The Suspicious Speakers
A US Airways agent at check-in put me in tears. I was checking in a box of personal items that happened to originally be for an air compressor or something like that. The outside of the box advertised this, and I could tell she didn’t like the look of it.
She asked what was in it and I told her it was personal stuff, including a couple of blankets and speakers. I’ve never had an agent ask what was in my bag or box before.
They ask if you packed the luggage yourself and if you packed anything you’re not allowed to have, like flammable stuff, etc., but never what specifically is in it. She told me that the speakers weren’t allowed on board.
They were small speakers (like 4 inches high) with a small subwoofer, and I’d flown with them before, which I told her. She wasn’t having it and made me open the box. She took a look at them and said I couldn’t check them in or take them on board, with no further explanation.
I am not good with confrontation. I was annoyed, and the other agents at the counter weren’t saying anything! I was the only passenger there at the time, and they just watched our interaction, and I knew I wasn’t in the wrong.
The problem is, when I get mad with stuff like that I just become rude, so instead of staying calm and saying something like “can I talk to your manager?” or even finding out her name so I could report her, I just swore under my breath, trying not to cry.
It was really embarrassing, and I’ve flown my whole life so I just felt stupid that I was so helpless. She made me leave the speakers on some podium at the beginning of the check in line, and then I went through security.
I was pretty much in tears at this point, and then TSA pulled me out because I had a tube of oversized sunscreen in my carry-on. I remembered I had it, so I told the TSA agent where it was, and then I asked him if it was true I couldn’t fly with my speakers. He said no, speakers are fine, and I told him my story.
He said it was TSA who makes the decisions, so I asked if I could take them on board and he said that it was fine. So the only good part of the story is I went back and got my speakers that were still on the podium.
I wanted to confront the lady but there was a line by that point, and I didn’t want to miss my flight. I wrote a complaint to US Airways but unfortunately, I didn’t have the agent’s name. I’m sure nothing happened anyway. Story credit: Reddit / (plyingby)