I just came back from a wonderful vacation to Puerto Vallerta (if you overlook the airline delays). While in PVR, we bought several hundred dollars worth of glasses for our home. The packaging on these was top-rate, 3 styrofoam boxes filled with packing peanuts and each item wrapped in a cushioning foam.
I checked these in during the flight and asked for the 3 boxes to be marked FRAGILE which they did. The baggage handlers at PVR were top-rate and I saw them carefully place each box in the cargo hold of the plane.
But the handlers at San Francisco and Seattle are another story indeed. We made it through customs and re-checked our baggage. Somehow, 2 boxes made it back on the plane even though they were all checked at the same time. We could see the baggage handlers loading the bags and they obviously did not read that these boxes were marked fragile for they just threw them into the cargo hold. All of these boxes were also declared over-size and I paid a $103 fee.
Arriving in Seattle, we saw the two boxes that had made it onto our plane in the odd-size/fragile luggage area. So we waited and waited. I finally asked a baggage clerk where my other box was and she informed me that because of my flight's delay, some baggage was re-routed to another flight that had just arrived. I told her I found it odd that all 3 boxes were checked in at the same time yet only two managed to make it onto my plane. I was treated to a blank stare. She said the other flight had just landed and my remaining box should arrive shortly.
TUMBLING OUT OF THE BAGGAGE CHUTE!!! I'd just spent several hours on a plane that was yet again delayed. I'd paid extra to make sure my boxes arrived safely. And I see this box with FRAGILE tape all over it tumbling down the chute from the ceiling! I was so angry, I took the book and went over to baggage claim and asked, "what does this tape say???" The girl said, "uh, fragile." I said, "so WHY did this just tumble from the chute onto the carousel from the CEILING instead of being placed in the odd-size/fragile area? I said, I spent several hundred dollars on this glassware and if any is broken, Alaska is going to have yet another complaint to respond to." Another blank stare. Sure enough, a total of 6 hand-blown mexican glassware was damaged or destroyed. We'll see if Alaska bothers to train their employees to read.
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