Lost and Found –Tampa to Denver to Miami to
Philadelphia by rl simpson
2/21/2015
They lost my bag on the way home from Florida. It was my
good hard sided –robin’s egg blue, four wheel Coleman bag, I used in Alaska. I
was upset. I did not check the baggage claim slip, when I walked away from the
counter in Tampa. I had showed her my Identification and boarding pass –so when
she affixed the claim stickie onto my baggage fee receipt –I thought all was
well. NOT. She had renamed me Genevieve Simpson and sent my bag to Denver. I
was flying to Philadelphia.
Having
no idea my bag was still in the air going to Denver, I waited at the carousel
in Philly talking to the Frontiers employee about nonsense things. I asked if
she ever thought about which type of suitcase belonged to which various
passenger wait around the carousel? She did and so we talked and waited until
all but one case had been claimed. Not mine. She gave me a paper to fill out
that was a claim, I guess. I only put my parents Pennsylvania address, since I
was there for a few days. That is when I discovered the mistake, the baggage
receipt was wrong. She had left me the clipboard with over 50 completed claims,
while she went on break. She neglected to tell me that and I had no idea where
she was. A man came up to me and said his golf clubs had not made it –so I gave
him a blank claim form to fill out from the pile –while we waited for the
Frontier Rep. When she came back she asked if I had given the man the paper
claim he was filing out, I said yes, she nodded and said they would be in touch
and turned to walk away. I yelled, “WAIT”.
I asked for a phone number and she gave it , then the golf club guy
asked more questions and she asked him to wait while she made a call. We knew
then that my bag had been sent to Denver, so I guess I was done. It was icey
and cold outside. My sister and her husband had been in the cell phone lot,
waiting to pick me up, for over an hour. I called and they picked me up and
drove me to my Parents house in Aston. I had left my winter coat and keys with
her and my coat was nice and warm. They dropped me off, the driveway was ice so
I walked on the grass. As I opened the door I wondered, how long it would take
to warm up the house and what was I going to eat. It snowed that night.
I
called my Parents in Florida to tell them I arrived and the first thing my Dad
said was “ What is your suitcase doing in Denver?’ Apparently, I had put on a
luggage tag with my name and email address and cell phone number on one side
and my parents name and Florida address and phone number on the other. Yep,
they called my parents from Denver about 10:30 pm. The Frontier agent, gave my
parents the Philadelphia number and asked me to call the next day. I called the
number and got a recording saying the office in Philadelphia was open 2am until
10am Thurs thru Sunday. It was Tuesday. I left about 7 messages. Meanwhile, my
Mother is getting calls from various baggage agents saying my bag was being
flown to Miami then Phila. It was Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I received
a call from Philadelphia as I was walking out the door to go home. The bag had
arrived on the 11pm Wednesday flight. Did I want it delivered to Aston or sent
by Fed Ex to my South Jersey home? I said “ship it” and gave the address–“I am
on my way home”. She asked if I wanted “Genevieve or Robin on the address
label?” “I don’t freakin’ care”, and hung up. I got home Thursday.
Early Friday morning, about 8:30 am, I heard
a knock on my door. Got out of bed and looked out my bedroom window, to see
what I thought was a van driving away. Now remember my suitcase tag –did not
have my address on it, only the phone contact with the agent on Thursday
morning had the address. That early Friday morning knock, was my suitcase left
on my front step. Fed Ex had pasted a large “OVERNIGHT” sticker on it –I still
cannot get it off. Everything inside was fine. My bag had officially been in
more cities than I had.
I
got an email from Frontier on another cheap flight –I will NEVER
fly that airline again –even if the tickets are free.
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