Well, I was coming back from vacation last Sunday, and not wanting to deal with security, I put my laptop in its case, and put that in my checked suitcase, padded by clothes. I've done this at least ten times before, and things always turn out fine.
When I arrived home in Denver, I noticed my bag had the blue TSA inspection tag, and a notice inside that my bag had been inspected. So, not trusting govenment employees, I looked inside, and made sure nothing was missing. Nothing was; my laptop was in its case, and my clothes were still there. TSA people can't pack, and put my laptop case on top of the clothes, but nothing's missing.
Fast forward a couple days, to Wednesday or so. I finally decide I need to get at some summer school papers on my system, get the laptop out of the bag, and the screen looks a little funny. Weird, why are there these lines on my screen? No matter, I turn on the machine aaaand... Grodyness. The LCD's been smashed to hell, and the screen is unreadable, except for a tiny patch in the upper-left.
The combination of laptop bag and clothes packed luggage has always been completely reliable. My feeling is that TSA opened it up, messed with it (there's concrete dust on the cover), then put it back it my suitcase, conveniently protecting all my clothes from impact damage.
So, I called United to file a claim, so that I can at least get them on my side and point fingers at the TSA. Nuh-uh, they're not liable for damaged computer equipment. They won't touch the problem. I go read around and apparently TSA takes 3-6 months to process claims, and denies them the far majority of the time.
So now, I'm stuck with a 300 MHz laptop that needs a $600 replacement screen, and I got class on Monday. It's not really like I can live without it, either, since I'm a Computer Engineering student. I also don't have $600, and if I did, I'd buy a new system.
So then, why am I posting my troubles here? I'm hoping someone who's had something similar happen to them knows any tips or tricks to getting TSA to pay attention quickly. I also need to figure out what basis I will make my claim upon.
Many thanks in advance...