For dodos like you, who obviously go on cruises to "shop until you
drop", such an experience would obviously be ultimately fulfilling. We
had other ideas about cruising. We don't do it any more.

On 2006-08-14 14:14:14 -0400, nobody said:

sechumlib wrote:
Well, my wife and I had a whole suitcase stolen in 2001 (January),
while it was in the hands of Delta Airlines and we were on our way to a
cruise. She had exactly two changes of clothes for a 10-day cruise! And
it was a brand-new, very expensive suitcase.


If a baggage handler has to choose between stealing some expensive
suitcase and some cheap backpacker bag full of dirty underwear, guess
which one he will choose ?


If you want your lugagge to make it through the airport system, make
sure it doesn't stand out with a "I am full of valuable contents"
sticker in fluorescent yellow.

Oh, you're so ****ing helpful.

On 2006-08-14 16:34:15 -0400, "Cesar Neri" said:

Well here's a story for you regarding theft in hecked luggage. A
friend of mine went with his wife to London and bough quite a few
fairly expensive items. At Heathrow, they attempted to get back the
"taxes" they paid for the items, which some countries allow you to do.
They went to the appropriate office at Heathrow, showed all the
receipts, and got the tax refund. However when they got back to the US,
all the items were gone from the suitcase. My friend has a feeling that
the guy at the "tax" refund center had some "connivance" with the
baggage handlers and he forewarned them of items worth pilfering. The
luggage had a TSA-approved lock but we all know how useless those
things are, other than preventing the suitcase from opening
accidentally. I'm sure this happens quite a lot and by the time you
realize the items are gone when you're at home, do you really have any
recourse?

My sympathies. (Empathies, actually.) At least YOU have something
similar to report, which is equally (more or less) demoralizing.

Not like most of the posters on this benighted NG, who seem to think I
was the one out of line instead of the thieves.

On 2006-08-14 16:39:48 -0400, jdoe said:

For Jdoe, the generic moron:

You're a ****head.