TSA payment for lost articles
 

Has anyone actually received money from TSA for items lost after an inspection?

Some articles were lost from my luggage last May, I filed a claim in June, and after waiting 6 months, I have called, faxed, and emailed TSA a hundred times without any response. I was told I could sue, but is it reasonable to go to court for $148? It is most frustrating. Any suggestions? Am I fighting a hopeless case?

Sorry about your losses but at least it's only $148; it could have been worse. And I am not surprised the TSA hasn't responded to you yet. Being a gov't. agency it takes a long time to get a response if at all.
This unlocked luggage procedure makes it even more easier for theft. Like everyone else says just don't check in anything valuable. Of course even if they take your clothes and shoes it's still worth something to you and it's an inconvenience to replace.

Sorry for loss. What was taken? I am always surprized to find travellers carrying the family silver. Check with your insurance agent before next trip. Buy coverage.

Hi Jed,

>...is it reasonable to go to court for $148?<

No. Your lawyer will charge you about $150-200 per hour.

Message: Sorry for loss. What was taken? I am always surprized to find travellers carrying the family silver. Check with your insurance agent before next trip. Buy coverage.

Kind of a silly post, isn't it? Must not have been much family silver if it was only worth $148. And that amount is hardly worth the expense of covering with special insurance considering how the low odds of losing something. Doesn't everybody carry something with them worth something?? We're not talking about traveling with thousands of dollars worth of expensive items here, but that doesn't mean it isn't a pain to lose something.

So on the whole we're saying for $148 it's not worth it to sue. And unless your insurance policy covers it, you'll have to stand the loss. In my opinion I really doubt the TSA will respond. In fact, I'll be shocked if they do reply. I'm sure they have alot of pending claims.
It'll only be worthwhile for someone to sue if the cost was large but of course, nothing valuable should have been in the checked baggage anyway.

"nothing valuable should be checked"

Huh? One pair of my Ecco shoes is worth far more than that $148, or three shirts, or one blazer, or an electric razor. What the heck am I supposed to check if I can't even check clothes?

Don't check it in.

What was lost was a pillow, pillow case, and a strap to secure the suitcase (but it just had a snap and not a lock.) I can't imagine anyone wanting these, so they were probably simply not put back after they fell out of my suitcase during inspection. It wasn't anything major, but it was inconvenience and aggrevation.

When I came back to the airport from where I left, no one knew of a "lost and found" place. TSA told me to go to the airport people, and they told me to go to the TSA. Round and round. The TSA people could not imagine that anything could be lost after inspections.

Now it is less the money and mostly anger that TSA workers, who were "professionalized" by being "federalized" (and having their pay doubled) could be so imcompetent and unresponsive. May I hope that it doesn't happen to you. :-<

PS - Please don't flame me about TSA workers.

When checking luggage, one should tie it with a plastic tie used to tie down eletric wires. If TSA wants to check the contents of the luggage, they can cut the tie, but at the same time one does not have luggage that opens "accidentally."

I won't flame you about TSA workers. There will be some honest, some dishonest workers no matter who hired them. There have been lots of theft by baggage handlers for a long time and now that's including some of the TSA workers. Leaving our luggage unlocked makes it more vulnerable more than before. I think the wire ties are a good idea, just bring your toenail clippers with you to cut them off later. But if your suitcase gets stolen or lost, that's another story.

I like the brightly colored straps for the suitcases. They make it easy to see when they hit the luggage caruosel, make it unlikely that others will mistake it for their own, are secure, and are reusable, in contrast to wire or plastic ties.

One time I came home to find a suitcase that simply had no tabs on the zippers, so it would have been impossible to put on ties. It was held together by good luck.

In this case, I'm less concerned about theft than plain incompetence.

As to my original question, anyone have experience with TSA? #-o

Don't believe anyone is comfortable with anyone rummaging thru their belongings especially when it's not in front of us and we can't watch our bags being secured again.

And while we shouldn't pack anything of value, clothing has some value, when you have to replace it.

Jed - if you got some sort of documents from the TSA when you put in this claim, then submit it to your homeowners/renters insurance company. They should cover your belongings when traveling and will reimburse or replace the items. However, by doing this, you might find that your premium is increased when you renew the following year. It's almost a no-win situation.

Be thankful it was only $148 worth - but what kind of pillow and case were you traveling with? and you took your best on a trip to Europe. If you paid over $100 for a pillow, I'm sure a high-end hotel could certainly provided $100 pillows to your liking.

There has been theft from luggage since before the TSA existed, so why do you think they, rather than some baggage handler, or even the porter at your hotel, stole your pillow? I would think they would want some evidence that it was the TSA employee that caused the loss before approving any claim. I would also suspect that they don't apply a lot of resources to processing claims; since we are all demanding faster processing at the gate, that is where they are putting our money.

Hallelujah- I opened my mail today and nearly fell off the chair. There was a check from the US treasury for $148. :S-

Oh yee, without faith. **==

Only 15 months! You should receive interest - if the government wanted money from you they would be charging high interest and a penalty!