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Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

marymitri
Explorer C

Hello,

 

 My son was on flight 2165 from San Diego (stop in Chicago) to Boston on 3/15/21.  The flight was diverted to Milwaukee and passengers were instructed to get off the plane and leave their bags in the overhead bin.  They could get back on the plane with their boarding pass or picture id.  My son got off, and was not allowed back on as Southwest automatically booked him on a different flight, without his consent or asking him.  The flight attendant had to go and get his carry on from where he described “near or above 16F where he had been sitting”.  He was relieved to get his bag and left the area to find food. He went into “his” bag at that point only to realize it was in fact an identical bag that was not his!! 

He returned to the gate and his original flight had just departed…with his bag.  He turned in the other bag to the Southwest crew at the gate and had to rush to get to his flight.  It was a mess. 

 

Long story short, 2 passengers are without their bags due to a mistake by  Southwest.  Is it possible to send an email to all passengers who boarded in San Diego who were on that flight to Chicago and others then went on to Boston?  I am not confident in the lost baggage system and this would go directly to the other passenger who is missing his bag…which had a laptop in it!!

 

Please contact me if you are missing your bag or have my sons!  It is a black Swiss Gear duffel with 2 wheels and a handle.

 

Thank you,

 

Mary 

9 REPLIES 9

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Yikes, that's not a fun situation.  Hopefully you understand honest mistakes happen.  While you may not have faith in the lost bag process that is your best bet in this situation.  Filing a claim as soon as possible with as much identifying information about the bag and its contents as you can provide is your best bet.  If your bag had contact info on/in it then that would be super helpful.  Good luck!

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

marymitri
Explorer C

Honest mistakes do happen, but Southwest has done nothing to help and just sends emails in response to the claim filed that if they don't locate the bag in 30 day  the file will be closed!  They need to care and be accountable and reach out and they have not and that is wrong!

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

dfwskier
Aviator A

@marymitri wrote:

Honest mistakes do happen, but Southwest has done nothing to help and just sends emails in response to the claim filed that if they don't locate the bag in 30 day  the file will be closed!  They need to care and be accountable and reach out and they have not and that is wrong!


Since tens of millions of passengers fly every year and they likely be tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lost/misplaced items. What exactly do you expect SW to do?

 

With those numbers there is no way in heck it cn provide "personal"service to each and every person. I know you don't like that, but that is a matter of fact.Sorry, but the airline would have to employ thousands of people to personally search for all those lost/misplaced items. I hate to think  what the additional cost of that effort would do to ticket prices.

 

SW has a established procedure procedure to deal with these situations. The emails you get back from the airline confirm that it knows about the situation, and also confirms the fact that if the item is not found, the case will be closed in 30 days.  It knows that if something is not found within 30 days, that is is highly unlikely that it will ever be found.

 

That's just the reality of the situation.

 

 

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

marymitri
Explorer C

They were responsible for losing the bag, they should not just close a case, but take responsibility and recognize it was their fault and offer compensation.  I realize they cant give personalized service, but in this situation, we did not lose or leave something behind.  They made the mistake.

And, for the record I  know people who travel regularly as did I in a non covid world, and never have lost or left anything behind over the course of many many many years!.  Doubtful one airline has 100's of thousands of things lost/misplace items.  Also, if they had a system which labeled what date and flight the item came from, and followed up on missing item reports, it would seem pretty easy to connect people with their lost items.

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@marymitri wrote:

They were responsible for losing the bag, they should not just close a case, but take responsibility and recognize it was their fault and offer compensation. 


That's quite a wild accusation considering Southwest retrieved a bag based on the description provided and then the owner of the bag failed to check to make sure it was actually their bag.  I'd stick with the standard, "I'd like to see if Southwest can find my bag" and hope it works out for you.  Good luck, I really do hope it is returned.

 

--TheMiddleSeat 

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

marymitri
Explorer C

Not sure how it is a wild accusation?  They would not let my son retrieve his bag, (which he would have done and gotten the correct bag) they forced him on a new flight, the airport was chaotic due to various rerouted planes and they gave him no explanation for not allowing him on the plane.  Perhaps if Southwest hadn't moved my son from his flight without telling him, and he didn't have  to rush to a new gate to get a new flight and they had just let him back on the plane he bought a ticket for, none of this would have happened!  I still feel bad for the poor guy whose laptop and bag were removed from the plane due to SW causing a situation that didn't need to have taken place.

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

bec102896
Aviator A

Sorry to hear your sons bag was left on the plane and received the wrong one. That's not a fun situation as a similar one happened to me a couple years a go. 

 

As mentioned the best thing to do is fill out a lost and found report and include all details of the bag and include anything that would help Southwest realize it's your sons bag and not another look alike. I would include some content like a notebook or a shirt that would be more likely to not be in someone else's bag. 

 

I hope your son gets his bag back soon. 

 

-Blake

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@marymitri wrote:

Hello,

 

 My son was on flight 2165 from San Diego (stop in Chicago) to Boston on 3/15/21.  The flight was diverted to Milwaukee and passengers were instructed to get off the plane and leave their bags in the overhead bin.  They could get back on the plane with their boarding pass or picture id.  My son got off, and was not allowed back on as Southwest automatically booked him on a different flight, without his consent or asking him.  The flight attendant had to go and get his carry on from where he described “near or above 16F where he had been sitting”.  He was relieved to get his bag and left the area to find food. He went into “his” bag at that point only to realize it was in fact an identical bag that was not his!! 

He returned to the gate and his original flight had just departed…with his bag.  He turned in the other bag to the Southwest crew at the gate and had to rush to get to his flight.  It was a mess. 

 

Long story short, 2 passengers are without their bags due to a mistake by  Southwest.  Is it possible to send an email to all passengers who boarded in San Diego who were on that flight to Chicago and others then went on to Boston?  I am not confident in the lost baggage system and this would go directly to the other passenger who is missing his bag…which had a laptop in it!!

 

Please contact me if you are missing your bag or have my sons!  It is a black Swiss Gear duffel with 2 wheels and a handle.

 

Thank you,

 

Mary 


Oh no, definitely check the bag to make sure its yours and put ID on it even as a carry on. I hear about events like this a few times a year. 

 

Southwest won't email the passengers, but if the other passenger finds out they have the wrong bag then if they come forward I'd say chances are good for a reconnection if your son left Southwest his contact info, and also file a Lost and Found report for sure.

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Flight 2165 from San Diego 3/15 missing bag

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

"Oh no, definitely check the bag to make sure it's yours and put ID on it even as a carry-on. I hear about events like this a few times a year. "

@DancingDavidE  Good advice.  I'm going to one-up that, put your contact information, (phone number only) inside the bag as well just in case.