Recently I had to fly on business and, as usual, I carried my trusty laptop computer with me as a carry on. This trip, however, I flew United Airlines out of Chicago. When I got to the gate, the plane had already begun boarding and I was one of the last people to board.
The gate attendant informed me this was a small commuter flight and I would have to gate check my laptop as it would not fit on board. I tried to argue but United Airlines insisted they check it, reassuring me that it would be perfectly alright. I was handed a little green claim ticket and they took my laptop case away. When I was at my seat I saw there was plenty of room under the seat in front of me for my case and it certainly would have fit. It always had in the past. There was nothing I could do about it now so I decided to let it go, relax and enjoy the last portion of my flight.
When I received my laptop case when we landed, it looked perfectly fine. Boy was I relieved. That good feeling was not to last long. When I took my laptop out of the case at the hotel to set up and check email, I was horrified at what I found. The entire screen was fractured in several areas and I could not access any of my data. I couldn’t even boot up my computer.
I was stunned. Immediately I went to United Airlines baggage department at the airport with my laptop to report the damage. I expected to have someone there assist me. Instead, I was told to contact their website and download forms. This was not going to be the way it would be handled if I had my way.
I did go to the website and found a number to call for customer service. So, I called and relayed my story. I was treated very kindly and with wonderful support. They transferred me to the appropriate people who then took my information, issued me a claim number, and instructed me how to file for reimbursement for the repair of my computer as well as for the small laptop I had to buy in order to do business while on my trip.
One thing this ordeal taught me is the benefit of having a laptop case with a removable liner. Had I had one, I could have pulled my laptop out of the case and bought it on board with me. As it was, I was stuck. But, every event has a gift. The gift I received was one in which many people reached out to me with such genuine kindness as well as through service and business offerings. There really are a lot of really great people around us when we take the time to appreciate them.
Not being familiar with the area or any particular computer companies, I took my computer to the Geek Squad at a Best Buy located near my hotel in Colorado to see what the extent of the damage might be and what it would take to fix it. They saw the monitor was fractured and stated it would need to be replaced. Then, when they could not boot the computer, they took out the two hard drives to check for data.
When the tech returned 45 minutes later, he told me there was no data on either of the drives but that the drives were still functional. He told me it appeard my laptop was basically a total loss, and that I would have to send it off to their upper tech center to see if they could retrieve any data which would take about three weeks and cost anywhere from $259 up to a couple of thousand dollars depending on how many sectors, time, etc. This did not include the price for replacing the monitor.
I decided to wait and have my local computer service company look at my laptop when I returned. In the interim, I purchased a small laptop that would do what I needed in order to conduct business while I was away.
After my trip, I dropped my laptop off with my local computer gurus. I was delighted to learn only the screen was damaged. I still had all my data on the hard drives and my system was able to be booted up using another monitor. The total price would be less than $300 to repair my laptop! Wow! What a relief. Plus it would be ready in less than a week.
My laptop has now been repaired and I am submitting my claim to United Airlines. One thing is for certain, I will NEVER allow any airline to check any type of electronic device no matter what. There is always room on board for my laptop – including the case and I will forever stand my ground on this issue.
Even though the Geek Squad happend to be way off target on this one, I have to give them credit for being very kind and considerate. They didn’t even charge me for all the time they took looking over my computer and testing my hard drives. They did steer me toward purchasing a good, low cost laptop which has an excellent track record for dependability and low to no repair needs.
May all your travels be carefree and electronicly intact!
Best to you always,
Judith