Washington, D.C.-area traveler Valerie Szybala shared her entire ordeal on Twitter, claiming the airline’s courier service refused to promptly reunite her with her bag.
Flyer Uses AirTag to Track Luggage Movement Before Confronting Courier
The issue began when Szybala returned from a trip to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) on Wednesday, December 28, 2022. Her checked bag did not arrive with her. As is customary, the flyer began a claim with United, who promised they would return her bag.
The next day, Szybala says United contacted her to say they found her bag and asked if she wanted it delivered. The bag was then transferred to the airline’s courier service, Couriers United, to bring the bag to her home. Her luggage did not return in a timely fashion – which is when she took to Twitter to do her own sleuthing with the help of an Apple AirTag checked with her items.
According to her account, the luggage instead ended up at a residential apartment complex. When she visited the location, she claims to have found other flyer’s empty luggage near the dumpsters. Her bag was not among them.
I’d just like everyone to know that @united has lost track of my bag and is lying about it. My apple AirTag shows that it has been sitting in a residential apartment complex for over a day. Out back by the dumpsters, I have found other emptied United Airlines bags. pic.twitter.com/fcoq4nj3zb
— valerie szybala. (@vszyb) January 1, 2023
When she asked United for an update and shared her findings via chat, a United customer service agent responded by saying: “Calm down your bag is at the delivery service.” When Szybala pressed why her luggage was at an apartment complex instead of a distribution center, the agent didn’t have an answer.
Anyone wondering why I felt compelled to take this to social media, check out my most recent chat with one of their support reps through the @united app: pic.twitter.com/hxUu3jQaxj
— valerie szybala. (@vszyb) January 2, 2023
From there, she started sharing the locations the bag was showing up at, including two shopping centers for an extended period of time. By January 2, 2023, after snooping around the apartment complex looking for answers, Szybala says she received a text from a courier asking to confirm delivery. She asked the driver to meet her near the apartment complex, where the driver was met not only with the flyer, but local news crews.
“Because of the AirTag tracking to this complex, I came down here repeatedly. At first, I just walked around to see if I could locate it,” Szybala told Washington, D.C. Fox affiliate WTTG-TV. “The third time, I called the police, I filed a police report [and] I found the bags out back.”
At the end of the day, Szybala credits the AirTag for ultimately reuniting her with the baggage after an extended delay. Her advice for other travelers: “If your bag arrives on a later flight than you and they offer to hold at the [airport] for pickup or deliver it, NEVER CHOOSE DELIVERY.”
A spokesperson for United told WTTG they are investigating the situation with their courier to understand what happened. The courier company has not publicly commented on the claims.
Source: frugal travel guy