Environmental Law

Not an Environmental Crime, but a Crime Nonetheless

By Walter James

I recently returned from a long weekend trip to San Diego, California with my wife to escape the 100º heat in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  I got in some great golf at Torrey Pines and the wife got in some great spa time (a good trade-off).  Anyway, I digress.  Once we got back from San Diego, I left my golf bag ? still fully packed ? in my living room.  A couple of days later, I unpacked my golf bag and discovered that my Maui Jim sunglasses (cost me about $125.00) were missing.  Upon further examination, the nylon webbing that attached to the case (which was not there) appeared to be cut (straight edge, no fraying).  They were there when I was in San Diego (I wore them there) but they were not there when I got back to Dallas.  Only two entities had access to my bag other than me ? TSA and American Airlines.     

I then got on line to see about notifying the TSA and AA about my suspected theft from my golf bag.  I have traveled with my clubs various locations around the world for the last twenty years or so with no incident.  After rooting around on the TSA website, I finally found the complaint submission link and I submitted a complaint.  I also submitted a complaint to AA. 

The response I got from the TSA was essentially, ?Thanks for writing; however, you need to contact the TSA San Diego and ask for lost and found.?  The sunglasses were not lost ? they were stolen.  I do not think a call to ?lost and found? would have been helpful.  The response I got from AA was a little different.  Here is the response from AA:

Thank you for contacting Customer Relations via AA.com. We are as concerned as you are about the circumstances you described. Personnel in our Security Department use a program of surveillance and other means to prevent property loss -- especially in this era of heightened security. Our statistical measures reflect that our efforts are highly successful but I realize this is of little solace to you since you are reportedly missing some of your belongings.

While we work very hard to avoid these mishaps, unfortunately, they do sometimes occur. When this kind of difficulty happens, every effort is made to make amends in a reasonable manner. However, our conditions of liability exclude any claim not initially reported in person within 24 hours after the arrival of your checked items.
Still,we have documented your concerns and have shared your experience with key personnel at the both the SAN and DFW Airports for internal review purposes.

Mr. James, our position in no way suggests that we are insensitive to what happened. Again, we are genuinely sorry for the reported loss of your sunglasses. Please be assured that we will work harder than ever to restore your confidence in our ability to provide good service. We realize we must earn back your respect.    

The response by TSA was pure BS.  The response by AA was worthless; however, it made me feel better that they were at least sharing the experience for ?internal review purposes.?

While I doubt I will ever see my sunglasses again, I hope that the SOB that took them gets caught.

More later.

As always, feel free to contact me via e-mail at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

WDJiii

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).