Flatbush Flyer Posted May 4, 2018 #26 Share Posted May 4, 2018 I wish people would look up definitions before labeling people wrong repeatably. Thief: One that steals especially stealthily or secretly Steal: Take and carry away (something that belongs to another person) without permission and with the intention of keeping OP posted person took it by mistake and called to return it (don't understand leaving it at airport but that isn't a thief stealing). Personally, I made mistakes in my life. Glad someone didn't try to continually call me a thief. Call it what you want. The person who made a "mistake" had the opportunity to rectify it and, apparently, didn't. There are words for that behavior which many would consider to be worse than "thief." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZjohn Posted May 4, 2018 #27 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Call it what you want. The person who made a "mistake" had the opportunity to rectify it and, apparently, didn't. There are words for that behavior which many would consider to be worse than "thief." Probably not but, if your into name calling let's hear them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted May 4, 2018 #28 Share Posted May 4, 2018 No proposal for a solution, no help at all. Today we were informed by SAS in Copenhagen that the suitcase can not be sent to Stockholm without accompanying passenger. Do you know the current whereabouts of your luggage? Is it with SAS in their unclaimed luggage room at LAX? I don't understand why SAS cannot put the luggage through all the usual security checks to certify it "safe to fly unaccompanied". After all, plenty of suitcases miss their connection at transfer points en route and are simply placed in the luggage hold on the next regularly scheduled flight. Did you ask that specific question? (Perhaps you can even encourage SAS to have TSA employees open your suitcase and give it extra scrutiny if that meant it could fly unaccompanied back to Stockholm.) Another option: Ask SAS if they would release the suitcase to a third party, specifically a luggage shipping service? I suspect you'd have to pay for this service, but it seems to me that, at least, you'd get your suitcase and its expensive and sentimental contents back. Then, you could file a claim against your travel insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted May 4, 2018 #29 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Probably not but, if your into name calling let's hear them? How about something educational instead? Here's a WSJ news article about one of its editors who became "The Accidental Thief." https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB119024912866933218 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawnino Posted May 4, 2018 #30 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Doesn't anyone (other than us) want to comment in a positive way about the fact that the woman actually *called* to say the bag was "accounted for"? OK She's positively an idiot, who is positively shirking her responsibility to get the bag back to its owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShopperfiendTO Posted May 4, 2018 #31 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Do you know the current whereabouts of your luggage? Is it with SAS in their unclaimed luggage room at LAX? I don't understand why SAS cannot put the luggage through all the usual security checks to certify it "safe to fly unaccompanied". After all, plenty of suitcases miss their connection at transfer points en route and are simply placed in the luggage hold on the next regularly scheduled flight. Did you ask that specific question? (Perhaps you can even encourage SAS to have TSA employees open your suitcase and give it extra scrutiny if that meant it could fly unaccompanied back to Stockholm.) Another option: Ask SAS if they would release the suitcase to a third party, specifically a luggage shipping service? I suspect you'd have to pay for this service, but it seems to me that, at least, you'd get your suitcase and its expensive and sentimental contents back. Then, you could file a claim against your travel insurance. I have a question: If the lady in California took the luggage, unless OP printed out and attached the luggage tag onboard, how would the luggage have SAS tags on it? Wouldn't that luggage tag have OP's flight info and so basically it is "her" luggage that is left at the airport unclaimed? If OP had her ownership information on the luggage as well, then after a set period of being unclaimed, wouldn't the airport contact both the old lady and the OP as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 4, 2018 #32 Share Posted May 4, 2018 I have a question: If the lady in California took the luggage, unless OP printed out and attached the luggage tag onboard, how would the luggage have SAS tags on it? Wouldn't that luggage tag have OP's flight info and so basically it is "her" luggage that is left at the airport unclaimed? I would think it would have the airline tags going from BCN to LAX or where ever the woman who took the bag was flying to it amazes me that the woman who took the bag did not notice when it was being put in a cab to the airport & when she took it from the cab to check in that she failed to notice it was NOT her bag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted May 4, 2018 #33 Share Posted May 4, 2018 (edited) I have a question: If the lady in California took the luggage, unless OP printed out and attached the luggage tag onboard, how would the luggage have SAS tags on it? Wouldn't that luggage tag have OP's flight info and so basically it is "her" luggage that is left at the airport unclaimed? If OP had her ownership information on the luggage as well, then after a set period of being unclaimed, wouldn't the airport contact both the old lady and the OP as well? I don't understand your question. Fliers have the ability to print out plane tickets at home/hotel computers, but no one other than the airlines has the ability to print out the coded luggage tags that get looped around handles. So we can assume the confused lady didn't have SAS tags on the luggage at the start. Presumably, she walked up to the airline counter and presented her Passport. The counter agent must have pulled up the lady's ticket information, printed the ticket for the non-stop flight BCN to LAX, looped the luggage tags on the suitcase, and sent everything on its merry way to the wrong destination. As for noticing a different name on a private name tag, we have no evidence the real owner's name was even visible. Go to any travel store/department and you'll notice many luggage tags that deliberately cover name and, especially, address information. To the counter agent, all that mattered is that a traveler presented a valid passport, had a valid reservation for travel that day, and willingly offered her luggage for security scanning before it was loaded on the plane. I can't construct any scenario that the lady presented her own passport and got any luggage tag other than the one reflecting her own route/destination. Edited May 4, 2018 by Pet Nit Noy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShopperfiendTO Posted May 4, 2018 #34 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Right, I was asking why the luggage would be in SAS' unclaimed luggage room at LAX if the luggage tag had the California lady's flight info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 4, 2018 #35 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Right, I was asking why the luggage would be in SAS' unclaimed luggage room at LAX if the luggage tag had the California lady's flight info. It may not be but the OP may have contacted SAS for help in getting her bag or the woman who took it gave to SAS to return to the OP that part of the story is unclear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted May 4, 2018 #36 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Right, I was asking why the luggage would be in SAS' unclaimed luggage room at LAX if the luggage tag had the California lady's flight info. SAS is an airline in the One World Alliance (American Airlines, British Airways, etc.) and it flies non-stop from Barcelona to LAX so that's the first piece of the puzzle why it is in the SAS unclaimed luggage room. Presumably, the lady saw the suitcase on the belt at luggage claim in LAX, woke up to the fact that luggage she checked at the BCN airport was not hers, and refused it at the airport. What should have happened at that point is the SAS employees should have checked out the suitcase for any clues about the real ownership. Presumably, there is a private name tag on the bag and there may even be an itinerary with name and address packed inside the suitcase itself. If the SAS employees can link the suitcase languishing in LAX with the rightful owner in Stockholm, there ought to be a path forward. I can only repeat that there are lots of suitcases flying alone trying to catch up with their owners after missed connections. The OP should not give up. He/she knows where the suitcase is located, and can, presumably, supply adequate identifying information about the bag (e.g. the RX medicines, and distinctive pieces of clothing).. He/she should be contacting SAS Lost Luggage in Stockholm every day until he/she gets a satisfactory answer. If the worker bees who answer the phone won't help, the OP should consider making a trip to Lost Luggage Stockholm. Once at the airport, it may be easier to bring about a happy ending by talking to a Lost Luggage supervisor. If the supervisor won't help, the OP should get in touch with General Customer Service. If the worker bees in General Customer Service won't help, the OP should ask to speak with a supervisor there. (At that level, the people tend to be intelligent and have great latitude to act if approached tactfully.) What should make a happy ending somewhat more likely is that SAS flies non-stop from LAX to ARN (Stockholm). At any rate, good luck to the OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted May 4, 2018 #37 Share Posted May 4, 2018 It's really simple, people need to mark your bags with a name tag, then they need to read that tag before taking luggage off the floor period. It's just people are lazy and want to beat everyone to get out. The lady or whoever should be billed for the shipping the bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted May 4, 2018 #38 Share Posted May 4, 2018 What about the old lady's bag that she left behind? I assume she DID leave it behind ... Doesn't she have the same problem as the OP? Just curious ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Noxequifans Posted May 4, 2018 #39 Share Posted May 4, 2018 In rereading this thread I wonder how the woman who took the bag in error made the same mistake again at LAX .....took the wrong bag off the carousel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted May 4, 2018 #40 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Do you know the current whereabouts of your luggage? Is it with SAS in their unclaimed luggage room at LAX? I don't understand why SAS cannot put the luggage through all the usual security checks to certify it "safe to fly unaccompanied". After all, plenty of suitcases miss their connection at transfer points en route and are simply placed in the luggage hold on the next regularly scheduled flight. Did you ask that specific question? (Perhaps you can even encourage SAS to have TSA employees open your suitcase and give it extra scrutiny if that meant it could fly unaccompanied back to Stockholm.) Another option: Ask SAS if they would release the suitcase to a third party, specifically a luggage shipping service? I suspect you'd have to pay for this service, but it seems to me that, at least, you'd get your suitcase and its expensive and sentimental contents back. Then, you could file a claim against your travel insurance. There seems to be a major assumption in this post and many that follow that the lady that mistakenly took the bag flew on SAS from BCN to LAX. I didn't see that anywhere from the OP. They did mention that SAS won't fly it to Stockholm without the passenger(don't know why, just have someone box it like cargo) but still not sure what else they really have to do with it. Would someone coming from BCN necessarily be on SAS to go to LAX? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted May 4, 2018 Author #41 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Well, we've given up. We will never get back the suitcase with all our things, it's extra hard from another continent. DHL and other shipping companies can not transport the suitcase to Stockholm without paperwork on site with customs clearance and shipping notes. Our insurance company will replace at least some of the economic value. Why SAS was involved I do not know. They might be contacted by LA airport to give us information. The lady who took the bag flew with Air France from Barcelona to LA. She took our suitcase despite the red band around the bag and left a similar one in Barcelona. Of course, we had current medication in the hand luggage and only reserve medicine in the suitcase. Otherwise, we lose travel memories, glasses and exclusive clothes and shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted May 4, 2018 #42 Share Posted May 4, 2018 There seems to be a major assumption in this post and many that follow that the lady that mistakenly took the bag flew on SAS from BCN to LAX. Would someone coming from BCN necessarily be on SAS to go to LAX? Travelocity is showing only one non-stop flight from BCN to LAX. It is listed as an Iberian Air flight, another of the One World Alliance partner airlines that includes SAS. However, a search using keywords "SAS flights" and BCN to LAX lists an SAS flight. I'm guessing they are all code-shared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted May 4, 2018 #43 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Okay - the key here is Air France, which (without their knowledge) transported stolen property. I would concentrate all my efforts now with Air France who should now have physical possession of your property. There's another long shot here, which is to contact the LAPD (or equivalent) airport police if for no other reason than to assist in some way(?) I would not give up on this puzzle if I was you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylizcat Posted May 4, 2018 #44 Share Posted May 4, 2018 How about emailing the Swedish consul in LA, asking very nicely for their assistance? It would depend on the recipient being a nice, helpful sort of person! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pinotlover Posted May 4, 2018 #45 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Before continuing, please get your facts correct. SAS is a founding partner in The Star Alliance with United Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, etc. They are not part of Oneworld with AA and BA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted May 4, 2018 #46 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Could you not just sacrifice the suitcase at this point and have the person who took your suitcase box up your possessions and mail them to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 4, 2018 #47 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Well, we've given up. We will never get back the suitcase with all our things, it's extra hard from another continent. DHL and other shipping companies can not transport the suitcase to Stockholm without paperwork on site with customs clearance and shipping notes. Our insurance company will replace at least some of the economic value. Why SAS was involved I do not know. They might be contacted by LA airport to give us information. The lady who took the bag flew with Air France from Barcelona to LA. She took our suitcase despite the red band around the bag and left a similar one in Barcelona. Did you contact lost luggage at LAX? I would not give up just yet Maybe there is a way it could be sent to you even at a fee You were the one that mentioned SAS <<Today we were informed by SAS in Copenhagen that the suitcase can not be sent to Stockholm without accompanying passenger. >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 4, 2018 #48 Share Posted May 4, 2018 What should have happened at that point is the SAS employees should have checked out the suitcase for any clues about the real ownership. Presumably, there is a private name tag on the bag and there may even be an itinerary with name and address packed inside the suitcase itself.. there must have been some I.D. on the bag as the woman who took it contacted the OP to say it was at LAX Not sure why she could not offer to pay to have it shipped back ...TSA could inspect it at that point although it just came off a flight & probably did not make it out of baggage claim In any case I hope the woman who took it is reading this thread to see what distress she has caused the OP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Waynetor Posted May 5, 2018 #49 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Not that is a concern to the Op but I wonder what happens to the luggage left in the port. Seems O has no responsibility. Based on what the Op has been told about getting her bag, it also seems since it was not the airlines issue there would be no way for the person in LA to get her bag back without going to Barcelona to pick it up. If the Op can find out if the proper bag made it to LA, that may give a solution to get her bag back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted May 5, 2018 #50 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Well, we've given up. We will never get back the suitcase with all our things, it's extra hard from another continent. DHL and other shipping companies can not transport the suitcase to Stockholm without paperwork on site with customs clearance and shipping notes. Our insurance company will replace at least some of the economic value. Why SAS was involved I do not know. They might be contacted by LA airport to give us information. The lady who took the bag flew with Air France from Barcelona to LA. She took our suitcase despite the red band around the bag and left a similar one in Barcelona. Of course, we had current medication in the hand luggage and only reserve medicine in the suitcase. Otherwise, we lose travel memories, glasses and exclusive clothes and shoes. Suggestion to OP -- contact a third party transport luggage company like Luggage Forward. They might be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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