Help, Baggage Screeners Stole My Underwear!
Careful travelers, there's a panty-stealing baggage screener lurking in San Francisco's international airport, according to reader Ari, whose girlfriend lost eight days worth of underwear on a recent trip.
Ari writes:
I recently flew out of SFO with my girlfriend for a weeklong vacation. We had checked in one suitcase with a bunch of her clothes and a makeup case.When we arrived at our destination, we found a notice from our TSA screener indicating they had opened the suitcase. The makeup case, which had been nicely packed before, was bulging at the seams, and when we opened it we were greeted with pieces of glass from the mirror which had been seemingly jammed down to close the makeup case.
My girlfriend was understandably a bit peeved at this, but we still had the receipts from the purchase of that case, so it didn't seem *too* bad. Later that evening she went to go take a shower and took out a bag from the suitcase containing her underwear/bras/socks. There was one problem... all the underwear was gone (8 nights)! (Including one pair of socks)
Looks like our vacation will include a trip to the local Walmart...
Are there any tips from Consumerist readers on how to make a claim for this? We've been calling Covenant Claims for the last couple of days, but no one has answered, and the website requires us to print out a form and mail/fax it in. Oh, that's not including the photographic evidence and receipts that they want us to mail in. (Who keeps receipts or takes photos of underwear they've purchased???)
The TSA has complaint forms for lost and damaged items, but they don't cover the ten airports using private security screeners. That doesn't mean you can't ask the TSA for help. The folks from the TSA Blog left a comment on a reader's website suggesting that they use the TSA's feedback system to reach the customer support manager at San Francisco International. Since Covenant has an abysmal record responding to complaints, it's certainly worth a shot.
Got Feedback? [Transportation Security Administration]
Claims Management Branch [Transportation Security Administration]
(Photo: kaibara87)
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Comments:
Contact Covenant. I'm sure you'll be assured that they'll be Taking It Seriously.
Yeah, ask the TSA to help you. That's like asking the fox to guard the hen house.
I am sure that the TSA has far caused more problems than they have kept from happening.
To
Screw
All
On the way back spray your underwear with pepper spray.
@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: "far caused more" should have been "caused far more"
Please Consumerist, we need a way to edit our posts (at least I do.).
Wow, and I thought the TSA only ripped off travelers' valuable electronic gear. Looks like there are a few pervs working for the TSA too.
Look for pictures of the TSA agent dressed in panties taken with the stolen camera posted on the web with the stolen iPhone.
@LostTurntable: That would be assault on a TSA official. No trial, immediate rendition to an unfriendly nation.
What someone should make, if it hasn't been made already, is a small combination camera/recorder that can be hidden in a suitcase. The act of opening the suitcase would activate it and closing the suitcase would deactivate it.
They could be made available renting or purchasing. They could also be made to look like many different things you would normally find in luggage. If they were cheap and small enough you could have any number of them in your luggage in order to minimize one, or more of them being stolen by the TSA agent. Of course it would not stop the agent from simply stealing the entire suitcase or all of its contents.
This is assuming there is no law against using them.
Hey, I just thought of a new business model!
TSA can run an eBay, Craiglist, online sales business from the airport. They have access to an unlimited supply of products, access to all major shippers, and can issue waivers limiting their responsibility in the event shipped goods are damaged in transit.
They can have arrangements with flight crews to transport items directly onto the plane and take up overhead storage space before passengers board.
They could also sell premium services. If you want specific items, register your list with them and the airports you normally fly through. They can have your packages waiting for you at your destination.
I think I should register this as a business model and franchise.
www.lost_luggage_4U.org
@LostTurntable: Make sure you don't forget, because if your thong is still there and you floss it on when you get home..........
@sir_eccles: Agree, but let the unions explain why not given all of the theft and damage that has occurred. I think it's a great idea.
File a police report for theft. The TSA slip should be pretty good evidence to prove who stole it.
Always pack a clean change of underwear into carry-on.
Hee!
I was once randomly picked to have my suitcase looked in, and didn't realize until later that my book of crossword puzzles was gone. Hope they enjoyed it, my flight felt much longer without it...
(I also second Philly Falcon's idea of the opening-activated hidden camera.)
Hmmm...on the return trip, prying baggage handlers will always be greeted by my dirty panties and socks (maybe even a wet bathing suit). Perhaps it's worth investing in a pack of multiple cheap panties and chocolate bar, to create fake but realistic skidmarks for that first leg of the trip!
Shomer-Tec sells not only a pair of pre-skidmarked underwear as a security "safe," but also offers an accompanying poo liquid for a more dramatic effect.
Great. Yet another reason to make sure I never leave the house without clean underwear.
@richcreamerybutter: Good ideas, and should disappoint even the most perverted potential TSA screeners - unless the poo liquid is really convincing.
This is a very sick world we live in.
@shockwaver: How would they be assaulted? Unless they wear it or put it on their face...(well, does pepper spray transfer that well two or more hours later?)
@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: Take it a step further - it transmits to a site that records the live feed.
@Megladon: a few hundred dollars nets you 1 good camera. replace that with a dozen or 3 thousand dollars.
@Shoelace: This first thing that needs to happen is to establish some sort of accountability with the airlines/airport/TSA for the thefts... as soon as the thefts become liabilities that they have to pay for, the cameras/security will naturally follow. Until they are held accountability there is no incentive to prevent the thefts.
Can I haz underwearz back ?
@LostTurntable: Perhaps one of those Red Dye packs that the Banks use for money bags could be inserted into a bag with undergarments, then the guilty would be caught "Red Handed"
@Megladon: There is no reason baggage examiners could give for not being on camera as they do this. With all the theft and damage.
What I want to know is were these expensive undergarments? If they were La Perla rather than Hanes that might explain the theft. Or the TSA is employing creepy underwear sniffers.
@wickedpixel: That's why I suggested possibly using several of them. Maybe a camera could be made into some part of the suitcase as well as having other cameras.
It seems like robberies against men named Ari and their significant other have been on the rise lately. First the radio station giveaway [consumerist.com] now underwear?
As far a photographic evidence, I think the best idea is to photograph your suitcase as you pack.
I'm going to start photographing the contents and layout of my luggage.
It's more likely a baggage handler than the TSA. Theft was rampant when I was a baggage handler in Toronto and always targeted departures (when luggage sits around for hours) not arrivals.
@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: Hidden electronics in luggage will show up on xrays and will spark security concerns.
I thought used underwear was theft proof.
@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: The one major issue I see with this is the electronics being mistaken for a bomb and your bag destroyed. I'm pretty sure at least some checked bags are x-rayed in addition to being hand searched.
This happened to my wife about 8 years ago flying from SFO to MEL on Qantas.
She had bought new supplies of all her make up, as well as opal jewelry and whatever else a chick packs, and when it got to Melbourne somewhere along the line her new makeup had been used, the jewelry was missing and..so were some of her tampons (new package got opened).
We filed a claim and were reimbursed something like $3/pound for the whole set of luggage, but that didn't even come close to the whole 'eewww' factor of being so violated.
@Megladon: "1 nice camera by the door making sure the only thing brought in or out of the room by the TSA is a bottle of water for drinking"
3 ounces of water or less, right?
I hate to be the one to broach this, but isn't it possible Ari's girlfriend just "forgot" to pack what she persists she packed? No offense, but in vouching for consumers, do we always assume they're above basic human tendencies like faulty memory, else the compulsion to lie so they don't look like idiots to their friends?
After a woman tried to detonate her underpants, passengers are now being limited to 1 pair of undergarments and 6 pairs of socks. The TSA would make a formal announcement, but this would just draw attention to the fact that everyone could be carrying a pair of explosive underwear, causing unnecessary panic. Until TSA approved underwear shops can be set up inside the secure waiting area in airports worldwide, the secretive underwear seizures will be necessary.
Covenant Aviation Security does SFO not the TSA
@zentex:
I enjoy you telling me (someone that works security for a living) what cameras cost, but they dont cost nearly what you think they do. Not all need to be real cameras anyways, the decoy units sell for alot less. Even if the cost was 1,000$ a camera the units would pay for themselves by not having to do a backround check and training on hiring new TSA officers to replace the ones getting fired.
@JeffMc:
Seems fair, I dont need more then 3oz on a plane, I wouldnt figure they would need more then 3oz for an 8 hour shift, would cut back on bathroom breaks this way too
That is just nasty. How would you know where to buy stuff like that.
@Megladon: I don't think cameras (or anything else, really) would ever justify a government agency doing away with "background checks and training." It would never happen, regardless of what you may do for a living.
They really need to invest a few hundred dollars worth of cameras in the areas where they TSA can inspect a persons bags, and it would be nice if there was atleast 3 people in the room. 1 nice camera by the door making sure the only thing brought in or out of the room by the TSA is a bottle of water for drinking, and because we still dont trust them, hold the bottle upto the camera as they leave the room. Lastly sew their pockets shut so they cant put anything inside. Sure the majority arnt to blame, but the few that are are stealing far far to much.