Delta Fined For Lying To Passengers About How Much They Could Get Reimbursed For Lost Luggage

from the not-following-the-law dept

Tue, Nov 2nd 2010 8:33pm — Mike Masnick

Consumerist alerts us to the news that the Department of Transportation has fined Delta $100,000 for telling passengers that its liability on lost luggage was capped at very low rates -- well below what the DOT specifically requires. The law says that airlines cannot limit liability to anything lower than $3,300 per passenger. So what did Delta do? It gave passengers notices saying that liability was limited to $125. Turns out, that's a no-no. Of course, I'd rather that the airline spend the money on not losing luggage, but perhaps that's just wishful thinking...

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Filed Under: fines, liability, lost luggage
Companies: delta

12 Comments

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scarr (profile), 2 Nov 2010 @ 9:03pm

What about the part where they haven't been paying customers more than $125 for lost luggage? It wouldn't take many lost suitcases to more than make up for that fine, and none of it goes to the people harmed by the losses.
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Ryan Diederich, 2 Nov 2010 @ 9:16pm

I am willing to bet...
That Delta thought this one out very well.

People would be much less likely to file a claim knowing that the end result would only be 125 dollars. Would you want to spend hours on the phone on hold and whatever for 125 dollars? Probably not.
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- Anonymous Coward, 2 Nov 2010 @ 9:41pm
  
  Re: I am willing to bet...
  Plus they get to sell off your belongings once they do find it. Of course they don't try real hard to return it to you. Someone even created a site for it. They claim to buy baggage by the truck load. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/
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Big Al, 2 Nov 2010 @ 9:55pm

An oldie but a goodie
British Airways -
Breakfast in London
Lunch in New York
Baggage in Bahrain
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darryl, 2 Nov 2010 @ 10:47pm

Yes, Mike telling lies is badddd. mmmK..
Gee your lucky Mike you are not Delta.

I guess it would, and should worry you alot when people start calling out people or groups who tend to tell lies all the time..
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- Berenerd (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 5:28am
  
  Re: Yes, Mike telling lies is badddd. mmmK..
  and whats this got to do with the tea in china? Seriously dude, get the cactus out of your ass.
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Christopher (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 4:02am

Luggage is going to be lost, just like UPS packages and other things. It's a fact of life until we get a better system into place where everything has a radio chip embedded in it so that the airlines can track EXACTLY where everything is at any time.
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- Titus, 3 Nov 2010 @ 4:38am
  
  Re:
  You mean like the bar code system they already have in place? It only works when they use scanners on them. Using RFID is nice, but someone still has to use it. Last time I flew Delta (Detroit is a hub), we flew in at shift change. Half the plane's luggage was left sitting on the tarmac. Seriously. The guy loaded up the luggage train, and was told it was quitting time, and no one was sent to drive it to the loading bay. After an hour of being demeaned and yelled at (seriously being yelled at for their mistake!) by a customer service manager, they found someone to unload it. I also was told that the max value of my luggage was $125.
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Berenerd (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 5:30am

I still find it sick...
That they can charge you $100/bag (last time I flew on Delta) and STILL be able to tell me with a straight face that there wasn't enough room on the flight so my bag is coming on the next one. The flight wasn't even 3/4ths full.
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- Hephaestus (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 6:53am
  
  Re: I still find it sick...
  Blame the guy that shipped the Hippo !!!
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- ComputerAddict (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 11:29am
  
  Re: I still find it sick...
  Or the fact they lease out cargo space to USPS and other companies... and those deals take priority over your luggage
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Chris Ball (profile), 3 Nov 2010 @ 9:33am

Incentives
Of course, I'd rather that the airline spend the money on not losing luggage, but perhaps that's just wishful thinking...
It's not as if the money they are paying out to unfortunate passengers is coming out of their "not losing luggage" budget. Making them (more) liable for lost luggage actually gives them a financial incentive to not lose luggage--or, rather, it reduces the incentive to be careless about whether or not they lose luggage--encouraging them to spend money to solve the problem. That said, I don't think this is likely to have an appreciable effect on the problem, because they're probably spending enough money on this problem already that not spending enough money isn't the issue.
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