I have just experienced the same problem. I have filed a complaint with the BBB and have contacted the airline several times to no avail. Here's the story:
I was flying out of Las Vegas to a connecting flight in Chicago. I missed my flight in Chicago due to delays with the Vegas flight and the company put me up in a hotel overnight as there were no other flights until the next morning. While that was nice of them, I never asked for it. When I asked if there was another airline they could connect me with they said no... so what choices did I have? I stayed the night. The bag that was supposed to be transfered stayed in their possession until the next morning when it was placed on the next flight home.
When I got the bag, I noticed the zipper was slightly open, but I was already 3 hours late for work and had an hour and a half drive to get there. It wasn't until later that I noticed that a camera, one of my shoes, some souvenirs were missing. Also, all of the caps on my lotion, nail polish and perfumes were not securely fastened (as they were when I checked the bag). Being as everything was in separate compartments, I can easily conclude that the bag had been rifled through and carelessly reassembled less a few contents. Of course the missing items were all of my memorabilia from the trip.
Does the airline claim responsibility? No. Is the airline willing to compensate? No.
The bottom line is that I provided them my baggage claim number and they should have been able to trace the bag from check in to delivery, including all of the names of the employees that the bag could have passed hands with. The company has a responsibility to make sure that all items are returned to customers when a bag is checked; even if it is necessary to open the bag to look at contents. The company instead supports dishonesty and lack of professionalism in their employees.
I have a program that I am currently running that files a daily claim with them on their website and a repeating email that goes out to them every day. It is hands free and will continue to plague them until I hear back from a representative with an agreeable resolution.
I can tell you that I will not be settling for free flights or airline miles with them as I cannot afford to lose any more of my personal belongings due to their negligence.
The BBB states that it can take up to 30 days for a claim to be processed. Regardless, I would recommend anyone who has had any type of issue with United (or any other airline) file a complaint there. The company is a member of the BBB and stands to lose their BBB backing if enough complaints come in.
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