TSA is not admitting they did it but.....

In a carefully worded letter trying to siphon some of the blame on the airlines as well TSA has agreed to pay me off for one of my complaints. $27.00 for the "lost" foam inner compartments of my "camera case" tool box. But the suspension or termination of the employees on duty at the time probably are not going to happen like I asked for.

They are terminating new claims because the airlines handle baggage for a longer period of time than they do so the airlines must be losing the things and TSA gets the bum rap. However in almost 20 years of air travel, I have only had such shenanigans done to my checked bags while TSA has been in existence. To boot 80% of my flights result in damage or loss when before the ratio was, lets see, 0%. I was statistically due for one but not five in a row.

Let me state that I have the utmost respect for Law Enforcement Officers and Security personell. These thugs are neither. The only training they have been given is how to pass the buck. Typical bureaucrats.

Since over 5000 have been fired for stealing on video, let's go over my and my co worker's losses.

ME: Digital camera battery charger. Lost, could not be replaced. Claim status in limbo.
Foam liner partitions of my toolkit. Lost
Soldering iron. Lost
Several computer cables in baggies. Removed and cut when left half out of the kit.
Replacemet parts for customer repairs of equipment. damaged on numerous trips. Can no longer file against.

Co workers: Starret automatic center punch. Lost, can not be filed for loss.
Two tubes of bathtub caulking, Lost, must have needed to do some DIY repairs at home.
Torque wrench, Lost, can not be filed for loss.

My co workers lost all those on one trip!

None of these items are on the offical banned items list. And now they officially have no responsibility or accountability so it will only get worse. I no longer complain to TSA but send emails directly to my senators.

So much for homeland "security".

Isn't the increased cost of shipping items separately via a courier service worth the freedom of hassles and PITA of dealing with Bozo's like these? (sorry, didn't mean to insult Bozo and other clowns). Gotta be less of a headache to ship it. Even UPS et al. has to have a better class of workers, than the horror story we hear the average travel is getting from the TSA.

what kind of courier service are you thinking of? we're flying to my sisters wedding soon and we have a 6 week old baby and a 4 year old. They require so much ancillary equipment that I'm seriously considering FedEx'ing some boxes overnight before we leave!

There is a limit to how much you can carry while at the same time carrying children, so even in the absence of the TSA this might be a good idea. But even FedEx has a certain attrition rate for packages though... Im just starting to wake up nights in a cold sweat thinking of what this trip could potentially be like, even if we don't have any actual problems. If I ever meet any terrorists I'll gouge their eyes out personally just for the extra hassle that they cause me when traveling within my own country.

You will find that UPS ground shipping is really quite reasonable as long as you don't need it there within a week. You get a tracking number so you can watch your baby carriage move slowly across the country.

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I frequently mail small things to my in-laws before flying down. It saves hassle and I can be sure it arrives OK in time to replace things if lost.


Daniel