$guitar->{pieces} == 2

grantm on 2005-08-09T03:57:16

I arrived home from OSCON yesterday morning local time. My luggage arrived 6 hours later. As some of you will know, I was the lucky winner of one of these Gibson guitars. It came in a soft zip up case, so I went to visit the Apple music store and got myself a hard shell case to protect it on the long journey home. Sadly, the protection proved insufficient :-(

I opened the guitar case as soon as the courier delivered my luggage and was dismayed to find that the head of the guitar had snapped almost clean off. Strangely, the exterior of the case bears no signs of having been dropped or crushed - draw your own conclusions.

I can't say I'm surprised. I didn't want to check the guitar but was not allowed to carry it on. I didn't want to leave the case unlocked but was not allowed to lock it. The airline of course have disclaimed all responsibility. It's by no means clear that travel insurance will cover it since I didn't specify the item when I took out the insurance so their maximum payout is about half the replacement cost locally :-(

As they say around these parts: bugger!

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What country were you flying back to?

Limbic Region on 2005-08-09T12:10:43

That's the only reason I could think of that you wouldn't be allowed to lock the suitcase. As I reported at

http://use.perl.org/comments.pl?sid=27867&cid=42336

The TSA in the USA does indeed allow you to lock your luggage (with designated locks), can't force you to take off your shoes, and must give you a private screening if you request it.

Additionally, they have a claims center if you feel that your belongings were damaged as a result of their inspection.

Know your rights!

Re:What country were you flying back to?

schwern on 2005-08-09T21:30:31

can't force you to take off your shoes

I believe you have misinterpreted this:

You are NOT REQUIRED to remove your shoes before you enter the walk-through metal detector

This simply means you don't have to take off your shoes before you go through the metal detector, though they'd like you to. But it says nothing about if they ask you to take off your shoes afterwards as part of a post-detector screening.

Re:What country were you flying back to?

grantm on 2005-08-10T00:45:20

I was flying back to New Zealand, but I don't think that matters. Customs/Immigration in NZ routinely ask people to unlock their bags if they want to inspect them and they will destroy the lock if necessary. However at the time I checked in on the United flight at Portland, every passenger who was checking luggage was being asked to confirm that every bag was unlocked.

I was told to leave the bags unlocked and later I was advised to remove my shoes at the security screening (first time ever).