A Very Brief Philadelphia Show Report and an Impromptu "Vacation" for My Checked Luggage (

WTCG · September 27, 2009 5:52AM

Since everybody else is writing a show report on the Whitman Philadelphia show, I guess I might as well do the same. Bascially my observations on the show are in line with those of the majority. I was there from Wednesday morning until Friday afternoon, and most of the dealers I spoke to stated that they felt the public attendance was going to be stronger than it was, though miles better than some other shows. A few dealers reported very slow sales although most of the dealers I know deemed the level of retail sales were adequate. In turn, they felt wholesale was mostly adequate to strong with plenty of demand for coins. As a first time show is concerned, the organization was mostly good and considered a success. The tenative schedule for the show next year not withstanding, most dealers said they would return again.

It is true that trading of generic gold was one major dissapointment. Of the four largest buyers of generic gold, two companies stopped buying gold altogether and two would only buy smaller quantities after some persuasion. For some denominations the bids were off by as much as $200 per coin from the Long Beach levels. One of the companies that wouldn't buy gold did state that they just purchased over $5 million worth of that stuff from Europe last week and they needed to sell those coins off first.

And now for the good part...

I left Philadelphia late Friday afternoon headed back to the west with a connection through LAX. Later that night I arrived at my destination safely but my checked luggage was nowhere to be found. A report was filed and by early the next afternoon still no trace of it was reported. Then later that afternoon I received a strange phone call and on the other side was a person who spoke English with a "foreign" accent. Here's a paraphrase of how that conversation went:

Them: "Mr. Chang, this is the United Airlines baggage office and your bag is the only one that hasn't been claimed. Are you planning to claim it today?"
Me: "Thanks for calling me. Which baggage office is this?"
Them: "This is the office at Kingsford Smith airport" (!)
Me: "Uh, okay. So you're telling me my luggage is in Sydney, Australia?!"
Them: "That's correct. We assume you're in the area?"
Me: "Not exactly."

That's right...my luggage ended up in the Harbour City in the land down under. What a vacation for my luggage! Last I know my stuff is still there. Too bad I couldn't come along.

The conversation went on for a few more minutes and I was told it would be until Monday at the absolute earliest I would be able to pick up my luggage either at San Francisco or San Jose airport. As I write this I still don't have my stuff but I have received $700 in travel vouchers so far for their screwup.

Oh wait...there is one person who works at Teletrade who is in Australia at the moment. Perhaps he could help me...

Justacommeman · September 27, 2009 5:54AM

WTCG- have them deliver it to your house. They will at their expense. MJ

DUIGUY · September 27, 2009 5:57AM

G-Day!

ricko · September 27, 2009 5:58AM

Wow.. sorry to hear that ... lost luggage though, is best on the home trip... at least you have stuff at home. Good luck with the recovery... Cheers, RickO

LindeDad · September 27, 2009 5:59AM

<< WTCG- have them deliver it to your house. They will at their expense. MJ >>

Been there and done that. No reason to have to go to the airpost they messed up letting it on a airplane you were not on.

STONE · September 27, 2009 6:36AM

Maybe my Sunnies (Sunglasses) were in your bag, as I can't find them

But, no worries mate, you'll have ur gear back to ya in noo time'!

19Lyds · September 27, 2009 6:43AM

Holey Crap! Sydney Australia??

Unknown · September 27, 2009 6:58AM

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ColonialCoinUnion · September 27, 2009 7:07AM

I flew USAir out of Philadelphia and was at a window seat watching them load the luggage before we took off.

They scanned in each and every bag they loaded, which (assuming the scanner actually works, and this data is actually transmitted somewhere) means they really ought to be able to tell you where your bag is at anytime.

firstmint · September 27, 2009 7:26AM

Bags fly free on Southwest...didn't know they went to Australia!

droopyd · September 27, 2009 7:28AM

I have had many interesting experiences with lost baggage on United. I don't fly with them anymore.

Barry · September 27, 2009 8:46AM

Wonder how they confused PHL and SYD - not excatly one keystroke apart.

Whenever I check bags, I always make sure the correct destination is on the luggage tag before leaving the counter.

SkyMan · September 27, 2009 9:30AM

Thank you for the report. So, did you try a cheesesteak?

The most lost my luggage ever got (knock on wood) was I was going on a ski vacation to Switzerland (using TWA). My ski boots ended up in Thailand. I'm sure there is a LOT of good downhill skiing in Thailand.

In the end my boots were delivered to me at the ski resort I was at.

Swampboy · September 27, 2009 9:35AM

<< a person who spoke English with a "foreign" accent. >>

CopperWire · September 27, 2009 10:18AM

Hey, 700 bucks isnt a bad deal for the inconvenience.

ColonialCoinUnion · September 27, 2009 11:25AM

<< Wonder how they confused PHL and SYD - not excatly one keystroke apart. >>

He was on his way home.

Barry · September 27, 2009 12:35PM

<< 

<< Wonder how they confused PHL and SYD - not excatly one keystroke apart. >>

He was on his way home. >>

LAX and SYD not one character apart either.

Bochiman · September 27, 2009 12:39PM

Did they refund their baggage charge for you?

ColonialCoinUnion · September 27, 2009 12:42PM

<< 

<< 

<< Wonder how they confused PHL and SYD - not excatly one keystroke apart. >>

He was on his way home. >>

LAX and SYD not one character apart either. >>

When you make a connecting flight, you check your bag through to your final destination.

CoinCrazyPA · September 27, 2009 12:47PM

<< Hey, 700 bucks isnt a bad deal for the inconvenience. >>

WTCG · September 27, 2009 12:56PM

Actually on Friday evening I was travelling on United Airlines from Philadelphia (PHL) to Las Vegas (LAS) via Los Angeles (LAX). The flight from Philadelphia to LAX connected with another flight from LAX to Sydney (which was at the next gate over). I know there were a group of people on the PHL - LAX flight who were connecting to Australia. I figured my bag somehow got thrown in to the SYD pile.

United also scans the barcode of each bag before loading into the hold but I have been told countless times by baggage and customer service people that if baggage is making a connection often times the bags will be thrown into the hold without being scanned or even doccumented, especially if there is a tight connection involved. My connection was fairly tight.

It was a good thing that the folks in Sydney actually bothered to call because if they didn't my luggage would still be unaccounted for.

SaorAlba · September 27, 2009 9:07PM

When I was a mere kiddo we moved yet again, this time from the west coast all the way to Boston, this was like thirty years ago. Being a kid, I thought nothing of packing my whole coin collection and all my savings into my checked bag. Well you can guess what happened - that bag was the one out of all of them that turned up missing. We called United Airlines and they found the bag. I remember my mother telling me all was going to be lost, that all my money would be gone, my coin collection pilfered etc. We drove into Boston, this would have been about a week later, and got the bag - it was still heavy, I opened up the top and sure enough - there was my Series 1950 $50 on top and the rest of the coin collection was still intact. I remember someone there saying that they had to open it to identify the bag, but I am amazed there was not one person tempted to purloin the contents. But this was 1977, not 2009.

ocon4008 · September 27, 2009 9:53PM

When you get the bags back check for the smell of perfume and alcohol or if they got any new tattoos; that will be an indication of how much fun they had on vacation without you.

Longacre · September 27, 2009 10:58PM

No one gets his bags lost more than Longacre. One time (on a domestic flight), my bags got lost twice in one week. I've had bags lost in Amsterdam (the Dutch are wonderful people, but not very helpful at the airport), and recently on a trip from Perth to Brisbane, my bag got lost. The only upside is that some Australian guy's bag also got lost, and he invited me to the bar for a drink as we waited for the bags to come in on the next flight. He was a lot of fun. Try that at JFK sometime.

RYK · September 27, 2009 11:28PM

<< Did they refund their baggage charge for you?

>>

More likely than not, they added another luggage surcharge or two.

ziggy29 · September 27, 2009 11:34PM

Wow. I thought it was bad that my luggage once ended up in Calgary when we were in Pennsylvania, but Sydney? Good grief. Talk about a slight detour...

farthing · September 27, 2009 11:34PM

Some people have all the "luck". I've flown over 700,000 miles, always have checked baggage, and have had only 1 bag mis-directed. Transferring through SFO my bag went to Sacremento while I went to Modesto.

ricko · September 28, 2009 12:35AM

I am a frequent flyer on United, and I have never had a lost bag. Over 450,000 miles flown, and always had my luggage there. Just lucky I guess... Cheers, RickO

RedneckHB · September 28, 2009 12:39AM

You got $700 in travel vouchers for a lost bag!!!???

WOW

ElKevvo · September 28, 2009 1:32AM

You got $700 in travel vouchers for a lost bag!!!???

That is for Longacre....the average man is lucky to get a 'Thank you for the opportunity to lose your bag' and has to spend the next week or so in the same set of clothes ('Didn't you bring more than one suit and tie with you?') and wait for 2 weeks for the delivery of his items upon his return. Then when the bags show up and obviously have been rifled trough at least once and several things taken when a complaint is raised get a 'Well you should be happy you got anything back at all!' This all happened to me BTW...just part of being one of the Hoi Polloi!

K

WTCG · September 28, 2009 4:22AM

<< You got $700 in travel vouchers for a lost bag!!!???

That is for Longacre....the average man is lucky to get a 'Thank you for the opportunity to lose your bag' and has to spend the next week or so in the same set of clothes ('Didn't you bring more than one suit and tie with you?') and wait for 2 weeks for the delivery of his items upon his return. Then when the bags show up and obviously have been rifled trough at least once and several things taken when a complaint is raised get a 'Well you should be happy you got anything back at all!' This all happened to me BTW...just part of being one of the Hoi Polloi!

K >>

The amount of compensation awarded is all about negotiation and if you're a frequent flyer with the airline you'll have more pull. With United I have over one million lifetime miles flown and in some cities I personally know a few of the supervisors. More often than not when I travel I will check my bag instead of carrying them on board and considering how many times I've done that the delay/ loss rate is still fairly low. This is only the fourth time (3 times on United, 1 time on American) my checked luggage didn't arrive when I did. The last time my luggage was delayed was when I was on the outbound trip for the Baltimore show last July (SFO - BWI via ORD). The bag arrived later the same day and I got $300 in vouchers for my inconvenience.

claychaser · September 28, 2009 4:29AM

Somebody needs to put in the link to You Tube "United Breaks Guitars".....

ScarsdaleCoin · September 28, 2009 8:30AM

Wonder if it comes back with a Kangaroo!

Cameonut · September 28, 2009 9:57AM

Wow, reminds me of my multiple trips from LAX to SYD. IIRC, it is a 14 hour flight with three meals and more movies than I care to remember.
My posterior still hurts when I think of that leg.

WTCG · September 29, 2009 11:32AM

Okay, here's the final update on the luggage dilemma...

About an hour ago I just got back from SJC accompanied by my wayward luggage, a little over 90 hours after the first claim was filed. There were no signs of tampering or damage, which is good.

Upon reviewing the five or so attachments on the handle, apparently my luggage arrived back into the U.S. on Sunday on United flight 840. However instead of directly connecting to a UA flight to SJC at LAX and arriving at SJC last evening, the bag somehow inexplicably ended up in Denver this morning. It arrived into SJC from DEN just a little while ago.

Thnking about it, I'm kinda jealous of the trip my luggage took...from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Sydney to Los Angeles to Denver to the Bay Area. Ultimately I did end up with $750 in travel vouchers as compensation for the screwup.

EagleEye · September 29, 2009 12:26PM

Amazing! I guess it is good that it got lost on the return trip. Going on a business trip without your clothes can get expensive and cost quite a bit in lost opportunity while you are trying to get re-organized.