Southwest Airlines Killed my Beretta

[Warbird]

I sure had a crappy day yesterday. After a couple of days of breaking flying clays and having some meetings outside of Pittsburgh it was time to fly home yesterday.

I got to the gate just a couple of minutes before boarding after grabbing a bite to eat with a co-worker flying out a couple of hours later. A lady at the counter called my name and asked for me to come to the counter. She came around the counter, introduced herself as the manager of SW at Pitt and said "I have some very bad news for you Mr. Warbird. Your gun case fell off of the baggage cart on the way to the airplane without the driver noticing. It was subsequently run over by the fuel truck." I thought for a second my co-worker must have put her up to it when I went to the bathroom but could tell by the look on his face he didn't know anything about it. She said I'm sorry to say that both your gun case and gun were destroyed".

Well my gun was in a very rigid metal and reinforced case with extra precautions to keep the gun in the case. If I recall correctly it was supposed to be able to withstand the weight of a vehicle. I don't really think that includes a fuel truck or anything else quite that heavy.

The case was ripped open every latch torn off and the gun then took a nice roll around on the concrete.

She said they would notify Nashville off the situation for my arrival there as there was no time to handle anything in Pitt.

My beautiful Beretta O/U Sporting gun with 32" barrels was a goner. Ah she was a fine shooter and but a wee 1 year old. I had her fitted to me like she was my own arm. Her fine wood was cracked and scratched up, her barrels scuffed, dinged and scraped to bare metal. She was my favorite shotgun. But alas it is all over now. Even her nice little extended choke tubes are missing.

Dang it all I just hate it. It was the first time I had shot it in over a month, since hurting my shoulder in a car crash in May. We had a good time and I shot well considering.

Southwest says they have a limit to what their ins will cover. Personally I don't really what their ins will cover, anything over it they should take from their bank account. It certainly wasn't a question of whether it was packed correctly, it was pure mishandling and malfeasance. Accidents happen and they admitted it was their own hand that caused it so hopefully they will make it right. I fly on Southwest a lot and have been a frequent flier for years. In fact I always use SW if possible. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they will do the right thing.

One crappy thing is that Beretta no longer makes the model I have with the same features. The case is no longer made. And I have a need for my sporting clays gun again in less than 2 weeks. Ugh! I have other shotguns, but not specifically for this purpose and fitted. Oh woe is me.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Warbird

[kb4ns]

Sure hate to hear that! Hopefully they'll make things right! Keep us posted.

[Guest db99wj]

Ouch. Sorry for your loss.

[DarrellG]

I would check with the case manufacturer as they might at minimum replace your case free of charge at best, they may kick in a couple of $$ towards a new firearm.

[Guest GunTroll]

The horror!

[Magiccarpetrides]

Thats awful...post pics ;-D

Seriously though...sorry for your loss....im sure Southwest will make it right.

[creeky]

WOW! :0 Sorry man... let's us know if they make things right for you.

[KOM2]

Ouch!! That stinks.

[byrnemm]

That is terrible!!

Im sure it was a beauty.. do you have any pictures? Can you bear to post them, for nostalgia's sake?

32"..... so nice...

[MCSCOTT]

Man....

I guess I would be in jail right about now if I were in your shoes.

[vontar]

That is Horrible and I agree, no matter on their insurance. They should have to fully repay the damages. I would not let up on them until they do.

If their Insurance does not fully pay, it is a simple fact they did not have enough insurance.

If I am in a car accident and I only have 50k insurance but I cause 75k damage, you know I have to cought up the other 25k cash.

[kb4ns]

Don't most airlines have disclaimers stating that they won't cover any damages to firearms? I'm thinking I recall seeing something about that in the past when flying.

[Ebow1]

Disclaimer or not they need to be held responsible for not properly securing their cargo.

[kb4ns]

Disclaimer or not they need to be held responsible for not properly securing their cargo.

I agree. I just thought I remembered seeing a disclaimer that basically amounted to a "we're not covering it no matter what happens". Might not be SWA's policy, but I think some airlines are that way when it comes to guns (US Airways IIRC).

[Warbird]

Southwest has no such prohibition of covering firearms. They do say that they will not compensate more than their covered liability of $3,300. However that is all standard disclaimers. Disclaimers are legalese and are not somehow set in stone by the Hand of God. Disclaimers do not not relinquish one from negligence, neglect or tort.

They also like to state they will pay original cost minus whatever they deem depreciation of asset from usage. Well a gun like this doesn't exactly drop in value and it was case kept all of the time and only used for its intended purpose on a clays course. It literally did not have a scratch on it in its year of life. I was very anal about its care.

They will either pay for its replacement along with the cost of fitting and the case, choke tubes (themselves worth over $300) or they will say hello to my little friend, in-house counsel .

I will also note however, that all of interactions thus far have been pleasant. Everyone I have spoken to in person or on the phone has been very apologetic, sympathetic and respectful. I have had none of the 'attitude' I have gotten at times from other airlines. This thus far has always been my experience with SW, hence why I use them as often as possible.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Warbird

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Sorry for your loss....

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Same here

[Dropkick Murphy]

I read the entire original post with my mouth open. I'm sorry dude, that blows.

[gregintenn]

I expect Southwest will do their best to make it right. I also know how much it sucks right now. Look on the bright side; at least it isn't the S.O.B.s with the TSA you are dealing with. They've shafted me in the past, and trust me....there's nothing legal you can do.

[vontar]

Well, I promise I will not fly South West until they fix this for you. That might not mean much since I haven't flown in over 20 years but they say the thought is what counts right?

Serious, they admitted they made the mistake, they are responsible for this.

[Guest Tygarys]

If they won't cover the cost to replace it, you can always do what the "United Breaks Guitars" guy Dave Carroll did! Shame them into paying!

[pitt2magic]

That is major suckage!

[KahrMan]

That really sucks. I hope SW makes it right.

[Warbird]

I did forget to add one more bit of the story that I encountered again today. When I went to the baggage center to pick up my gun and get the paperwork done the lady told me Southwest has a policy of taking possession of anything damaged or destroyed. She said she would need the gun so she could mail it to HQ.

I said NO WAY. Not gonna happen. I wasn't about to turn possession of my gun over to them so they could mail it to Texas. I told her then I would be breaking the law and so would she and so would Southwest. After I explained how the ATF would definitely not like this move, she decided I should just take the gun with me. She then said the only reason they needed such items is to determine if they would fix or replace an item. But she and the lady in Pitt had already seen the gun and put it in the computer that it was a total loss.

Then again on the phone today I got the whole you need to mail it to me here at HQ blah blah blah. I again explained it to the 3rd or 4th person that i wasn't putting a gun in the mail to Southwest Airlines. I guess this type of thing doesn't happen often. I told the guy today he needed to just call the ATF and they would gladly tell him why it would be against the law for me to send them a shotgun in the mail to their office. After dealing with a month worth of insurance and crap after a May car crash I am sick of this kind of stuff.

Today they also told me that it could, not that it would, but could take 30 days to respond to my initial filing. Oh Brother! Meanwhile I will need my gun in about another week or so at another event.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Warbird

[Guest Arko]

I can't believe how bad that sucks.