I feel bad in that this crime is acceptable but take some personal responsibility. It is like leaving a laptop in a car and having it stolen. Why do you think many if not all home insurance policies specifically exclude loss of items from within a car?

And it's not limited to Atlanta, either. This sort of thing is rampant and almost completely unchecked: [wweek.com]

Maybe I'm jaded, but the OP should just consider this a lesson (painfully) learned and leave it at that. While she could be trying to run some sort of insurance scam, I doubt she'd write to Consumerist if that's the case. Unless the TSA/Delta stole her joolz and replaced them with a ginormous set of brass balls.

Found this out the hard way when they lost something from my work. :P

@Eat A Peach: Excellent advice! I hope she appreciates it.
I would also be concerned about damage to the laptop during handling - even if she wasn't concerned about theft, wouldn't she worry about the bag being tossed around?

I second your nomination that Atlanta is a wretched hive of scum and villany.

Our plane got cancelled, we were switched to a different carrier, and our luggage didn't make it on the same flight. When we finally did get our luggage, each suitcase had been gone through with anything valuable stolen -- they'd actually unwrapped the presents to see if it was something they wanted, and if they didn't they just left it. They'd also cut open the cardboard box and taken what they wanted out of it, and then folded the top back together four-flap style.

Both airlines (Delta and Continental) refused to take responsibility, since it had been through two different airlines and a courier -- they didn't know where the theft had occurred. (I understand that they're right, but it doesn't make you feel any better about it.)

@ohenry: Though, if it can be proven that it was stolen by a company employee, I think that differs the case a bit.

@computerwiz3491: Wrong! You're paying them to take the luggage IN CONTRACT from point A to point B. In the contract it says that they will not guarantee (in the form of monetary reimbursement in case of loss) jewelry, and since the OP agreed to that contract (in the form of buying the ticket) "We won't take responsibility" will hold up in court just fine.

@Jason Renda: Where did it say that you couldn't take the jewelry on the plane?

And also, when you buy the ticket and the contract you are entering into specifically says that they are absolved of respobsibility for Jewelry, I fail to see where the issue is here.

I do professional video production, and often have to fly with a very expensive camera (like $20,000.) Obviously, I bought a special case to carry it on with me.

However, some trips have to occur on smaller planes, where they do 'planeside check' of your bags - your carry-ons are taken at the boarding ramp and returned when you walk off.

My expensive camera has sustained damage from this treatment in the past.

On my last flight I even saw someone with a big,honking Zippo lighter in outside mesh pocket of their carry-on backpack.

My question is how do they know which bag contains the good stuff? Do they carry metal detectors set to detect gold?

It's true, I probably could hide a shiv in there. It's thick and there's a lot of it.

(Actually, once shortly after 9/11, the rivets in my jeans set one off at O'Hare. But my jewelry still went through that one okay.)

Important Legal Tip #2: do not assume that general principles of common law (like bailment) are 100% unlimited by other laws. For example, the 'contract' that you agree to when you purchase a ticket.

(sorry ... I'm an insurance geek. couldn't help it.)

What I find most interesting is when I go to court. I'll go through just fine, but if I step outside later on, and go through with the exact same clothes/accessories/things in my pockets, it will buzz. And then there are the times I set it off, and the guard has me go back, and step through two or three times, until the alarm doesn't ring, and they never search me or wave the wand over me. I've never understood it.

@computerwiz3491: That's the rub-proving it. Unfortunate as this case may be, I doubt the OP photographed her luggage in the presence of a Delta rep and sent the pictures to herself via registered mail. I don't doubt for a second the jewelery was stolen, but she has no proof it was ever there to begin with.

@Shivved: I've noticed the sensitivity varies greatly from airport to airport. Sometimes I've gotten through with keys and pocket change, other times I've had to take my glasses off to get through.

Check Bag Fees + Stolen property = always carry your stuff with you...

those airline "policies" don't mean crap in court

[consumerist.com]

Do you think I can cite your opinion when my case goes to court? I was flying on Continental a couple months back and I had the hope diamond in my checked luggage. It was stolen and now I'm suing them for restitution.

Of course, it's much easier to just rely on uneducated bias and blame the TSA.

I just got back from Philly airport where my teenaged daughter was catching a flight down south to see her dad for a few weeks. She said that her laptop (about 6-7 lbs.) in the bag was too heavy and it was slim enough to put into her suitcase that was going to be checked. I asked her if she ever again wanted to see the new toy that she had to work and pay for herself; if so then it needs to stay in the laptop carrying bag and go on the plane with her and not to EVER go out of her sight at anytime while in the airport or even on the plane. She couldn't believe that airline or security agents would steal stuff from people's luggage. And here I thought my teenager was actually more in touch with the world then even I am (and I've only ever flown twice in my life)!

Well then Mr. airline or airport personnel, if your employees aren't the ones taking peoples' stuff, who is? You don't allow people access to their bags once checked, remember? To keep all the "terrorist" action at a minimum. If some outside person is rifling through my bags stealing my shit, then aren't they planting bombs too?

Yeah, they had no good response to that.

I've lugged a lot of expensive stuff in my carry on before from my camera and other electronics, to my wii and games, to my magic the gathering decks and binders. It always gets me extra attention at security, but I don't care. I arrive early, so they I can get through with everything intact. They tried to tell e I should have checked my wii that one time too, and I laughed and said, "do you honestly think it would have still been in my bag when I got to my destination? I highly doubt it. Not when people will pay $450 cash for one." Back when they were impossible to find. The TSA guy tried to say that the employees don't steal. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

Okay, so we let airlines treat us like cattle in the name of "security" concerns that really are meaningless.

Then we have it proven - repeatedly - that any of the gormless fucks working behind the scenes can get in there and do whatever the hell they want with your luggage, apparently without any supervision or oversight at all.

You can rag on this poor theft victim all you want for checking the jewellery in her luggage, but what if the thief was a terrorist and was putting stuff in there instead of taking it out?

WTF, Home Security?

What happens with firearms? I believe they have to be checked but do they get stolen as often?

Also, it's a good idea to have personal articles insurance policies on ALL of your very expensive jewelry (anything worth over $1000.)

I mean, they have cameras everywhere to keep us "safe" from "terrorists," so that should be enough to make sure our baggage is secure, right?

The tuition fees to the School of Hard Knocks can be high, indeed.

I vote for K-Bo's solution as the best (ship it insured) if one *absolutely* had to have one's baubles on the trip.

Also, it could have been TSA, and Delta can't be responsible for them.

Problem is, could be Delta, could be TSA. Delta's not responsible for TSA, and vice versa.

I mean what a great chance for cheap PR.

Everytime I fly there seems to be one person in line that appears to have lived in a cave for the previous 5 years. What? I have to take off my shoes? What? I can't wear all this metal jewelry through a metal detector? What? You mean I need to hold onto my boarding pass and can't jam it into the depths of my purse?@Eldritch:

Then you had better be willing to stand in line for 8-10 hours every time you fly. That's how long it would take for someone from the airline to go through every piece of luggage and hand verify that the "expensive " jewelry you packed was in fact there.@Jason Renda:

...I also don't think it's completely unreasonable to expect the airline to protect the contents of your checked bags.

Don't the TSA Agents/Bag Checkers go through background checks to work at the airport? Shouldn't they be held to a higher standard?

Plus... You can't tell me there is not one single camera in the assembly lines that take the luggage to the tarmac.

Delta SHOULD be responsible for checking these cameras to make sure there is no internal theft.

Attempted insurance fraud? That would be my first guess and the person was just stupid enough to not know the exclusions.