Quote:
Originally Posted by azstar
This is a very difficult thing to prove. You would lose in a Court of Law since you have no proof who stole this. There would have to be witnesses who would testify. A bank teller is a different situation. Tellers are responsible for a fixed amount of currency. If they come up short on more than one occasion they can be held accountable.
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In the example I used (an ATM), the teller is not accountable for a set amount of currency. You don't deposit your money into an ATM one twenty at a time so that the machine can verify the total deposit against what you entered in on the keypad. That is why cameras and dual processes are used.
But you unintentionally hit on something important to back my point. At a time when technology can trace a parcel from the sender through various distribution centers to its final destination, with the ability to relay the signature of the person who received that package and the time and date of its arrival, am I to understand that the same technology can't be applied in airline baggage for both security and anti-theft measures? Of course it can. All luggage has bar codes, but do handlers have equipment that identifies that they were the ones who took the baggage off the plane?
We have RFID technology (radio frequency identifier) that can tell Wal-Mart that you purchased an exact brand of shaving cream, trigger an order at the distribution center to ship a replacement and tie it to customized marketing campaigns back to you when you pay with a credit card. But we can have areas in airports where luggage can be pilfered undetected? How does a baggage handler even leave a secure area with more than what he/she came in with? You would think reverse security (checking them when they leave) should be enacted.
I don't believe that the process or resource constraints is preventing these additional security measures from implementation nationwide. It is simply a matter of money. As passengers, we are obligated (by law) to comply with TSA regulations, even if changes are made on the fly (such as now having your shoes on the conveyer belt directly or in a bin alone through security). How are passengers the potential enemy but employees can commit criminal activity and we are to deal with it?
Honestly, this would not be tolerated in any other industry. If your cleaning lady stole something from your house, would you not be enraged? Of course. Would you press charges? Yep. And of course you would fire the agency that sent her, because they must not screen or supervise their employees well enough to ensure your security.
Would you allow the mechanic that is changing the oil in your car's engine to break into your glove box and steal your GPS? Is it justified for him to do so simply because you were brazen enough to keep a GPS in your car? Of course not. He or she is wrong to do it because stealing is wrong.
But the company is wrong when they are aware that the problem exists and take no additional action to prevent such issues. When it is so widely known that these issues could exist, and yet nothing fundamentally changes, there is a problem. There has to be an element of trust when you fly- I trust that the pilot is competent to fly the plane and that the attendants are trained to assist me in an emergency. I trust that the gate agents are expediting boarding processes in the best manner possible. And yes, I trust that baggage handlers are handling my baggage and not sifting through it. I don't accept that I am naive in expecting that level of trust. I believe we are all entitled to that level of trust and respect as customers.
I don't think one incident of theft is any better than thousands, frankly. I think any security breach, regardless of what side of the gate it occurs upon, is appalling. We would not accept this in any other industry- I won't accept that it is my fault as a passenger for what happened to me; particularly when I was forced to gate check my bag in the first place.
Finally, with regard to "a difficult thing to prove", I don't think so. I had a travel companion with me that saw me consolidate my purse into my roll-aboard to meet TSA regulations (who has already provided me with a sworn statement). I clearly gate checked my bag, because I have the claim tag. There are employee logs and it should be very easy to determine who worked the baggage for that flight at both PHL and ORD. Interview them all. Frankly, interrogate them all. Review the tapes and question any irregularities or variances to established process. Make it what it is- a criminal investigation.
Regardless, I can tell you what I CAN absolutely prove to a jury- I had property in my roll-aboard that was not there when I picked it up. If you claim I would have difficulty in finding out exactly who did it, fine. United did it, because they are responsible for all its employees and their actions. Period.