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A company that sells lost airplane luggage

thehustle.co

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Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#31

Post by McDyver »

When it was founded 50 Yeats ago _maybe_ it made sense because technology was not that advanced.

Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods.

Airlines know who is the owner of that luggage. They have the sticker with flight, booking number, they have the contact details of the owner, and most owners put a tag with their contact info on the luggage.

They were hired to provide the sole service of transporting the luggage and owner from A to B. It's their only job. And they fail and steal your belongings and sell it for a profit, to a fence

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#32

Post by AceJohnny2 »

KolmogorovComp wrote: post #29

> Some say the store has an ethical duty to reunite people with their lost luggage — especially highly personal items, like jewelry inscribed with names and dates, or electronics with identifiable information. But historically, the store has maintained it has a business to run. I’m quite surprised by the opposition here, I’d assume that the high sentimental value could be converted in a much higher price than its off…

> Now would it be more ethical than not contacting them? That’s up to debate, but at least the owners would have a choice.

There's the rub: luggage ends up at UnclaimedBaggage after the airline has exhausted all other avenues to try and find the owner. (this particular article doesn't focus on that aspect. Here's another I quickly found that does: https://www.afar.com/magazine/what-happens-to-airline-passen...)

There are no contactable owners, so the ethical dilemna solves itself.

This is why it's always good to put contact information inside the luggage, where it can't get ripped off in handling.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#33

Post by pulse7 »

McDyver wrote: post #31

When it was founded 50 Yeats ago _maybe_ it made sense because technology was not that advanced. Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods. Airlines know who is the owner of that luggage. They have the sticker with flight, booking number, they have the contact details of the owner, and most owners put a tag with their contact info on the luggage. They were hired to provide the sole service of transporting the l…

Please read the article...

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#34

Post by McDyver »

pulse7 wrote: post #33
McDyver wrote: post #31

When it was founded 50 Yeats ago _maybe_ it made sense because technology was not that advanced. Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods. Airlines know who is the owner of that luggage. They have the sticker with flight, booking number, they have the contact details of the owner, and most owners put a tag with their contact info on the luggage. They were hired to provide the sole service of transporting the l…

Please read the article...

I did. Are you saying 25m bags have absolutely no information on them? Absolutely zero?

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#35

Post by swozey »

giarc wrote: post #21
swozey wrote: post #15

Speaking of unclaimed property, do any of you Texans know of a way to use this absolutely trash website to look for something more specific than your First/Last? https://www.claimittexas.gov/ I have a fairly common first name and there are literally 50 pages of results and "Your search returned 1000 unclaimed properties." One of my financial apps (mint/ck not sure) told me I had unclaimed money and I have no way to f…

From the FAQ page. Providing your SIN/DOB etc will likely help. What can I do if I can’t find the funds I’m looking for on your website? If you are unable to locate your unclaimed property on the website, fill out our search form. Our Research Department will try to locate the property for you. Also see our Finding Money page for more information on unclaimed property not held with the Texas Comptroller.

Thanks, I missed that. It'd be nice if I could do this myself and not need to send them a form. I'll continue to try to find a way to de-paginate the results.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#36

Post by handoflixue »

McDyver wrote: post #31

When it was founded 50 Yeats ago _maybe_ it made sense because technology was not that advanced. Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods. Airlines know who is the owner of that luggage. They have the sticker with flight, booking number, they have the contact details of the owner, and most owners put a tag with their contact info on the luggage. They were hired to provide the sole service of transporting the l…

> Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods.

"Imagine this: An airline loses your checked bag. After an extensive search, customer support comes up empty-handed. They compensate you and life goes on."

It seems bizarre to call this stolen goods when the airline has tried to resolve this for 90 days AND compensated you for your loss

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#37

Post by handoflixue »

McDyver wrote: post #34
pulse7 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please read the article...

I did. Are you saying 25m bags have absolutely no information on them? Absolutely zero?

Did you read the sentence right after that one?

"Around 25m of them (5.7 per 1k bags checked) end up lost or misdirected. The 0.03% of bags that are still not reunited with their owners after 90 days are sold by the airline."

0.03% of 25m, and it's only after 90 days.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#39

Post by newsclues »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #32
KolmogorovComp wrote: post #29

> Some say the store has an ethical duty to reunite people with their lost luggage — especially highly personal items, like jewelry inscribed with names and dates, or electronics with identifiable information. But historically, the store has maintained it has a business to run. I’m quite surprised by the opposition here, I’d assume that the high sentimental value could be converted in a much higher price than its off…

> Now would it be more ethical than not contacting them? That’s up to debate, but at least the owners would have a choice. There's the rub: luggage ends up at UnclaimedBaggage after the airline has exhausted all other avenues to try and find the owner. (this particular article doesn't focus on that aspect. Here's another I quickly found that does: https://www.afar.com/magazine/what-happens-to-airline-passen... ) Ther…

Do companies have a true incentive to do the work?

Or can they provide limited token compensation minus the sale of the lost luggage, and come out ahead vs doing a good job at not losing luggage and returning it when found?

If government/contracts limits compensation liability, then cut costs as much as possible and bring in some revenue selling luggage?

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#40

Post by graphe »

wvenable wrote: post #30
pessimizer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they didn't exist, the headline would be "The company that dumps your lost airplane luggage into a landfill."

I'm more worried about the perverse incentive structure.

Like when high value items are "dumped" and when the "garbage" is stolen, or when landfill owners take a kickback?
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