So, a few months back I had to travel for work and flew AA from LAX->MIA. I had a carry-on bag which the made me gate check. When I arrived in MIA, and opened my bag in the hotel, I realized that the fuckers at AA stole my U-Boat watch. Now, it's no Rolex (which I personally don't find very attractive but that's another thread), but it was still ~1800 bucks and of course it pissed me off that some low-life scum at AA stole it. Went through the whole rigamarole with AA customer service and they basically said "unless we lost or stole a 5 dollar pair of BVD briefs, that shit ain't covered." Unfortunately for me, this travel was booked through the client's travel department and not AMEX travel like we use. Because of that, there was no insurance for it and I was basically SOL. Fast forward to yesterday and my GM comes up to me and says, "buy a new one on your corporate card, submit the expense and we'll pay for it." I was floored that they would do that for me. I love my company, but they really went above and beyond on this one. My new watch arrives next week. Couldn't be happier. Oh, and fuck AA. Since that flight I've only flown Virgin America and Jet Blue. Never again will those pig fuckers get one red cent from me or my corporate card.
Awesome! And that's an employer who can now count on you to show up at 2:30am on Christmas day if shit hits the fan. Too few like that these days.
Haha, well they already could. In my line of work, days off are ambiguous at best. And, even though I already loved my job, this just keeps me even happier in an industry where poaching is rampant and we all get multiple job offers monthly.
Weird, I would think the probabilty of airport employees rumaging through luggage and stealing a single item is pretty low. I also would think that people not directly employed by AA had access to your bag. Just saying that boycotting AA for life is maybe unwarranted. Awesome that your company stepped up!
I had watch stolen by a hotel employee that cleaned my room. It was a beater, but nonethless, it was a gift from someone I cared about. Got the same runaround from the front desk.
You kidding? Airport baggage handlers steal stuff all day long. Sometimes the desk clerks help them by making a mark on the tag when they see a woman wearing expensive-looking jewelery, or a guy wearing a nice watch. They figure there will be other nice stuff in the baggage. They figure, correctly, that you will be thousands of miles away when you discover the theft.
Very often baggage handlers, de-icers, etc. are employed by a third party company and not the airline. Your beef may be with whomever LAX or MIA contracts to. Good luck with that, tho. Congrats on getting made whole by your employer.
That's cool for you. Only advice I have for anyone is don't travel with valuables. I don't travel with anything that I wouldn't mind losing. Stuff I can carry in my pants pocket is the only exception. In fact, when on vacation I often dress even more relaxed. I insist my wife not bring hardly any jewelry either. Why be a target in the first place? Thieves will target the most attractive $$ victim. Don't be that guy.
Ship your shit via UPS and don't check baggage. Carry your valuables in a back pack that stays with you.
Pffft. $1800 watch? My cufflinks cost more than that. Nah, cool story. I had "someone" steal my tie, tie box and cufflinks a few weeks back. It sucks.
we get free coffee every day and cookies on the 1st friday. I love when the email about cookies goes out and all the office fatties storm the break room. its like jumanji