@The_Judge: Please explain to me how a professional musician is to play a show across the country without taking his instrument on a plane & we'd be glad to comply.
@Gromit801: Isn't small claims court only for disputes under $2000? (Not sure, but it used to be.) The guitar cost $3000. Also, the supervisor at the gate at JFK was aggressively insistent that the airline wasn't liable & flat-out told us that we if we filed a complaint at baggage claim it would go nowhere. I know it's stupid, but we were so tired & frustrated that we wiped the guitar down with a t-shirt & went home, hoping for the best. So there's nothing official on file.
@Ombudsman: Unfortunately the guitar was not insured. A friend suggested the YouTube route, so my husband's working on a nice, catchy hook. "F*k you, jetBlue" just rhymes so nicely, don't you think?
I'm considering setting up a Facebook page inviting every musician whose been through this nonsense to write a song about it with the culpable airline in the title, turn it into a movement in support of passing S.223. Because what's so frustrating about this whole wrangle is that it was so unnecessary. They don't ever want to believe it, but the guitar fits perfectly flat in the overhead compartment. Usually when that's demonstrated, the attendants allow it. There was more than enough room on that plane for that guitar.
If even TSA, as persnickety as they are, is fine with instruments on board, why shouldn't airlines be, provided they fit in the overheads? It's only reasonable.
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