But still, wouldn't you think they'd have a tracking system to prevent stuff like this?

No, it's goddamn common sense. You don't leave anything remotely valuable in your luggage. They generally won't steal your clothes because that's fucking gross.

the guy has clearly done very little traveling. I bristle with techno-gear when I travel - and none of it goes out of my sight, ever.
I'd rather have the carry-on weight in my backpack of Ipod, laptops, external hard drives, GPS, multimedia drive etc - than ever be naive enough to assume that there's no one working behind the scenes who wouldn't steal an item if given the chance.

I wonder if he even had a 360 at all? I think this is a a scam to get a free Xbox or to get some money.

I completely disagree. As others have said, his luggage was specifically targeted and items were stolen. The bag didn't disappear, someone pick and chose what they wanted.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, while I detest frivelous lawsuits, I agree with this. A 360 HD can have hundreds, even thousands of hours of game saves on it. I know I have countless hours across 30 360 games that I could never get back. I absolutely agree 100% with the emotional distress aspect of the suit. Seriously, just think about how you'd feel if all of your work for the past three years was gone because of the airlines lax security.

Sue all of them and let the judge decide who's liable.

I am thinking a very simple form. Value of lost article * 2 (or some other reasonable number to cover the court fees) = max you can sue for. Things like this should never make it past the court clerk's office.

(And if you make more than $250k, a portion of that is almost certainly ill-gotten. Since "class warfare" is almost always defensive, you are whining about it because it is hostile to your scheme to "earn" $2.5million next year)

Next time he should ship it FedEx and they can put a Declared Value on it. Just costs a few bucks, and if they lose it or something happens to it, they will send a check. Also, you can make sure it has to be signed for at the other end. I just shipped somebody's laptop FedEx on Monday and it got there just fine.

I contacted US Airways to track is down. I never got anything back. Since electronics aren't covered, that was the end of that road. They sent me a letter to tell me that it was a valuable experience and that they will definitely learn to improve from it.

I haven't checked anything since, and US Airways has lost my business. Sure, maybe it's the TSA after all. But I still get depressed every time I see anything US Airways, so that's that.

It was only after my mishap that I caught the below article:

In the lost luggage category, "The baggage bunglers of the year were US Airways, Delta and American, in that order. US Airways mishandled about one bag for every 130 passengers -- roughly one on every flight," according to Scott McCartney, the astute travel columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Seems the TSA could afford to put a few of their superduper surveillance cameras in the area where TSA workers are looking through luggage and stealing objects as large as an Xbox. If they can't even stop their own employees from ripping off travelers they are supposed to "protect," then what hope do we have in their more difficult observational duties?

@Shrew2u:

Yep, good ole consumer fraud.

Another important issue:

How much time does the baggage handlers have to open and search each bag? They don't. So unless the screening agent is tagging the bag for future theft (not likely but is possible), how would the baggage handlers know to search the specific bag?

When I go skiing, for example, I sign a form holding the ski resort harmless should I be injured or killed while taking part in the activity at their resort. That certainly doesn't give them the right to walk up to me and stab me with a knife.

I think there is a definite difference between accidental damage and theft.

So how do I get one of these baggage handler positions so I can start stealing laptops and Xboxes? My bf really wants a Wii...

I worked as a baggage handler for about 5 years at LAX, this guy doesn't have a case at all, When you check in you are supposed to notify the airline of anything you might have that is valuable in it. Usually they make you sign a waiver for it because luggage is designed for clothes, that is why there is no internal padding (in most cases) in your luggage.

If airlines were liable then people could put Ming vases in them and sue the airlines out of existence. Don't check valuables. Not just TSA screeners but baggage handlers and even airline employees check your shit out (I have never stolen anything, but boy have I been tempted). Don't make yourself an easy target, spend a couple $$ and ship it Fedex, that way you can get it insured, or just take it on board with you.

For someone who attends Yale you would think he would have common sense.

I always thought it was Toiletry Stealing Assholes?

His XBox is how his ex-XBox?

Given that Microshaft's POS is a POS, they probably did him a favour.

Yes you would still be out some money for the lost Xbox, but it would be a lot easier to put the hard drive into a new system (microsoft will assist you) than to purchase a new system and have to replay all your games to get those save files back.

@tc4b: i think if he'd valued his xbox around $300 or whatever it's actually worth, he'd have gotten it. a few years ago i had a watch and some change stolen from my luggage (maybe worth a total of $100) and Continental sent me a $250 flight voucher almost immediately. come on now, $1700 for an Xbox?

Their "publicly" know policy adbout electronics in checked bagagge is for damages to the electronics, not for electronics taken out of the bags. Also, why is the spoke person talking about lost luggage compensasion limits? The kid did not declared a "lost" suitcase. His lugagge arrived to the destination, but Mr. glue hands removed something. That kills the "lost lugagge" nonsense, right there. Regardless of what we think about this child and his suit, I wouldn.t be surprised if he wins the case.

If he can prove that it was stolen by an employee, he might have some legal ground to stand on, though I doubt there's enough evidence to do so.

By delivering your luggage to the airline or the TSA it would seem a bailment condition is created. Since you as the flyer do not design, implement, or manage this process (or processes), your responsibility should be to understand the normal problems associated with this process.

Theft should not be a normal step of the process.

It should be fairly easy to place an RFID tag on each and every piece of luggage checked. This tag could then track who touched the bag, if it was opened, who opened it, when it was opened, did it weigh more or less at the end of the flight than it did at the beginning, etc. The tag could also trigger a recording of the inspection when performed at the "official" inspection table which cold be reviewed later if any problems arose.

We always hear about the things missing from luggage which seems too blatant to believe, or the luggage being lost or damaged. There seems to be a hole in the safety arguement that the "trustworthy" thieves are protecting us from terrorists. What if one of these "honest" people added something to the luggage like a bomb or drugs or weapons?

I suspect the poor passenger would then be blamed when the damage was discovered.

Isn't all this theft from checked luggage a potential weak point that those terrorist could exploit. If baggage handlers can willy nilly steal (and move drugs) what keeps them from planing bombs.

Normally I am against lawsuits that are outrageous like this but since its US Airways I will actually be rooting for this guy. US Airways is the scum of the airline business.

Was this a gold encrusted Xbox with Plantinum controllers?
Otherwise this just shows he's being stupid/filing frivolously.

Be accurate on the cost of the xbox and I would be more willing to entertain the claim of non-economic distress" of at least $25,000, but "in the maximum amount allowable by law or, in the alternative, in the sum of $1,000,000." as a warning to airlines to get it together.

But as it stands now they both suck.

For those concerned about credit card loss, MS can remove your credit card information from your gamertag. When our two were stolen a few months ago I called MS and also asked that further purchases be blocked. I don't know for sure if they did, but I haven't seen any charges to Microsoft since the theft.

However, it's also possible he just wanted to bring it back, and I'm thinking if so that wasn't a great plan.

I would have done the same exact thing he did. A new xbox is not what is required to fix the problem, that only prolongs it. There should be huge fines for theft like this, that way corporations would get their act together and start policing their own employees. Whether it is American Airlines or TSA, it doesn't matter, fines are what fix problems.... that and bad publicity.

The kid didn't get into Yale for being an idiot, he knows what he's doing. Go ancient 8.

I hope his parents are loaded, because he probably just cost himself hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime earnings for being nothing short of a tool.

File a claim and collect your compensation, but when you feel the need to claim an Xbox is worth $1,700 much less $1 Million - well let's just say you're a moron and deserve what negative publicity you get.

If the student had Xbox Live could the box be traced by IP addy?

@petermv: Who the hell would want to check electronics anyway?!? Theft aside, would you want YOUR delicate laptop and camera in the hands of the American Tourister Luggage gorillas? I think not.

A million bucks is excessive. I think he was really trying to make a point though. There's no way in hell he'd get a million out of this.

Good ol US Airways...

Here is how I learned about the electronics F'd in the A clause...I travelled US Airways over xmas one year and on my way back I took some Playstation 2 games with me (some mine, some belonged to a friend) b/c I was planning on selling them online. This was pre-PS3 era so they were still worth a decent amount of money.

When I pick up my bag I was surprised to see everything fall out the moment I picked it up due to a large slit on the side of my bag. Like...blatant knife wound.

Upon further inspection, I find I'm missing just 8 games...the eight games that just happen to be the most recent, more popular of the games I had been packing. How convenient.

Of course I went to US Airways and filled out some paperwork. The lady even told me about the electronics clause and how I probably wasn't going to get anything...and that's exactly what happened.

Needless to say I don't fly US Airways anymore and I most definitely pack electronics with my carry on.

The basic idea is if you pack a starter pistol in your luggage, declare you have a weapon in the luggage, then the TSA will check it, and lock it, giving you your key back. The bag is virtually never lost, and you don't need to worry about registering a starter's pistol. Just pick one up for each checked bag, and everything should make it to your destination, barring crashing into the hudson.

@snowmoon: Yes! And if the airlines are allowing their employees to continuously steal from customers (by not doing enough to prevent it)- they deserved to be sued. It's a breach of trust.

Most ridiculous suits are solved on their own (lack of) merit.

It's long past time that the airlines were made to pay for shielding their employees from the law. Maybe a million or two in theft pay-outs would get their attention.

Something tells me he is trying to make a point. The point being that the airlines should actually try to STOP THE FUCKING THEFT. They don't, though. So employees are rewarded for stealing.

I bet if you tried to steal something from them -- perhaps a plane? -- they'd arrest you, stat. Oh, but if it's someone paying tons of money to fly with them? Eeeeh, who cares.

The $1 million is just a starting point, a bargaining chip.

[consumerist.com]

Looks like it was TSA that stole the stuff, not US Airways, and it was a $47,000 camera. I'm still hoping that a lawsuit like this will put some fear in people who see a $47K camera and think "payday..."

I am for this lawsuit 100%.

If the airline was willing to give me a brand new Xbox then I would be more than happy. I have gotten the "we have inspected your bag" flyer one too many times to put anything but cloths and non valuables in my checked bag. My money is TSA stole it and the airline is on the hook. As for his credit card numbers, all he needs to do is call up the card issuer and has the card canceled. It will be a cheap lesson because of the $3,300 limit.

@barty:

Tort reform isn't going to stop people from filing lawsuits. And that's all this kid did.

Do you really think that this kid is going to get anything close to 1 million?

It's the stupid lawsuits that get all the press. I'm sure that there are people who have filed lawsuits for a reasonable amount for lost/stolen luggage but you never hear about them. Because they were filed and settled reasonably.

Also, how about bringing the airline up on theft charges? I know nothing about criminal law, but dang, someone steals something, that's theft, right?

As soon as I saw this, though, I said to myself, "yes!" Haven't there been multiple articles here on the consumerist about US Airways "misplacing" someone's luggage, including a $27K film camera? Oh yeah:

[consumerist.com]
[consumerist.com]
[consumerist.com]

This is just what's on The Consumerist, too. I can't find that camera deal, but I know it's out there (maybe it wasn't US Air). It's not like this is a new thing. If I had an expensive electronic device that I had to check, and US Airways stole it then "offered" me $3300 for it I'd be up the creek without a paddle. Hopefully this lawsuit will call some attention to a problem.

It has EVERYTHING to do with employees stealing from customers. We all take their contract clause as the word of god, but we would be up in arms if they said "Further, our publicly available baggage policies specifically exclude liability for employee theft from checked luggage". They violated the contract by stealing from him and then furthermore refused to do anything about it.

It would stop BS like this dead in its tracks.

File the damn claim for lost luggage, get your check, and move on. I can't fathom why someone would put something like that in checked luggage anyway. If I fly with my camera and/or laptop, I ALWAYS carry them with me.

i normally hate blaming the victim, but this kid should get a kick in the butt for wasting so many people's time. i hope USAirways uses their retainered lawyers to fight this in court so the kid can spend another couple hundred bucks in court fees. unfortunately quick out-of-court settlements are probably a big reason we have to deal with so many frivolous lawsuits. the kid probably figures they'll settle for a couple thousand and he'll make some quick money

This will show those screeners, next time they need to dispose of the whole bag so as to leave no evidence.

@Kaellorian: You're right. He should instead wait on hold, trying to talk to a "customer service" rep.

Playing Devil's Advocate, I think the general idea is that checked baggage is generally handled roughly - tossed here and there, exposed to freezing/broiling temps and rain/snow, etc. To boot, many electronics have the pesky combination of costing hundreds or thousands of dollars and being small enough to be quickly grabbed and slipped into a pocket by some nefarious employee.

More bad things can happen to electronics in checked baggage than good, so airlines are quite up-front about warning passengers *not* to check electronics (or other valuables), and are also up-front about excluding electronics from their liability coverage (if one bothers to read baggage policies).

Besides, I wouldn't put it past a shady consumer to either a) not pack an electronic item, but turn around and claim theft anyway (how do you prove the passenger *didn't* pack the electronic item?) or b) pack a malfunctioning piece of electronics and claim damage due to rough handling. I'm sure the general treatment of baggage and certain cases of passenger fraud combined to produce such draconian baggage policies.

Why would someone put something valuable...like let's say an Xbox, in their checked luggage? Don't they know that the TSA will take ANYTHING of value, and even some stuff that isn't valuable?

He's an idiot.

Wonder if his daddy or mommy is a lawyer.

I dont see the lost luggage limit being imposed. The luggage wasn't lost. It was riffled through and an item was stolen. This is more of a criminal issue not a lost luggage issue. He should get the cost of the XBOX, cost of legal fees, and a small amount for dealing with the bull from the airlines. 1 Million is too much, but it did get this publicity.

They are saying that since this information is public, you should damn well know NOT to put any electronics in your suitcase because its probably the most stolen "category" of things.

It's not like they lost his luggage, someone specifically opened it and removed a moderately expensive piece of consumer electronics. There is no way that is incompetence, but blatant theft.

"Further, our publicly available baggage policies specifically exclude liability for electronics checked in luggage."

Wait, so they can just take items out of my luggage whenever they want, and aren't responsible for it, as long as it's electronic?

he should get the value of the xbox, and possibly a kick in the ass

"misplaced" = stolen right? But lol he is barking up the wrong tree.

Somewhere, someone is shooping a Dr. Evil picture with an xbox on his lap.