rules for complaints

[regent218]

i used these boards for wonderfull informaton about our princess cruise. on our way home during an airport luggage transfer the security people told us to unlock our luggage. when we got home we found our camera bag unzipped and both our 35mm, and digital camera gone.

here's my problem. we had baggage insurance, but the insurance co. will not pay because we did not report the loss at the airport where and when we retrieved our bags. i tried to explain we didn't learn of the loss untill we got home and unpacked. we reported it to the airlines by e mail at once. if you want to hear a stupid reason for not paying here it is. they said " we should have examined the contents of our luggage at the airport, so that we could have reported it there". i asked if they open there luggage at the airport to examine the contents and also said could you imagin 200 people openning there luggage at an airport to do this. they answered "we do it every time we travel, and we are not paying your claim".

my question is, am i allowed to name the insurance co. and the travel agent who recomended this co. and will not do anything to help us?

[Coral]

I am very curious at the name of the insurance company!

 

I have never opened my luggage at the airport and that requirement seems unreasonable. I hope that your home owner's policy will cover this as camera equipment can be very expensive. One would think travel insurance would......

[Ethel5]

What a shame to have lost your cameras and then getting the runaround from the airline and insurance. I never put anything of value in checked bags. Now with every Tom, Dick and Harry going through the bags you just nevr know how honest these people are.

[cactusrose]

I would also report it to TSA. They have security cameras and can review the tapes (if they choose) to see who took them. You might get some satifaction if they can prove they were taken while at the airport. Can you at least tell us the name of the airport where this happened?

[daWoods]

Did you get to watch as they searched your luggage? If not, it seems a very obvious ploy to get you to unlock your bags so they could rob them. I'd definitely report it to TSA and to management at the airport. As for the insurance company, that too is a completely stupid condition and makes no sense. Nobody checks their luggage before getting home, nor should they have to. File a complaint with the top levels of the company, and also to whatever agency regulates insurance companies in your area.

[DeltaOne]

It's unfortunate your cameras were taken from your luggage. Most here would have advised you to never pack valuables in your checked luggage. We pack all valuables in our carry-on luggage. Our carry-on luggage never leaves our sight and/or control.

 

As the parent of someone that works for TSA I want to say it's highly likely your cameras were taken by someone _other_ than TSA workers. The TSA folks are understaffed and work very hard, if nothing else I would suspect they don't have _time_ to go through anyone's luggage.

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

Since we are neighbors I would be real curious as to the name of the travel agency and insurance company. Were you by any chance caught up in that mess in Philadelphia Airport this weekend?

[Toto2Kansas]

I am soooooooo sorry you lost your cameras, but I would like to give you the other side of the coin here. It compares to a traffic accident, wihout a police report, kind of hard to prove who was at fault.

If they paid off on a complaint of something missing out of luggage found after someone arrived home, they would be paying off claims for hundreds that claimed to have something that they didn't, removed from their luggage.

 

I can honestly see both sides of the coin here. You are out two cameras (and without trying to anger you, that should have never ever been packed in your luggage whether it be locked or not as you never place anything like cameras or jewelry in your baggage), and the insurance company wants some type of proof that the cameras were really there and were stolen.

 

I hope you can come to some type of agreement with the insurance company, but I really doubt that they will pay off in the end.

 

Sorry! :( A very hard lesson learned!

[regent218]

this is the 1st time i ever put my cameras in checked luggage. after we left the ship on the last day we spent the day on morea. we just took our carry on with us, and put the cameras in it. at the airport we decided to check the carryon for the flight back to the states. we forgot our cameras were in there.

the baggage was trans at lax after customs for our flight to phila.. we never saw them examin the piece, but there was a tsa notice that it was inspected. we put in a claim with tsa and were told we would hear from them within 6 MONTHS. ha ha. what totokan says makes some sense, but how does any insurance claim for something missing get confirmed. it's hard to prove something is missing no matter when you make the claim.

my wife and i have been all over the world, and have traveled for 32 years. we have never had an insurance claim untill now. this co. practicly accused us of fileing a false claim. the name of the co. is GLOBAL ADVANTAGE, TRIP MATE INSURANCE AGENCY.

I WANT TO THANK ALL OUR CC FRIENDS WHO WERE KIND ENOUGH TO EMAIL US PICTURES. our disk was still in the camera.

[Coral]

I WANT TO THANK ALL OUR CC FRIENDS WHO WERE KIND ENOUGH TO EMAIL US PICTURES. our disk was still in the camera.

 

I admit - I have packed my camera in checked bags several times. I have a separate insurance rider on them and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if I lost them......Though my memory cards are another thing and I would be very upset if I lost these. When I do check my camera - I make sure that the memory cards are in my purse.

 

We have all learned lessons and hopefully people will learn from what has happened to you. I hope that your friends have been able to fill you email with tons of pictures of your trip.

 

I will definitley look at the fine print of my insurance plan the next time I purchase one.

[hstrybuf]

Sorry to hear about your missing cameras. I'd be interested to hear what the insurance company's final decision is on this. As the others have said, never, ever pack anything of value in checked luggage that is going to be out of your sight.

[starsjohn]

Yet another story of insurance company greed and cheating hard working clients. I travel with a lot of digital camera equipment, and often the cameras go around my neck where I can keep a close eye on their whereabouts.

[Justmetalkin]

Let see. You didn't check your luggage at the airport so the insurance company is assuming the cameras weren't in the luggage in the first place?

 

If one were going to rip off the insurance company, what would stop one from just reporting the false loss at the airport?

 

They would have paid it then huh?

 

I understand the need of insurance companies protecting themselves from fraud, but a simple "in person" investigation would remove most suspicion. Insurance is like a gamble but the companies nowadays don't think they should have to take a gamble. They want your money, but they don't want to pay the claims even if you go by the rules. They stall, and negotiate, and try to get out of paying anything. I won't go into the details, but I am in the middle of a claim that has lasted nearly a year. I have even had to hire attorney's.

 

Good luck, and stick with it. Complain anywhere you can. Some good info has been posted about TSA and the Airport Authority.

[Colo Cruiser]

It took TSA 13 months to send our check for a missing Sonicre toothbrush which was taken out of our bag at Seatac. It is worth filing the claim with the TSA as they have numerous thefts throughout the system. Good luck.:)

[RvrCrzr]

#1...You'll never see those camera's again.

#2...Never pack valuables, medications....yadda, yadda....you know.

#3...THANKS for posting the name of the carrier, as I'm sure they lost more business than the claim would have paid. THEIR LOSS...HA!

#4...I agree...those agents are CLOWNS! Can you even imagine hundreds of people opening up bags at the baggage claim! GOOD ONE!

 

I feel for you...you lost your hard earned, long awaited vacation photos. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Good luck, and keep trying.

[LARGIN]

TSA lost my TSA approved locks... A quick email and I received a nice letter from the TSA rep in Anchorage telling me that she would mail me two replacement locks. Within the next few weeks I received the locks. Of course they were the cheap key locks nice the nice combo locks that were misplaced. But at least they responded.. :D

[MaryPoppinz]

Why would they want you to believe that your coverage terminates in the airport baggage claim area? Your trip does not end there. You might still be taking a train, bus or cab home.

 

I suggest a strongly-worded letter from your attorney, after she reviews the policy and its exclusions. I've looked them over for TravelAlert Tripmate, and I wouldn't be taking 'no' for an answer in your situation. Your coverage ends when your trip ends, not when your flight arrives.