I am writing in the hopes of finding a sympathetic ear who will agree to reimburse us for the minor out-of-pocket costs we incurred after an unpleasant experience with your airline recently.
The grand total is $20, to repair a car seat broken by United baggage handlers.
Yes, I learned through a lengthy ordeal with numerous inconveniences and multiple trips to the airport (with a baby in tow), that United considers checked car seats “limited release,” not covered by the same damage policies as other baggage.
But the term “limited release” is not anywhere on your web site, which I referenced for information on checking a car seat before we traveled, and was never mentioned to me when I called the airline to ask about the same. Nor was it mentioned by the agents who checked the car seat, either on our trip out to Kalispell or the return, or by the agent to whom we first reported the damage.
Plus it would take a couple weeks before we would even hear anything, meaning we’d need to find a replacement seat in the meantime, anyway.
Because of those policies, we decided just to handle it ourselves and thankfully were able to repair the seat at minimal cost. We are hoping United will see fit to reimburse us for that cost.
Here are the details.
- We picked up the car seat from baggage claim and discovered the crash-protecting foam was in pieces. We wondered at how it had been handled, considering the things are made to withstand car crashes.
- We waited in line (at midnight) to report the damage to the baggage clerk. He said it would be repaired or replaced and gave us the information we’d need for the claim.
- A frustrating 30 minutes later, we figured out that the loaner he had given us for the two-hour drive to our home in Greenville was also broken, which meant a return to the line to get our broken seat back, which we were forced to use for the long ride home in the middle of the night but were uncomfortable using beyond that, leaving us with no way to transport our child around.
- The lack of an adequate loaner also meant I had to make a subsequent trip to the Greenville airport to turn in the seat for our claim and hopefully to get an adequate loaner seat ($2 for parking plus time lost).
- The Greenville agent then told me that despite what the Charlotte agent had told us, it was unlikely United would pay to repair or repair the seat, because of the limited release, and that it would be a few weeks before we’d even get word. Faced with the thought of replacing a $300 car seat on our own, I asked to talk to a supervisor but was told it could be an hour or two before she was available. So the agent filed the claim and I left with a barely adequate loaner seat.
- Upon reflection, though, between the time frame and the likely outcome, we decided just to handle it ourselves. So back to the airport to retrieve the seat before it was sent to New York for evaluation (another $2 for parking and time lost). Thankfully, contacting the manufacturer revealed that we could repair the seat with a part they could send us for $20.
As you can see, this ordeal cost me a lot more than $20 in frustration and time lost. Here’s hoping that it was worth a busy mom’s time to write this letter.