Poll of the Day > The TSA broke my luggage lock and went through all my stuff.

Topic List
Page List: 1, 2
GreenKnight127
11/07/19 3:31:30 AM
#1:


Ugh.

I don't fly very often, so this was definitely a first. And not until I did some Google research....did I realize how common this shit was.

The worst part was that I purchased all these art books, graphic novels, and animation tidbits......and they were all sealed in plastic in my luggage. I didn't even plan on opening them until I got home.

Well, TSA kindly broke my luggage lock and unwrapped every single book. Just left all the plastic in one big ball on top of all my clothes with the books just sitting there.

What the fuck was the point of that? Why did they NEED to look through my books? They could see the cover of the books through the plastic. Did they search it to make sure I wasn't hiding drugs in the pages or some shit? Wouldn't the x-ray machine have revealed that to them?

If they were interested in the CONTENT of the books, what were they expecting to find? Manuals on how to make portable nuclear bombs? Pedophilia stuff? I don't get it.

I'm very upset and feel very violated. They left a pamphlet thing in my luggage saying it 'might' have been searched.

Um. It was DEFINITELY searched. They unwrapped all my damn books and broke my luggage lock.

And I can't even contact them to demand a replacement lock for the one they broke.

Apparently they are "entitled" to break luggage locks to search the contents for any reason, including no reason.

How is this even a thing?

It seems illegal.
---
Press X to jump. Press X again to double jump. Hold X to glide.
... Copied to Clipboard!
zebatov
11/07/19 3:36:36 AM
#2:


I would mail that kind of stuff separately.
---
"Her name is fitting."
... Copied to Clipboard!
GreenKnight127
11/07/19 3:39:26 AM
#3:


zebatov posted...
I would mail that kind of stuff separately.


They're books. I never even considered the possibility that they would be a problem of any kind.

If it was electronics, or food items...I would have definitely mailed them separately. But books?

TSA is a bunch of nosy fuckers.
---
Press X to jump. Press X again to double jump. Hold X to glide.
... Copied to Clipboard!
zebatov
11/07/19 3:42:40 AM
#4:


GreenKnight127 posted...
zebatov posted...
I would mail that kind of stuff separately.


They're books. I never even considered the possibility that they would be a problem of any kind.

If it was electronics, or food items...I would have definitely mailed them separately. But books?

TSA is a bunch of nosy fuckers.

Also when I travel I do my best to avoid the US because from what Ive seen TSA/border security there is the worst. And Im not an American citizen so I feel like they would go out of their way to search through my things. You probably cant avoid this part.

But yeah it seems shitty that they would use their already above-the-law privileges to look at some books.
---
"Her name is fitting."
... Copied to Clipboard!
Krazy_Kirby
11/07/19 4:29:58 AM
#5:


not supposed to leave it locked
---
... Copied to Clipboard!
EvilMegas
11/07/19 6:06:41 AM
#6:


The books could have had a bomb in the pages. Fair, next.
---
... Copied to Clipboard!
CaptainStrong
11/07/19 6:18:42 AM
#7:


EvilMegas posted...
The books could have had a bomb in the pages. Fair, next.

Why are they so fucking paranoid? No one wants to bomb a goddamn plane.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Nichtcrawler X
11/07/19 7:13:26 AM
#8:


Stuff you would have kept sealed for increased value?

Definitely just try to charge them for it then.
---
Official Teetotaller of PotD
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain!
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dreaming_King
11/07/19 7:31:23 AM
#9:


Krazy_Kirby posted...
not supposed to leave it locked

This, and there are plenty of luggage locks with special codes/keys that allow the TSA to unlock them without breaking them.

Beyond that if you have nothing to hide why would having your things searched bother you...?
---
Nil-
... Copied to Clipboard!
CaptainStrong
11/07/19 7:41:09 AM
#10:


Dreaming_King posted...
Krazy_Kirby posted...
not supposed to leave it locked

This, and there are plenty of luggage locks with special codes/keys that allow the TSA to unlock them without breaking them.

Beyond that if you have nothing to hide why would having your things searched bother you...?

Would you be fine with me going through your house, looking at everything you own? Are you really okay with people going through your private shit? Some people like privacy and the fourth amendment is supposed to protect that. But no. A terrorist attack happens and this stupid country gives up its freedoms for "safety".
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dreaming_King
11/07/19 7:50:31 AM
#11:


Well I wouldn't be fine with you doing it, but a representative of the government or public safety? Sure why not? It's a small price to pay to protect everyone.
---
Nil-
... Copied to Clipboard!
HornedLion
11/07/19 8:05:36 AM
#12:


https://youtu.be/aLxsLbl16IM
---
Don't runaway from troubles... instead meet them Hedons.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kyuubi4269
11/07/19 8:20:43 AM
#13:


GreenKnight127 posted...
It seems illegal.

It probably is, but who's going to take the government to court for trying to intercept turrurists?

You should file for damages though.
---
Doctor Foxx posted...
The demonizing of soy has a lot to do with xenophobic ideas.
... Copied to Clipboard!
sodium-chloride
11/07/19 8:24:27 AM
#14:


HornedLion posted...
https://youtu.be/aLxsLbl16IM


Damn lol
... Copied to Clipboard!
OniRonin
11/07/19 8:24:45 AM
#15:


Dreaming_King posted...
Well I wouldn't be fine with you doing it, but a representative of the government or public safety? Sure why not? It's a small price to pay to protect everyone.
hi im cia, i need to fuck your wife

---
... Copied to Clipboard!
myghostisdead
11/07/19 8:38:14 AM
#16:


CaptainStrong posted...
EvilMegas posted...
The books could have had a bomb in the pages. Fair, next.

Why are they so fucking paranoid? No one wants to bomb a goddamn plane.


Well yes, yes they do and they have.
---
"Mom, was I in a wreck?"
... Copied to Clipboard!
EvilMegas
11/07/19 8:39:03 AM
#17:


Clearly this guy never read naruto.
---
... Copied to Clipboard!
#18
Post #18 was unavailable or deleted.
gloBal enemy
11/07/19 8:55:38 AM
#19:


Were you using a TSA approved lock? If not, then that's why they broke it. I am pretty sure I read somewhere they are allowed to open whatever even if it destroys the lock - and that's why I bought TSA suitcases/padlocks when I travelled to the US.

As for leaving a mess of your stuff... yeah that's frustrating and in line with what I'd expect from them. Annoys me too but I guess that's also why I always keep the things I care about in my carry on so I can manage it.

---
If you can understand this, I'm 2/cosC for you.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Blaqthourne
11/07/19 9:09:06 AM
#20:


https://www.techlicious.com/blog/why-tsa-approved-luggage-locks-are-useless/
---
Montreal Expos (1969-2004)
http://www.backloggery.com/Blaqthourne Now playing: Fire Emblem (GBA) -- started 9/25/2019
... Copied to Clipboard!
lihlih
11/07/19 9:32:22 AM
#21:


The TSA really doesn't stop shit. All they do is "security theater".

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QKEdKdgi2hg
---
People come up to me... concerned.. that I'll reproduce." - Emo Philips
... Copied to Clipboard!
Solid Sonic
11/07/19 9:38:53 AM
#22:


Every time I flew for work my bag was searched because my work laptop was always stored with my bags so I could keep my personal laptop on my person.
---
Tell me how you feel upon learning that I write MLP fanfiction.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kyuubi4269
11/07/19 9:45:02 AM
#23:


https://youtu.be/5aAWlwKyavU
---
Doctor Foxx posted...
The demonizing of soy has a lot to do with xenophobic ideas.
... Copied to Clipboard!
BubbleGumCrisis
11/07/19 9:48:25 AM
#24:


Dreaming_King posted...
Beyond that if you have nothing to hide why would having your things searched bother you...?


I really hate the "If you have nothing to hide..." crap people spew to excuse the government for taking even more rights away from us. Well then, why do we need freedom of speech if you have nothing to say?
---
Dane Cook, Larry the Cable Guy, and Carlos Mencia are the unholy trinity of mediocre comedians making America severely not funny. - Some guy.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Veedrock-
11/07/19 10:36:25 AM
#25:


Airline travel isn't a right, you choose to submit to a search by using their service.
---
My friends call me Vee.
I'm not your friend, buddy.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dynalo
11/07/19 10:43:46 AM
#26:


I travel a lot, I'll tell you this - books get flagged all the time (especially if you have a bunch of them, which it sounds like you did). The X-ray machines are worthless when it comes to books, they just appear as giant rectangular blocks. So they have to check them manually. And yes, they opened them up to see if you were hiding anything in the pages, since the X-ray machine may have not been able to see it.

I fly with Magic cards on occasion in my carry on, and I just take them out of the bag because it gets flagged each time.

And yeah, it's frustrating that they always just make a mess of everything and cram it all back in. I have everything neatly folded and organized, and when I open it up everything is just a mess with a note on top saying tsa went through it.
---
Assassins do it from behind.
... Copied to Clipboard!
#27
Post #27 was unavailable or deleted.
pionear
11/07/19 11:01:05 AM
#28:


Well they do have envelop slim heroin/drug packets, so they might have been checking for that in your sealed books...

And yea the TSA is pretty crappy with dealing with people and their items...but what do you expect from barely above minimum wage employees to act..?
... Copied to Clipboard!
_AdjI_
11/07/19 2:46:50 PM
#29:


Luggage locks are pretty pointless. Anything that isn't TSA-approved will be cut open, and the TSA-approved ones do nothing to protect your luggage against theft by TSA agents (who are the primary culprits for luggage theft). Basically, don't fly with anything you don't want opened. Any sealed package should be expected to be opened because of the risk that you could be concealing something within it.
... Copied to Clipboard!
DirtBasedSoap
11/07/19 2:50:43 PM
#30:


books show up as organic material on the x-ray which is apparently where people hide bombs and stuff when they fly. I read a post about a dude on reddit who was traveling with his Switch and dock. He put a deck of cards in the dock so it wouldnt break in his bag and it ended up looking exactly like a bomb on the x-ray because of the electronics and the organic material all being in one thing lol
---
I'm thinkin' about starting a corporation. WHO'S WITH ME?
... Copied to Clipboard!
Ogurisama
11/07/19 3:19:51 PM
#31:


_AdjI_ posted...
Luggage locks are pretty pointless.
I disagree, I have them so baggage handlers (like the ones loading/emptying the plane) or even people in the general public cant rummage through my stuff as easily.

---
... Copied to Clipboard!
captpackrat
11/07/19 3:22:54 PM
#32:


You can check luggage and use a regular padlock that the TSA is not allowed to cut off, but, you have to travel with a firearm*. You have to use a secure hard-sided case with a non-TSA approved lock and you have to declare it when checking the bag. There's a special form you have to fill out and if the TSA wants to search your case, they are required that you be present to unlock it. Contact your airline for information on their specific policies.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

*The TSA considers black-powder and air-powered weapons, starter and blank-firing pistols, flare guns, replica weapons, and parts of guns such as receivers, frames, barrels, or firing pins to be "firearms".

---
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Lokarin
11/07/19 3:25:50 PM
#33:


GreenKnight127 posted...
It seems illegal.


Well, you could lobby and try to assert your democracy... but nope; corporate
---
"Salt cures Everything!"
My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Nirakolov/videos
... Copied to Clipboard!
bulbinking
11/07/19 4:34:07 PM
#34:


GreenKnight127 posted...
zebatov posted...
I would mail that kind of stuff separately.


They're books. I never even considered the possibility that they would be a problem of any kind.

If it was electronics, or food items...I would have definitely mailed them separately. But books?

TSA is a bunch of nosy fuckers.


Thats what happens when their main workforce is low quality workers who arent given enough exercise or mental stimulus needed for their types to not act out.
---
Qc_Stryder 5/21/2015 6:58:09 AM posted... Mods- Protectors of feelings
3DS 5370-0410-4945
... Copied to Clipboard!
#35
Post #35 was unavailable or deleted.
ZBug_
11/07/19 4:38:18 PM
#36:


EvilMegas posted...
The books could have had a bomb in the pages. Fair, next.

Xrays exist for a reason.
---
"I've never in my life wanted to punch a girl like I want to right now" - Light Yagami
NNID: LLBCrook - PSN: ZBugCrook
... Copied to Clipboard!
adjl
11/07/19 4:38:35 PM
#37:


captpackrat posted...
You can check luggage and use a regular padlock that the TSA is not allowed to cut off, but, you have to travel with a firearm*. You have to use a secure hard-sided case with a non-TSA approved lock and you have to declare it when checking the bag. There's a special form you have to fill out and if the TSA wants to search your case, they are required that you be present to unlock it. Contact your airline for information on their specific policies.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

*The TSA considers black-powder and air-powered weapons, starter and blank-firing pistols, flare guns, replica weapons, and parts of guns such as receivers, frames, barrels, or firing pins to be "firearms".


So buy a cheap gun just to stick in your luggage so you can supervise the TSA's search of it. An interesting solution indeed.
---
This is my signature. It exists to keep people from skipping the last line of my posts.
... Copied to Clipboard!
CaptainStrong
11/07/19 4:53:15 PM
#38:


myghostisdead posted...
CaptainStrong posted...
EvilMegas posted...
The books could have had a bomb in the pages. Fair, next.

Why are they so fucking paranoid? No one wants to bomb a goddamn plane.


Well yes, yes they do and they have.

I don't really give a flying fuck. I'd much rather live in a slightly more dangerous world than have my privacy thoroughly violated any time I want to travel.
... Copied to Clipboard!
ZBug_
11/07/19 5:50:13 PM
#39:


Itd be a drastically more dangerous world but okay.
---
"I've never in my life wanted to punch a girl like I want to right now" - Light Yagami
NNID: LLBCrook - PSN: ZBugCrook
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dynalo
11/07/19 6:00:26 PM
#40:


ZBug_ posted...
Itd be a drastically more dangerous world but okay.


I'm not so convinced. I honestly don't believe the TSA is particularly effective. If you've flown a lot and always pack the exact same things, it's mind boggling the inconsistency with when things get flagged vs when they don't. My bag, which almost always contains the exact same things, gets flagged like 20% of the time.

I know people who have accidentally left hunting knives in their carry on bag and didn't realize it until they got to the hotel at their destination. TSA completely missed it.

And I'm pretty sure there have been multiple undercover attempts by Homeland Security to test how much they could get past the TSA, and it's always just a ridiculous number of things. So they really aren't as effective as we're lead to believe.
---
Assassins do it from behind.
... Copied to Clipboard!
captpackrat
11/07/19 6:05:16 PM
#41:


adjl posted...
So buy a cheap gun just to stick in your luggage so you can supervise the TSA's search of it. An interesting solution indeed.


A Daisy air pistol technically counts as a firearm. You can buy those for like $15.

---
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dynalo
11/07/19 6:12:32 PM
#42:


adjl posted...
So buy a cheap gun just to stick in your luggage so you can supervise the TSA's search of it. An interesting solution indeed.


Doesn't seem particularly effective at solving the original problem though.

Even if TC was there for the search, they still would have demanded to open and go through the books. I'm honestly not sure what the policy would be at that point if you tried to stop them.

Unless, of course, your plan is to hope they just won't search your bag because it's way more of a hassle for them. Or you're really really concerned about replacing a cheap luggage lock.
---
Assassins do it from behind.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Destiny
11/07/19 6:21:00 PM
#44:


Dynalo posted...
Even if TC was there for the search, they still would have demanded to open and go through the books. I'm honestly not sure what the policy would be at that point if you tried to stop them.

they would detain you, do it anyways, then put you on a no fly list.
---
it feels like someone took a crack pipe, lit it with a torch light, and threw it on a gas line
there is fire everywhere.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Trialia
11/07/19 6:41:28 PM
#45:


Frankly, this sort of crap is one of the major reasons I haven't travelled to the States since 2005, and have no plans to visit again anytime soon. I am no criminal, but I value my privacy and the TSA already broke my earbuds on my first trip (which had been both my first flight and first trip outside the UK). Not to mention their believing I was a junkie and a drug mule purely because I was 19 & struggling with hypoglycaemia, so I was a bit shaky.

For one thing, I dread what the TSA might do to my electric wheelchair, and with its being four grand of essential equipment without which I can't do any more than stumble across a hotel room, and knowing how many chairs the airlines alone destroy or damage past use, I'd really rather not risk it. I'd love to see Miami again, and DC, but I'm not going anywhere near unless and until their treatment of non-citizen travellers and disabled people improves. Drastically. It means missing the 2021 Worldcon, but that can't be helped.
---
Trialia ~ unfaithful-mirror.net
PSN: Trialia_X, Xaedere (100%) | XBL: trialia, Noquelle (100%)
... Copied to Clipboard!
Zeus
11/07/19 7:10:39 PM
#46:


This is pretty much why I wished they could extended that whole not paying the TSA thing. They went through my stuff when I came back from Mexico and I later noticed some stuff was missing. Meanwhile they've consistently failed every time that they were tested.
---
(\/)(\/)|-|
There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.
... Copied to Clipboard!
ultra magnus13
11/07/19 7:14:54 PM
#47:


captpackrat posted...
You can check luggage and use a regular padlock that the TSA is not allowed to cut off, but, you have to travel with a firearm*. You have to use a secure hard-sided case with a non-TSA approved lock and you have to declare it when checking the bag. There's a special form you have to fill out and if the TSA wants to search your case, they are required that you be present to unlock it. Contact your airline for information on their specific policies.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

*The TSA considers black-powder and air-powered weapons, starter and blank-firing pistols, flare guns, replica weapons, and parts of guns such as receivers, frames, barrels, or firing pins to be "firearms".


Came to post this. I always fly with a gun, never had them search my stuff.
---
?huh?........ it's just a box.
... Copied to Clipboard!
#48
Post #48 was unavailable or deleted.
Krazy_Kirby
11/07/19 9:24:56 PM
#49:


Mr Hangman posted...
We shouldn't tolerate this. Fuck the TSA, being useless would be a giant step up for them. They should be abolished in entirety without replacement.


sounds safe
---
... Copied to Clipboard!
bulbinking
11/07/19 9:41:16 PM
#50:


Dynalo posted...
ZBug_ posted...
Itd be a drastically more dangerous world but okay.


I'm not so convinced. I honestly don't believe the TSA is particularly effective. If you've flown a lot and always pack the exact same things, it's mind boggling the inconsistency with when things get flagged vs when they don't. My bag, which almost always contains the exact same things, gets flagged like 20% of the time.

I know people who have accidentally left hunting knives in their carry on bag and didn't realize it until they got to the hotel at their destination. TSA completely missed it.

And I'm pretty sure there have been multiple undercover attempts by Homeland Security to test how much they could get past the TSA, and it's always just a ridiculous number of things. So they really aren't as effective as we're lead to believe.


Its to create a false sense of security so people will keep overpaying to arrive a little bit sooner while siphoning more money from taxpayers.
---
Qc_Stryder 5/21/2015 6:58:09 AM posted... Mods- Protectors of feelings
3DS 5370-0410-4945
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoboXgp89
11/07/19 9:48:17 PM
#51:


you know the terrorist who died on 9/11 would be pround of encumbering us just like that
---
You haven't set a signature for the message boards yet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WErq2CBYTU
... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List
Page List: 1, 2