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Ever had anything stolen?...By TSA? |
Travel Info My boyfriend's laptop was stolen out of his checked on luggage when we flew to Hawaii from Las Vegas. (He works in Iraq, has travelled to many coutries all over the world for years, and has never had a problem with it before, so no, he did not carry it on, I have already given him a scolding for this). When the bag is ticketed and goes back, it goes through TSA security X ray's. Clearly, they can see the contents of the bag. I sincerely doubt it was some baggage handler who chose our bag out of 300 as having something valuable in it, then shoved it down his pants after he took it, I mean come on. Those guys don't have time. TSA could clearly see that a valuable electronic device was in the bag. My boyfriend has dealt with 3rd world country airports many times, successfully returns from Iraq for the 4th time unharmed, and this happens in an American airport secured by TSA government security? I have since heard numerous stories about things they have had go missing. Anyone else? Travel Tips Yes, but not that bad. TSA lost my flight itinerary while searching my entire family's luggage during the security check. It probably wasn't stolen, but they certainly took it and forgot what they did with it. I was pretty ticked because they went through everything, including my 1 year old infant's shoes and it was aggravating with him crying and everything. I asked him after the search where it was and his answer was I don't know and to keep moving. Oh, now that you're through messing all our stuff up and delayed us, you want us to get the hell of your way. No apologies, nothing. If we weren't in a hurry to catch a flight, I would have filed a complaint. Others Not in this way, but I saw a special on one of the evening news programs a while back, and they had caught airport employees on tape ransacking luggage & taking what they wanted. It was awful. Most stuff stolen is never recovered either, and they do not pay you for the full value of the items. Maybe passengers should start suing the airports.. Best wishes to your boyfriend. Hope he gets his, or payment. Almost everything blamed as being "stolen" by the TSA is actually stolen by baggage handlers. The airlines are famous for blaming somebody else (why wouldn't they). Most of the theft rings that have been busted were employees of companies contracted by the airlines and not airline employees themselves. Having worked in the industry, there is no lock or bag that can't be opened in seconds and it's easy to make it look like you didn't do it. As far as blaming it on the TSA... pretty unlikely. The areas where screening is performed are highly monitored both physically and electronically. While bad apples can exist in any organization, TSA screeners are subjected to extreme background checks as well as pyschological and other testing to determine their trustworthiness. Since everyone knows the TSA opens bags they assume that's when the theft must have occurred. Wrong. The time a bag is spent with the TSA determining it is free from explosives represents a tiny fraction (probably less than 1%) of the time the bag is spent elsewhere. How can you prevent stuff from getting stolen? First of all, anything with a zipper can be opened and reclosed without detection in seconds EVEN IF IT IS LOCKED. Also, combination locks may look secure but you can open one in seconds armed with only a flashlight. Locked, hard-sided cases can be opened with a screwdriver. So what can you do? The best strategy is to make the most valuable thing in your bag your old underwear. Take your valuables as carry-on, or don't take them at all. Years in the industry For one, there are over thousands of cameras in all tsa work areas, so IF a tsa employee had stolen it, it would have been caught, and you'd have no problem. It's the bag handlers who have many places to go unsupervised. How do you know you're not the only one who had something taken? Maybe the "thief" takes something from one bag on each flight, and his happened to be the lucky choice? Why is everyone so quick to assume it's TSA? Multiple background checks, personality tests, etc. If you even have something of related to theft in your bg check, from when you were maybe 13, you won't get hired. The airline bag handlers however recieve NO background checks. Do you know how many people have/travel with laptops? Have a little more faith in TSA.. there are actually some really amazing people there. |
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