[hotairguy]

My wife boarded a flight in Manila, Philippines that was scheduled to depart on China Airlines, flight number 0632 at 10:55am. The flight was to arrive at Taipei at 12:55pm and the next connection was China Airline flight number 0006 departing at 4:40pm to arrive at Los Angles at 2:05pm. The next scheduled flight was United Airline flight number 0504 departing at 6:05pm to arrive at Denver at 9:24pm. The final leg was United Airline flight number 6581 to depart at 10:05pm and arrive in Colorado Springs at 10:44pm. My wife checked her two bags all the way through to Colorado Springs upon check in at Manila airport.
We are not sure as to the exact time frame but United Airline cancelled the flight number 0504, Los Angeles to Denver. When My wife arrived at Los Angles and passed through customs and the baggage transfer area, she discovered that her scheduled flight was cancelled. She proceeded to United Airlines customer service desk and was given a seat on United Airlines flight number 6496, Los Angles to Colorado Springs that departed at 8:35pm. She received this new information at approximately 3:45pm local time in Los Angles and waited for her new flight.
Upon arrival in Colorado Springs at 11:40pm, we went to baggage claim and waited for her two (2) checked bags. After waiting for 10 minutes and discovering that both bags were not delivered on the carrousel, we proceeded to the lost baggage office and gave the baggage information to the United Airline representative. The representative checked the information and went into the rear storage room and retrieved the smaller of the two checked bags. She then said that the other larger bag was sent to Denver airport and that it should be delivered to our address the next day, Friday August 1st, 2008. She then gave us the delayed baggage report and locator number so we could track any status change on-line. Upon closer inspection of the bag that did arrive, we discovered that it appears that some kind of greasy dirty articles was placed on the top of this bag and deep dirty stains were evident along with other abuse and one of the zippers ripped off. Pictures was taken of the damaged bag which had been used only once before and was not in this condition when the bag was transferred in Los Angles.

Friday August 1st, 2008.

The following morning I repeatedly checked the on-line system and no updates whatsoever were recorded. I then called the 800 service number to check the status of this delayed bag around 10:30am. I was connected to a man with a heavy Indian accent who told me that no other detailed were available at this time and that I should give them more time. When the on-line site still offered no details around 4pm, I called the 800 number again and asked to be connected with a supervisor when no details were available from the agent. The supervisors name was Liah Garner who told me that the Colorado Springs airport had placed a request to Denver in “the system” and that Denver had not responded as yet. She then placed me on hold and attempted to call Denver directly. When she returned, she said that Denver was not picking up the phone but that she had also placed a request for information and had “printed out the entire file”. Again, she could offer no more assistance or information but assured me that since she had placed the request and “printed out the file”, that an update would surely arrive soon and give them more time. She also mentioned that she knew that the bag was in Denver and that there were five (5) flight daily from Denver to Colorado Springs and we would get our bag shortly.
When no updates were recorded on-line around 9pm, I called the 800 number once again and was connected to anther agent who could not explain why no information was available on-line or in his system. Getting upset at this point with the lack of information and the lack of any accountability, I was offered a travel voucher for my inconvenience. I really didn’t care about the voucher but excepted when I was asked by the agent if I was refusing it. I gave the agent my email address and confirmed the information was correct, to date I have received nothing from United Airlines. I asked when this bag might ever arrive, if any updates would be recorded and if there was anything else that could be done. I was told that nothing else could be done and to give them more time and the bag would be delivered.

Saturday August 2nd, 2008.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I checked the on-line system and no updates were posted. Around 10:30am, I called the 800 number again and talked to someone named Ben William. I explained what has been going on and was upset that out of five flights, it didn’t appear that our bag left Denver. He placed me on hold and when he returned, told me that he called Denver and someone told him that the bag was there. When I asked when it would be placed on a plane to Colorado Springs, he said he didn’t have that information. I then asked if it could be delivered to Colorado Springs by way of a delivery driver, he could not tell me if that was possible. I was getting the feeling that no one had any control of the situation and asked if I could pick up the bad myself at the Denver Airport. I only asked if he could tell me so certain that the bag would remain in Denver. He placed me on hold and tried to call Denver again. He came back and told me that Denver was not answering the phone but that he sent a message in his “system” and that they would hold the bag in Denver. I asked once more before I drove the 1 ½ hours and paid tolls and parking if he could assure me the bag would be there. He said that it would. I then packed up the wife and child and started out to Denver immediately. We drove the 80 miles one-way, paid $5.75 in tolls one-way and also paid a parking fee of $2.00 at Denver airport. We arrived at the lost baggage area in Denver and were told that the bag was placed on a flight to Colorado Springs. In a discussion with one of the two United Airlines employees (heated at times) she stated that our bag was never even scanned in Denver until 2am Saturday morning. She said that the request to keep the bag in Denver was never discovered because the call center where the 800 number calls are routed to is in India and that the system doesn’t work correctly. So we made a long trip, 80 miles back home to Colorado Springs, another $5.75 in tolls for no reason and was offered no apology or compensation for this wasted trip based on information given to me by representatives of United Airlines.
The bag was delivered to our front door around 3-4pm on Saturday with the same greasy stain damage as the first bag. This was the very first time this bag was used for traveling and it is really unusable at this point, more pictures were taken as evidence.

I know this may seem minor to some folks but what gets me steamed is that no one appears to be accountable, they can offer no information or relief. I have submitted this complaint to United and asked that I get compensated for the gas, tolls, parking and something for the damaged bags. If I get no response, I will most likely file a small claims action.