I am writing this letter regarding a service I received from American Airlines. On June 1, we traveled on AA flight 952 with service from Guayaquil to Miami, then connecting to SFO on flight 770. Upon arrival into the Miami airport, we went to the baggage claim area, to claim our luggage for customs. One of our checked bags (AA 39 38 25) was missing. I located an attendant near the carousel and asked about our missing bag. He asked me to describe it, and then said come with me. We walked over to an open public area on the floor. Their was my hard cover suitcase crushed and wide open. He said that it had got hung up on the conveyor belt, and that he found it split wide open. He said that he picked up all the items that he could see, and put them back inside the suitcase. I noted that all three latching mechanisms had been broken apart, and that a couple of items were missing at that time. He directed me to the AA baggage claim area. We had a connecting flight, so time was of the essence. The baggage claim rep. Examined the bag and said that just a moment. She returned a minute later with a large black suitcase for us to transfer all of the belongings into. A moment later, the AA baggage supervisor came up to us and asked what the problem was, (He was a black male, mid 20's, with short hair). He told the clerk helping us to take the suitcase she had brought out for us to use back. I said look at our bag, it no longer fastens in anyway. He said, " That's not my problem". I said we had a connecting flight, and needed a way to secure our belongings. He said, " you need to contact the baggage claim area at your final destination to file a claim". I asked about our missing items, he repeated that we needed to file a claim at our final destination, and walked away. The clerk offered a roll of saran wrap for us to use, and said that she would enter some date into the computer system for us. My wife and I rolled our crushed suitcase with the saran warp on the floor in front of the baggage claim area, then rechecked the bag for our flight to SFO. Upon arrival into SFO, we contacted the baggage claim rep. He noted the damage, and told us to empty the bag so that he could send it out for repair / replacement. He did not offer a temporary bag for us to use, so we will have to go back to the airport in a few days for the repair.
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