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Airline bent my MBP...

StealthRider

StealthRider

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 23, 2002
1,065
16
Here and there!
So flying back to school today, having checked my two very large suitcases full of uniforms and clothes and all that stuff, I am all ready to get on the plane to go home. Boarding's called, I've finished my food, I'm good to go. Not so fast.:mad:

"Your bag" (which fits in the airline sizing thingy, and which I carried on an identical plane the day before) "is too to carry on the plane, sir, you'll have to check it." Didn't feel like arguing (and, since I don't usually commit felonies before dinner)...so I checked it.

Fan-*bleeping*- tastic. Just what I need. Obviously, the sensible thing to do would have been to take my MBP out of the bag, and take it with me on the plane. But me, being stupid, thought "well, 2 layers of bubble wrap and an InCase, plus my backpack, should be plenty for an hour-long flight."

Not so. While everything works perfectly hardware wise, the whole right-front side of the casing (where the optical drive lives) is bent a few millimeters up into the case. Now how the grunts on the ground managed to do THAT to my bag in the fifteen feet from the aircraft door to the cargo bay, I do not know. But I am not happy.

I know it's not AppleCare covered, and I'm sure the airline will bounce me around and never accept blame or pay damages. I'm hoping my insurance covers this. But learn a lesson - take your lappy on the plane.
 
Call the airline first and 'em hell (but be polite :p). ...I have a fear of filing trivial claims with home insurance, in fear that they'll raise rates or drop coverage.
 
Don't worry, submitted an e-mail complaint (I like having things in writing) and I'm going to call Apple tomorrow to get a repair estimate. If I don't get a reply from the airline by noon tomorrow, I'll call and raise hell. Quietly :cool:
 
Hi, most airlines will not take responsibility for items left inside luggage, especially valet luggage. It is always recommended to take anything you need inside the cabin out of the bag before checking it at the gate. Sorry about your situation.
 
StealthRider said:
So flying back to school today, having checked my two very large suitcases full of uniforms and clothes and all that stuff, I am all ready to get on the plane to go home. Boarding's called, I've finished my food, I'm good to go. Not so fast.:mad:

"Your bag" (which fits in the airline sizing thingy, and which I carried on an identical plane the day before) "is too to carry on the plane, sir, you'll have to check it." Didn't feel like arguing (and, since I don't usually commit felonies before dinner)...so I checked it.

Fan-*bleeping*- tastic. Just what I need. Obviously, the sensible thing to do would have been to take my MBP out of the bag, and take it with me on the plane. But me, being stupid, thought "well, 2 layers of bubble wrap and an InCase, plus my backpack, should be plenty for an hour-long flight."

Not so. While everything works perfectly hardware wise, the whole right-front side of the casing (where the optical drive lives) is bent a few millimeters up into the case. Now how the grunts on the ground managed to do THAT to my bag in the fifteen feet from the aircraft door to the cargo bay, I do not know. But I am not happy.

I know it's not AppleCare covered, and I'm sure the airline will bounce me around and never accept blame or pay damages. I'm hoping my insurance covers this. But learn a lesson - take your lappy on the plane.
Click to expand...

I think murder would be my first choice...:mad:

then again my mbp already has a dent :(

anywho hope the airline does the respectable thing and takes care of you, but I'm sure you'll be chopping away at red tape to get there, though. sigh.
 
Superdrive said:
Hi, most airlines will not take responsibility for items left inside luggage, especially valet luggage. It is always recommended to take anything you need inside the cabin out of the bag before checking it at the gate. Sorry about your situation.
Click to expand...

Oh I'm sure they won't take responsibility for it...and I don't care. It's not my fault the overhead bins miraculously shrank in the four weeks between my flights to and from school. I would have loved to have taken my laptop out of the bag if I wasn't on the damn tarmac at the time, already delaying the flight to move my bag under.
 
EricNau said:
Well founded, perhaps, but one must consider the long-term expenses of filing smaller claims if there's a chance your premium will be raised or coverage cancelled.
Click to expand...

I agree. To me, it's always risky to file a claim with insurance. Sometimes you have no real choice, but it's always anxiety-producing.
 
Dented MBP

I hate to tell you this but I really don't think that they will cover the damage to the MBP. If you brought it to them right when you got off the place sure I could see them covering it, but I have no idea how long you have waited to bring it to them. They will probably just say that you damaged it after you left.. As for not fitting int he plane, some of the airplanes are different series . I know most of the 737 look alike but if it's a different series, they are all configured differnetly.. They might have larger or smaller bins for luggage..

James
 
No surprise, really. Have you ever watched the ramp rats toss luggage around? Most people are too busy getting themselves situated and chatting with each other.

Traveling back after the holiday, a TSA agent carelessly tossed the plastic bin with my MBP around and ended up scratching it. It was painful, as I baby my machine and it was virtually scratch-free beforehand. I ended up buying a clear speck case at the CompUSA liquidation sale.
 
Okay,

Personal Responsibility. I put my $3,000 laptop in a bag that I didn't keep on my person. If you value your equipment never let it out of your sight. Call it a lesson learned.

So if I put my laptop in the road and a car ran over it, would I say "a Scion destroyed my laptop!" or would I say "I was irresponsible with my laptop"
 
Don't lecture me on personal responsibility, believe me, I've got it, or I wouldn't be very good at my job. I know I'm partially to blame. I intended this mostly as a venting/"don't make my mistake" thread :)
 
aquajet said:
No surprise, really. Have you ever watched the ramp rats toss luggage around? Most people are too busy getting themselves situated and chatting with each other.

Traveling back after the holiday, a TSA agent carelessly tossed the plastic bin with my MBP around and ended up scratching it. It was painful, as I baby my machine and it was virtually scratch-free beforehand. I ended up buying a clear speck case at the CompUSA liquidation sale.
Click to expand...

Ya I had that happen before with a IBM notebook I was traveling overseas with. Suffice to say I got in a verbal argument and almost missed my flight. :mad:
 
StealthRider said:
Don't lecture me on personal responsibility, believe me, I've got it, or I wouldn't be very good at my job. I know I'm partially to blame. I intended this mostly as a venting/"don't make my mistake" thread :)
Click to expand...

Hopefully your insurance will cover it. But just remember in the future to carry on the laptop or you are destined to own another bent MBP :)

Much <3
 
StealthRider said:
Don't lecture me on personal responsibility, believe me, I've got it, or I wouldn't be very good at my job. I know I'm partially to blame. I intended this mostly as a venting/"don't make my mistake" thread :)
Click to expand...

Ah good, because Shua is right, and it really is your fault. :)

If I was the airline, I wouldn't give you compensation for this incident.
 
Abstract said:
Ah good, because Shua is right, and it really is your fault. :)
Click to expand...
Why? It's not like luggage/items are damaged mid-flight due to turbulence - they are damaged by careless airline employees.

They may warn you, but why does that give the airline the right to be so careless?

If airlines were forced to take responsibility for their actions, perhaps we'd all have our bags handled with more care in the future.
 
aquajet said:
No surprise, really. Have you ever watched the ramp rats toss luggage around? Most people are too busy getting themselves situated and chatting with each other.

Traveling back after the holiday, a TSA agent carelessly tossed the plastic bin with my MBP around and ended up scratching it. It was painful, as I baby my machine and it was virtually scratch-free beforehand. I ended up buying a clear speck case at the CompUSA liquidation sale.
Click to expand...

Yep, happened to me too, with an iBook. That's why I won't take my laptop with me on flights unless I absolutely had to.
 
The airline will definitely not take responsibility, because if you read your contract of carriage (the fine print that comes with your ticket) it explicitly states that they are not responsible for damage to electronics in checked baggage, including gate-checked baggage.

As for the "It fit three weeks ago" issue, did you fly the same type of aircraft in both situations? If you did, you may just have been unlucky with a zealous flight attendant.
 
If you do have to put fragile gear in the hold put it in a Peli case.

Watched a programme where they put eggs into cases and then threw the things around in what they called 'the luggage handler test'. All the cases had broken eggs but for Peli. They then ran the thing over (several times) with a big 4WD. End result was one egg with a slight crack.

The downside is they are heavy and they might attract theft.
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. As a frequent flyer I wouldn't let anyone in the airport tell me by bag was too big to fit in the overhead bins, I know them much too well and would of argued, which is a good thing I'm not in the US then cause I'd of probably been arrested by now. Not violent, I've just heard how snobby your airports and airline staff are.

Obviously I don't know how big your bag actually was, as there are a few bags that are borderline, some airlines will let you roll them on, others will want you to check them through, even if they fit, but I wouldn't of checked my computer.

I hope you get some good out of this, especially if your bag isn't all that big and they made you check it unnecessarily. Good luck!

bgd said:
If you do have to put fragile gear in the hold put it in a Peli case.

Watched a programme where they put eggs into cases and then threw the things around in what they called 'the luggage handler test'. All the cases had broken eggs but for Peli. They then ran the thing over (several times) with a big 4WD. End result was one egg with a slight crack.

The downside is they are heavy and they might attract theft.
Click to expand...

I used one last September around Europe, they are very good, however a little on the pricey side. I checked some nice ceramics through and there was no issues on the other side, even sliding around on a baggage carousel.
 
it was a small regional jet (airline calls it a CRJ40, but I'm not sure that's the correct designation), but the bag did fit in the overheads without much trouble. They told me to take it to the baggage office at the airport, which I'm hoping to find time to do sometime in the next two weeks.
 
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