TravelingMom

It's a very long story, but the short of it is that I'd like to make a formal complaint to US Air about an item that was wrongly confiscated from our checked luggage in Pittsburgh. It's probably a losing battle, but it's one I feel I need to fight.

Anyway, I have a local number for a supervisor at the PIT airport but she won't return my call. I also have the general email and snail mail addresses for consumer affairs, but no one to directly address.

I'm wondering in anyone knows of an actual PERSON I could actually call or write, either in Pittsburgh or headquarters?

Thanks for any help!

Flyboy

Was it confiscated by the airline or the TSA?

cfc

Are you sure it wasn't TSA who confiscated the item?

(My answer to your actual question: "try spitting into the wind".)

TravelingMom

The item was identified by TSA, but actually removed from our bag by a US Air employee. Apparently, at least in Pittsburgh, TSA won't actually remove things from checked bags. Anyway, we have the name of the US Air employee who removed it. We were never contacted at the departure or arrival gates or notified that the item was removed.

In case you're curious, it was a camp stove (with no fuel in it), which we didn't realize was missing until we had hiked into Yosemite backcountry...

soccr

Start here: http://www.usairways.com/about/corpo...tion/index.htm

and go get 'em. That's inexcusable.

otto

my recommendation is do a little homework. it's good you figured out it was a tsa employee who identified the item. (presumably after you checked it in, and you had no idea it was not able to pass) and that a u.s airways employee confiscated the item. find out exactly whose rules apply. was it in fact a u.s airways employee? or a contracted handling company for instance? alot of people don't realize how many parties are involved before you even get on the plane. clearly, you'll get the "security blah blah blah" response. but send it to the right person. i know they have their rules, (a little late if you ask me) but you should have been contacted at the very least. your comments should be heard, or you should receive some kind of compensation. working for the airlines, i've heard of instances when fonfiscated items were actually mailed back to the passengers home. good luck.

clevelandbrown

Frankly, I think your demand to have the name of an individual who will deal with you is getting in the way of resolving your problem. There are probably a number of people who handle this type of complaint, and if you address it to only one of them, none of the others will touch it, and the one you name will probably be more concerned with how you got his name than with responding to you.

Many companies allow employees in this type of position to use aliases, out of concern that some deranged complainer will attack the employee if they have their true name.

Your second best bet would be to write a letter to the company at the address you have, with a full explanation, including names, and stating just what you want done.

Your best bet, of course, would be to buy stock, go to the shareholders' meeting, and speak up there, but I think writing to them will give you a quicker resolution.

For your information, I think no one is notified when suspicious items are removed from checked luggage. My impression is that TSA removes the items and they are considered forfeit. I wonder if having US Air remove the item is a way of avoiding forfeiture, as US Air could have a holding facility.

TravelingMom

Just an update - I did finally manage to track down the stove. It took 4 unreturned phone calls to the same woman before I guess she got tired of my messages.

I'm thinking I'm still going to write a letter - since US Air was fully aware of my flight plans, it seems like it would have been courteous of them to notify me that the stove had been taken. Also frustrating to have to deal with the employees who seemed so completely apathetic.

I was actually surprised, because any problems I've had with US Air previously have been dealt with promptly and courteously!

Spygirl

Traveling Mom-without question, US Airways is one of THE most courteous, passenger oriented airlines flying in the US today -so let's get that straight, right off the bat.

But listen now, had I been a diligent US Air employee I TOO MIGHT HAVE REMOVED YOUR CAMP STOVE.

Yes, that's right. It may have had butane fuel in it-it could have had ANYTHING IN IT. And once they determined that it was okay, THEN there might be a situation where something did not get put back when it should have been, OR, there was in fact a conscious decision NOT to put it back, for a variety of reasons. (for example, did you check the TSA website "Preparing for Summer Take-off?" Are camp stoves permissible as part of checked baggage? Do they need to be taken apart first? etc. etc. Simply because a counter agent checked it in, and didn't know what it was, doesn't mean it wouldn't be sent through the CTX machines-and screened thoroughly-it would be!

Maybe, through the screening process, and good faith decisions on the part of the airline employees, the air carrier deemed it something that needed to be off-loaded and "cured." Could that be possible? Do you see how many issues have to be resolved when someone brings something like a campstove on board an aircraft? Do you remember what happened to Valujet in Florida?

My point being, before you start going on a public forum and slamming a good airline by recklessly stating that the carrier "confiscated" your campstove, BE SURE OF YOUR FACTS FIRST-AND DO SOME HOMEWORK ON BRINGING ITEMS LIKE CAMPSTOVES ON BOARD BEFORE YOU FLY!

I personally think it's disgraceful how you've framed the issue here-as you yourself state "it's a very long story...." Oh, I'm QUITE sure it is! And you're STILL making negative comments, when I suspect all along it was largely YOUR FAULT.

wills

If an item is taken out of someone's baggage without explanation I think there's a word for it, oh yes, stealing! Just because it's an airline and there are security questions doesn't mean that they can take things without explanation. Try writing Deborah Thompson at USairways, she handles complaints and has the ability to make things right. I am sorry, I do not have the specific address but if you check the website I believe there has to be some kind of address. Good luck!

Spygirl

And I didn't make that last point as clearly as I wanted: I'm QUITE sure that the story you put out here was just a fraction of the story that really transpired, and it includes ONLY those bits that make your actions totally blameless and puts you in the most sympathetic light possible, no??

Spygirl

Now, how do you know it's "stealing" Wills?? Were you there? Do you know the whole story here? I'm going to guess that you don't-nor do I, which is why I take such umbrage to the poster's careless comments-she's giving big clues that the story may not be as she's claiming (gee, that would be a first, wouldn't it?)

We're getting her little sob story here-so unless you have a sucker mentality and believe everything you hear, you should use some common sense and understand that there may be FAR more to this story that what appears at first glance! Sheesh!

TravelingMom

Wow - Spygirl - I just thought I was asking a pretty simple question - who I could talk to. As I stated in my last post, the reason I was so surprised by this is because all previous dealings with US Air have been dealt with promptly and courteously. That hasn't been the case in this situation.

Just to fill in some of the details that you seem to want, I did check both TSA and US Air webpages and found that camp stoves are allowed in checked baggage. Additionally, when we checked in we asked the US Air gate agent and THREE TSA employees if we should wait to ensure that our bags cleared the CTX machines. All four assured us firstly that it would be unnecessary since camp stoves are acceptable, and secondly that we were not allowed to wait.

My issue isn't so much that the item was confiscated (although it was an annoyance). My issue is that US Air did not notify us at the departure or arrival gates that it was taken out. I know they are under no legal obligation to do so, but it would have taken very little effort on their behalf to have the gate agent at least inform us so we could have bought a new camp stove before we had hiked our way into the backcountry.

A further issue is the apathy and rudeness I've encountered on the part of the 2 employees in Pittsburgh, which is unacceptable no matter who is "at fault".

I am offended by your attack on me, by the way, but that's something I can much more easily get over. As you state, you didn't know the whole story. I'm sure if you had witnessed or experienced the incident, you would understand my frustation.

TravelingMom

OK - so they actually found the camp stove! The woman I talked to was going to hold it in Pittsburgh until I could pick it up (we've since moved to Virginia). Except - I went to pick it up last week and it's been central to central baggage processing and is missing again. The saga continues...

TravelingMom

Finally, some resolution! Apparently the camp stove has disappeard...I got a reimbursement check in the mail last week from US Air. I'm glad to see that they followed through for me, even if it did take longer than I had hoped!

mrwunrfl

Wow, good for you. And thanks, I like happy endings.

FainaAgain

Good for you! And good for all of us to know - we should fight for our rights!