A woman used an AirTag to find her luggage after United Airlines misplaced it and pretended they didn't. Valerie Szybala shared the incident on Twitter, saying she knew United Airlines misplaced her luggage because she could trace its whereabouts using the luggage tag that was stored inside.
Szybala shared the interaction she had with a United agent. Even after she explained that she could see her suitcase was in some random residential apartment complex and that she had seen other pieces of luggage near the dumpster behind the building, the airline representative said that her luggage was at the delivery service distribution center.
Szybala was reunited with her bag on her fourth trip to a NE Washington D.C. apartment complex on Rhode Island Avenue, where the AirTag indicated the bag had been detected repeatedly. The complex is miles from her home. She reported the bag missing to United on Dec. 28.
Monday, she found it in possession of a courier near the apartment complex who told Szybala the suitcase had been mistakenly dispatched twice to incorrect addresses.
"I'm furious about United."
She stated this outside the apartment complex. She was curious as to why her bag had been in someone's car in the building for three days and had made multiple excursions to go shopping. She couldn’t believe it was the United airline representative.
"The hardest part is getting gaslighted and being told your stuff is on its way when it isn't."
United Airlines told WUSA9 that they are investigating what happened and that it was a service breakdown.
They claimed to have been in touch with Szybala to discuss the situation and confirm she has received her luggage. The baggage delivery vendor's service did not meet their standards, and they are investigating what led to the service failure.
Szybala advises travelers to use Apple AirTags and document their luggage with photos.
She said she would never again trust an airline to deliver a lost bag, which was her big mistake. She also advised travelers not to trust airlines and go to the airport to pick up their missing luggage and not allow them to give it to a third party.