U.S. Airways sucks so freaking bad. I HATE them. I HATE THEM!




Long story. Grab a drink and read. Worth it.





I had a commercial gig in Mississippi the last few days. Flew there Wednesday, shot it without a hitch and got on the plane this morning from Memphis to Arizona to San Jose. The plane from Memphis to Arizona was small. Sat like 50-75. About 30 passanges had to have their carry-on bags placed in the plane cargo because the overhead bins on these smaller planes don't accomidate standard carry-on. (The over head bins barely fit a womens large purse). I tried to convince them I could place the bag inder my seat in front of me. (I've done this MANY times). I informed them of what was in the bags and wanted to try and use the under the seat metheod. The let me. It DIDN'T fit. I asked if we could place the bags in the flight attendants cubby. "this plane doesn't have one sir". I was nervous but what could I do. I gave them my bag.

Inside the camera bag, (Lowepro rolling bag) contained the following:

2 - 5dmk2 both gripped ($6,000)
85L - $1,500
50L - $1,300
16-35L $1,250
24L - $1,200
70-200L $1,450
45 T/S - $1,300
15 fish $600
100 macro $400

4 - 580ex2 - $1,400
5 - pocket wizards. $450
miscellaneous crap $1,000

Total: $17,850

I pulled my Macbook pro out and handed the baggage man at the mouth of the plane my bag.
2 hours later and in Arizona I am handed back my bag along with the other 20 or so passengers. I roll it out of the long passage way and into the terminal to catch the connecting flight. I have 15 minutes. I open the outside zipper area to place my laptop bag in and see that the bag is FREAKING SOAKED. DRENCHED. Nervously and in slow motion I open the zipper to the main compartment of my camera bag and there water all throughout my bag. EVERYUWHERE. Dead serious. A good 3 cups worth. My stomach is in knots. For a second I about ot puked. My head spins, I get light headed and then my wooziness is replaced with anger. I'm pissed. I immediately go to the lady at the gate from where I just exited. I tell her my story and she looks into my bag in shock. She is extremely apologetic but can do nothing. She leads me to where I need to go, U.S. Airways customer service.

Melissa

I am greeted there by a women/behemoth/monster/creature/prawn/leviathan thing-person named Melissa. I am convinced of two things. One, Melissa is a man-hater. Two, Melissa also hates photographers. I unfortunately am a card carrying member of both of these groups. Melissa, you represent the worst of what humanity is. Your complete lack of sympathy for a passenger who fears losing $18,000 of gear that is his livelyhood is just........
You make me sick. You will die alone.

From the word go Melissa is the Devil incarnite. Snide. Rude. Matter-of-fact. Just an awful person to deal with in such a circumstance. Made a DVM employee look like a saint. Melissa dosn't see any water on the exterior of my black camera bag. Melissa is convinced I must have left a water bottle in my camera bag and THAT'S where the water came from. I tell Melissa that YES, where normally I ALWAYS require my camera gear to be stowed with my Super Big Gulp, I decided that that day I wouldn't risk it. She rolls her eys and tells me there is nothing they, (Arizona) can do because they are not my final destination. She then tells me that I need to see customer service in San Jose after my flight. I tell her I fear the water will evaporate by then and the gear will not appear wet and I would be dismissed and if the gear is broken it's my word againsnt their. I SEE LONG LONG STREAMS OF RED TAPE IN MY FUTURE. I ask her to at least document what she sees and put it in the record that my equpminet is soaked. She does. I then ask her to print me a copy of what she just wrote. She hesitates and then says "fine!"


"items are not sitting in water. it more appears that moisture has accumulated on the items"

WTF!?

I read this out load for her and the other 2 women at customer service, (whom were MUCH more symathetic in a later interaction then Beowolf here) and when I've finished I lost it. I asked her when does $12 an hr. constitute her being lawyer for U.S. Airways. Are you seriously proud of what your doing? I tell her to have a nice day and storm off.

I then go back to the original gal I talked to that sent me to CS. Let her know what happened, she is sympathetic and writes down her name and employee ID on the statement made by the parasite. Light bulb goes off and I realize I should get the creatures ID as well. I go back and she's not there. Lady at the desk knew what I needed and said heffalump went on her lunch break feasting on babies. I tell her all I want is her employee ID. She goes into the back, I hear streaming and the note comers back with her ID number on the paper. The last number was a 1 and when it was written she tore through the paper.

One day Melissa......one day

I go to the bathroom and stuff my bag with a brick of paper towels. I make a made mad dash to my terminal and am the last one to board. Longest 2 hours of my life....


Parvez

In San Jose, I go directly to U.S. Airways CS. Here we go again. I am convinced Melissa somehow has teleported from Arizona to San Jose and then taken over the body of a middle aged Indian Man named Parvez. Parvez heard my story and before I could finish he starts his back pedal about how it's impossible this was the fault of U.S. Airways. I must have had a water bottle in my bag and have now removed it to avoid fault. Oh god. I could barely understand him. Not trying to be mean it's just the truth. HOW U.S. Airways thought it a good idea to allow a man with an accent THIS bad, be head of the customer service department at an international airport is beyond me. He is literally accusing me of lying. We have a shout match. He treathens me with the police. I laugh, told him I didn't even steal his slurpee, (relax, I'm middle eastern a swell I can say that). He was completely green. Didn't know anything about their protocol and I am left feeling completely alone. Losing hope.

At this point I started to haze out and drift away thinking about how bad my gear was damaged. Parvez kept talking and all I was hearing was the adults in the Peanuts cartoon. I was going ot lose. There it was, I WILL LOSE. I was given an email address to contact and was told someone would look over my case and get back to me. He also noted that damaged electronics are not their responsibility. HOW. FREAKING. LAME.

After checking all my gear this evening most of it is fine. I hear squeaking in two lenses, the 50L and the 16-35L. The PW's are okay and the 4 speedlights, (580ex2's) minus one are working as they were.
My 100 macro, (1 of 3 non "L" lenses) is no good. There is heavy fogging inside the lense. I know of the sicilia packet trick amoung others but won't be relying on it. It will be sent to Canon for repair. Mildue will show up very soon. THANK GOD FOR "L" GLASS. They are all hermetically sealed and would be TOAST otherwise. The macro was furthest from the water damage and was affected the most. "L" saved the day. I am convinced more then ever.
My bag has wrinkled and shunk even. Am I insured? Of course I am. The hassle is just massive however. Plus there is a deductible. U.S. Airways is at fault and I'm going to have to pay for it. **shakes head**

What happened?

During the flight to Arizona from Memphis is was unbelievably cold. So cold that passengers were asking for blankets. They only had about 30 for the 50-75 passengers on board. I'd guess the entire duration of the flight resulted in 55-60 degree cabin temperature. Everyone was talking about it. I've never been this cold on a flight before. At one point the captain came on the intercom and talked about what was going on. Malfunctions of some kind and that things would not change. About an hour into the flight there also appeared a mist along the floor of the plane from end to end.So strange. Like a morning fog. I've NEVER seen anything like it. Everyone was freaked out. It had a strange oder as well. Like a cleaning solvent. It stayed for about 10 minutes and the flight attendant didn't know exactly what it was but was assured by the pilot things were okay. I have no proof, evidence whatsoever of THIS being the cause of my wet gear but have a strong feeling it was indeed the culpirt. Sweaty refigerant lines, heavy condensation, a water leak, I dunno. SOMETHING happened. Will I ever be told the truth? No. I about guarantee however that there are others that walked away with wet bags. Probably none that felt they needed to see CS though. Wet clothes and wet camera gear are very different.

One thing is for sure. I will NEVER fly U.S. Airways again. Seat are always cramp. No media of any kind. Just a seat and a belt. So bad. What can I say? Never again.

I'm tired.

~Sam

A long horrible story.

Next time this kinda things happens, get slappy.

Sorry to hear of your terrible luck, Sam. Right now, I feel pretty good about my decision to use Pelican cases.

But still, it might be worth the couple bucks to buy some dessicant packages to toss in them...

Sorry for you plight Sam. Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

United breaks Guitars, and apparently US Air soaks cameras. Hope it gets resolved soon.

Tom

i have been victim of that scenario, where they MAKE you gate check. beign as paranoid as i am though, i carried one of those cloth padded bags that are extremely large - and took everything out of the bag, and ever so carefully, piled all of my equipment in that bag, and carried it on anyway. when i deplaned, i just put everything back in the roller, but i just couldn't let it leave my site.. but that was continental. and i routinely fly on those small planes, they suck - and earlier in the month - they actually put me on a PROP plane...i thought i would puke..

sorry about your stuff-ez..

Damn man. The only thing I can say is I'm glad you're insured.

One thing you might want to go is take a canoe bag with you in the future, they're pretty small and could potentially save your gear. Still though it sucks and it really shouldn't be up to you to protect your hand luggage from getting wrecked in that way.

BKphotography wrote:

Next time this kinda things happens, get slappy.

Typical Scotsman

I feel for you man.. that sucks big time! When it comes down to it, it seemed that they just dident give a damn and wanted you off their case. Having said that you have every right to go after them because thats your profession and $17k worth of gear is not chump change in anyones dictionary.

Good luck!

ai3x wrote:
BKphotography wrote:

Next time this kinda things happens, get slappy.

Typical Scotsman

Haha, sad but true.

Dude that does suck bad. I would never let my camera gear outta my sight, I have expensive stuff but not like you. Just the damn bouncing around alone under a plane is enough to knock lens elements outta alignment and ruin finely tuned af. I freak out when I hit a big bump in the car.
A testament to canon too for making quality stuff. Let your stuff dry out and if you cannot see any visible water damage send it in and say it just stopped working and they will fix it, at least they did for me. I fully submerged my 5D (8 inches totally under the whole thing) and only the non L lens was damaged the camera was just fine after drying. Amazing things electronics are. you can wash your cell phone and if you let it dry it will still work so no reason why a camera shouldn't be the same.
you handled the situation well and hopefully will get some kind of closure with the airlines, and the CS people there someday. Must have been alot of water the lowepro bags are pretty solid and resist water quite well. Maybe time for a pelican?!
Good luck and even with wet stuff you still could rock just about anyone here.
Doug

Sam

Sorry for your travel woes. I always travel with a Pelican case for this specific reason. It's heavier and you might get hit up with fees but I sleep much better.

That is just horrific. I'm glad to hear you have insurance. I will gladly join in on your US Airways boycott. Good luck in your pursuit of this case.

BKphotography wrote:
ai3x wrote:
BKphotography wrote:

Next time this kinda things happens, get slappy.

Typical Scotsman

Haha, sad but true.

Saying that, you haven't seen Cambridge on a Saturday night...

Yea man, US Airways leaves a lot to be wished for. The ONLY plus side to them (from what I have been told) is that they have the most flights and locations. Also, I get crazy nice deals with them. Aside from these two aspects, the airline has some major customer service issues. Why is it that people at Southwest and Jetblue always seem happier, nicer, and cooler?

Best of luck man. I hope all the information was intact and backed up from the commercial shoots.

Everything about this story SUCKS! Sorry Sam... Nothing else you could have done man. I feel for you bro.

PLEASE READ THIS
US Airways is based out of good ole Philadelphia. They are single-handedly the reason that Philadelphia is rated among the worst airports in the country. Most Philadelphians I know, avoid US Airways like the plague. I would (and have) pay double the price if it means avoiding US Airways. There's just no way around it. They're the worst. They're always late. Their employees are the bottom of the airline food chain. The airline just plain sucks. I would ask all of you to avoid US Airways at all cost.

That really sucks.
I feel so sorry for you. I would probably freak out and refuse to leave the plane if I was you.

Ick. So sorry to hear, man. I literally was scared to read any further once you listed your gear.

Nothing feels worse than knowing no one really cares about your problem. So, give 'em Hell, and don't stop till you get results: Executive Email Bomb

Good Luck.

Please keep us updated on the progress through USAir customer (no)service hell.

That. Is. Insane.

My stomach was in KNOTS reading it!

That was extremely frustrating to read. Sorry to hear this.

Also, no joke, my mother, since i was little, has always avoided them and said they sucked. I never knew why until now.

Sharing this story on FB - people need to know. I still can't help thinking about all that precious gear being destroyed. Some people just don't understand how much gear costs ... awful man, just awful. A friend of mine had traveled US Airways once and was trashing the experience. I never understood why until later on.

Fly Air Canada

sorry to hear about your frustration sam .. this is just sad how some people can treat others this way ..

That sucks Sam. Hope you get everything fixed and back to normal quickly.

I don't fly very often, but when I do, it's usually JetBlue for domestic and Luftansa or Singapore for international flights.

Sam,
At my day job (TI) - US airway is NOT a recommended airlines to use.
This is do to bags lost, on-time performance, etc.

Sorry this happened to the gear! And you.....

The mist in the cabin is probably due to a couple of things:
Not knowing what aircraft type you where on......
This seems like the cabin pressure relief valve. It probably got stuck/frozzen in a position. At higher attitude, the outside air coming in act like a very small leak; aka -cabin losing pressure.
I can see this happening anyway.

When in altitude chamber testing in the Air force, they blow this valve and the cabin fills up w/ mist 2-3 feet high.


The cold temp is related to the heating/cooling unit not functioning. It could get locked up or frozen too. It could have been as simple as the inlet door not adjusting. This happens but not often.


....sad story.