I think people can understand that mishaps occur, and can forgive their property going missing/damaged/delayed. What is unforgivable is how airlines delay and refuse reimbursing the traveler for losses incurred instead of simply accepting their responsibility and making the disruption as painless as possible.
I recently landed at SFO, near midnight, and found that their handlers had completely sheered a wheel of my suitcase. The pull handle was also busted. And this was a bag tough enough to survive 15 years of use without trouble.
Exhausted, I went home, thinking I could deal with it in the morning. JetBlue told me that they weren't taking responsibility for anything reported more than four hours after the fact "to reduce fraud", they said.
Here's the thing. They know how many bags they ruin. They also know that the likelihood of a person buying an airline ticket in order to get a "free" suitcase is vanishingly small. So they can tell that while it's possible I'm hustling them, it's also very unlikely. Chances are good that they simply destroyed my bag. But instead of paying for it, they added insult to injury by stating "we have no idea whether or not you're a criminal" before telling me the four hour rule was written in stone.
That's got nothing to do with avoiding fraud, and everything to do with avoiding responsibility. I suspect I'd have gotten the same treatment (or worse) elsewhere, but still, Jet Fucking Blue.
