The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
They Steal Anything
Thursday - September 14, 2006 02:57 PM in
When Rick calls my mobile phone, he gets a special ringtone of a few bars of classic blues. It's one of those little ways people who've worked together for years tease each other.
When I heard that distinctive beat and riff last night at about 12:15 AM as I was getting ready to climb into bed after the late flight home from ACCE, it was more appropriate than ever.
"Peter, you're not going to believe me, but my laptop was stolen from my luggage!"
Sometime after he checked his bag at the airport but before we arrived in Minneapolis, a light-fingered airport employee opened his suitcase and removed just the laptop. What's more, the thief knew exactly where to look. The laptop was packed underneath several other items, none of which were taken. The only other thing stolen was the laptop's power adapter, which was buried at the very bottom of the suitcase.
It was almost as though someone had access to an X-ray machine and knew precisely where the expensive electronic gear was packed.
I make a point of never (or almost never) packing expensive and easily-stolen items in checked luggage. Having my paranoia proven right is one of those mixed-emotion things.
I figure there's little to no chance that we'll recover the laptop--its probably already been sold on eBay--but we filed the police report and filed a claim for reimbursement with the TSA nevertheless.
We also learned that in 2006, ten laptops a day have been stolen from checked luggage at the Seattle airport. Clearly there's a very active theft ring involved, and I'm a little surprised that the airport hasn't seen fit to post warnings about packing electronics.
I'm sure Rick will have more to say about this, but I'll leave that to him. Fortunately, we don't keep sensitive information on portable computers, so we're in a lot better shape than some companies which have had computers stolen recently.
Posted by Peter Leppik
"Peter, you're not going to believe me, but my laptop was stolen from my luggage!"
Sometime after he checked his bag at the airport but before we arrived in Minneapolis, a light-fingered airport employee opened his suitcase and removed just the laptop. What's more, the thief knew exactly where to look. The laptop was packed underneath several other items, none of which were taken. The only other thing stolen was the laptop's power adapter, which was buried at the very bottom of the suitcase.
It was almost as though someone had access to an X-ray machine and knew precisely where the expensive electronic gear was packed.
I make a point of never (or almost never) packing expensive and easily-stolen items in checked luggage. Having my paranoia proven right is one of those mixed-emotion things.
I figure there's little to no chance that we'll recover the laptop--its probably already been sold on eBay--but we filed the police report and filed a claim for reimbursement with the TSA nevertheless.
We also learned that in 2006, ten laptops a day have been stolen from checked luggage at the Seattle airport. Clearly there's a very active theft ring involved, and I'm a little surprised that the airport hasn't seen fit to post warnings about packing electronics.
I'm sure Rick will have more to say about this, but I'll leave that to him. Fortunately, we don't keep sensitive information on portable computers, so we're in a lot better shape than some companies which have had computers stolen recently.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 02:57 PM by | | | |