We all travel from time to time and pass through airports without out a problem. However just spare a few moments to read what happens when circumstance conspire against you. 

My wife Diane travels for her business and recently had a bizarre and infuriating incident while travelling home from New York. You see when Diane goes away, like most business travellers she has to take her laptop with her. Now Diane is quite small and having to lug her luggage, laptop bag and purse through an airport terminal is quite a challenge for her. The real challenge comes when she has to get everything through security screening.

Well on this occasion she was going through Terminal 8 of JFK airport (American Airlines terminal) she lugged all her bags to the little conveyor that passes all your worldly possessions through the scanner. She had removed her shoes, taken her coat off, removed her laptop from its bag and fed it all into the machine (you know the drill). After collecting all her belongings back together, getting dressed again she boarded her flight and headed home.

As she only uses her laptop for travelling it was another two weeks before she got it out to use. To her horror when she turned it on it was asking for strangers log in information. You can only imagine what was going through her head. The computer looked the same but it wasn't hers. What she didn't know was that when she was in line for screening at JFK a Brazilian national was in line next to her with ths same laptop. He was pulled out for further screening and the TSA removed what they thought was his laptop from the line. Only it wasn't it was Diane's. Fortunately he had the forethought to stick his business card to the bottom and Diane was able to track him down to his office in Brazil. After a few e-mails he confirmed what had happened and told Diane that the TSA had taken the laptop away after he disclosed it wasn't his. He also had the presence of mind to photograph it, primarily to show proof to his boss what had happened. This was to prove vital later.

Diane's task now was to find her laptop. Her first call was to the TSA at T8 in JFK Airport. Immediate success the TSA officer had a record of receiving it and confirmed he handed it to American Airlines lost property in the terminal and told her to call them. OK this is where her troubles started. The number on AA's web site was either continually busy or nobody ever answered. After two weeks of calling and even getting their office intern to spend the whole day continually pressing re-dial she had got nowhere. I then got involved and tried to contact American Airlines customer service. As there is not a phone contact listed on their web site I filled in the appropriate on-line form and waited. Less than 24 hours later a reply. Wow not bad. I read eagerly only to be disappointed with the response. I had simply asked for some help in contacting the lost property department. I was told in reply that they took no responsibility for lost property and did not have the resources to deal with matters such as this. OK!! No not OK. They in my mind did have responsibility. A government agency (TSA) had handed them valuable property and recorded it. After another couple of exchanges via their on-line forms (They do not give you the ability to reply to their e-mails. I guess to hide from contact from their customers) I eventually extracted another couple of phone numbers for Lost property. Now this time at least we got an answering service which promised a call back within 24 hours if they had the property we were looking for. Now this is going to surprise you..... we didn't get a call back. Ok you weren't surprised.

After several more messages and no returned calls Diane called the TSA again and explained that we had a photo of a TSA officer holding her computer. Amazingly they again remembered it and offered to connect Diane directly to the person in American Airlines lost property who had received it. Wow..... she got to speak to her and amazingly yes they had it and arranged to ship it back next day.

Why had it been so difficult? Why were American Airlines not a little more helpful? Why did the lost property line never answer? Why when she called the other number did nobody ever call back? American Airlines claim "We Care" I beg to differ.

Graham Holmes - REO Banked Owned Asset Management Specialist
Vice President REALTOR e-Pro
951 634-4118
Mission Grove Realty
www.missiongroverealty.com

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