Lost phone on Delta could I get compensated?? (airlines, airport, best)

[usmcmotort]

So today I fly on Delta; right before take off i drop my phone (I'm sitting in the middle of 3 seats). I look beneath my chair and the chair next to me and I can't find it. The guy sitting next to me by the window said he thinks my phone fell in a hole on the side of the plane. I was thinking, there is no way that could've fell in that hole (size of mail slot). Well after we land and I tell one of the flight attendants and she keeps telling me that there is no hole, it is a crease. I keep telling her, no there really is a hole there, so she goes and looks and she says oh yea there is a hole. Well she tells me to tell the gate agent.

I tell the gate agent and she says it fell into never-never-land but she ends up calling maintenance to take a look at it. Well about 30 minutes later I ask about my phone and the agent tells me that they can feel my phone but they can't get to it unless they take down some panels and some other things and they probably can only do it when the plane has an overnight layover. He proceeds to tell me that I have to file a claim at baggage claim.

I file a claim and the lady says that the plane wont have a overnight layover for a couple days.

My main question is, if they can not get me my phone back can I request them to compensate me? Buy me a new phone? I'm on a business trip and now I dont have a phone, I'll be leaving here on Friday and it happened today (13 Sep 2010).

From what some of the Delta agents tell me they have no clue what that hole is or what it's function. I figure of it's just an arbritary hole or if they forgot to close it up I should be compensated somehow. Even if I get my phone back in a week or so, could I still get compensated for my inconvienece?

Any feedback would be appreciated, i'll probably wait till Wednesday till I call Delta to follow up with my claim, thanks in advanced.

[PacificFlights]

They might if your a FF member with high travel level, or a good customer, but airlines are not responsible for hand carried items lost on the plane that they had no control over. If your phone was lost from checked luggage, it's covered. If the plane had an emergency and you were forced to evacuate and the phone was lost, your covedered, If the FA placed your items in the OHB and it dissapeared into a crack, your covered. But if you dropped your phone down the toilet, or onto the ramp from the jetway, or on the floor and into a hole, you are not covered. They probably will not compensate you for incovinince unless you had placed the phone in the seat back compartment and due to no fault of your own, it fell out a rip and down that hole, they mightl provide some compensation for the lost phone. Did you fill out a Lost Property Claim Form at baggage service?

[usmcmotort]

Yes I did fill out a form at the baggage claim. I had the phone in the back seat compartment (of the seat in front of me); it was folded onto it and I reached down to my bag and when i got back up my phone fell.

I flew Delta, and I am a Delta Skymiles member. I hope i do get compensated, i mean what is a hole doing there anyways.

[stillkit]

Why should the airlines be liable for it? YOU dropped it, not them.

[usmcmotort]

Originally Posted by stillkit

Why should the airlines be liable for it? YOU dropped it, not them.

I dropped it but they had an unsecure hole in their plane, would that count for something?

what if the hole was in the middle of the aisle would that be any different?

[flyonpa]

The 'hole' is to even out the presure beween the cabin and the cargo hold. You phone is gone, Head to the nearest phone store for your cell company and buy yourself a new one.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by usmcmotort

I dropped it but they had an unsecure hole in their plane, would that count for something?

what if the hole was in the middle of the aisle would that be any different?

No, it wouldn't. The cause of the phone going missing is your failure to secure it, not wherever it happened to have landed.

[intelfan11315]

I forgot a pair of $250 dollar ray bans on a flight once, I gave myself a 5% chance of getting them back.. I figured I'd call. Well sure enough they were never spotted on the plane If you forget something on an airplane consider it gone.

[dura]

Reminds me of the time I brought my laptop on board a Delta flight. "Carry-on items are to be stowed in the overhead compartments or under the seat in front of you," and the normal wah, wah from the flight attendant. Fine. So I follow the rules and store my laptop in its case under the seat, along with a sweater in case I get cold. Surely you have seen how carefully people shove their stuff in the overhead compartments.

Anyway, sometime during the flight one of the people in front of me either peed or spilled a drink, which happen to land on my laptop and sweater. Whatever it was it stunk, so pee seems the best candidate, and I didn't notice this until we landed, the people in front of me already deplaned. Once in the airport, my laptop turned on with an error message and wouldn't function correctly. So I go to the Delta claims office and get a bunch of crap from the Delta employees there. No sympathy, only snarky attitude. "We are not responsible for carry-on items, we cannot give you the name of the person that did it, you need to call our 800 number to file a complaint."

Luckily my laptop started to work correctly once it dried out. The laptop case and sweater were a loss. No help from Delta, never got the name of the person that did it, no reimbursement. Moral: buy a waterproof laptop case and store your laptop behind your legs.

Good luck getting your phone back.

[MAK802]

Sorry to hear about your phone, I hope you get it back or at least have it replaced! I'd be very unhappy if my iPhone disappeared like that! That would be $300 down the drain!