Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of golfers quite like a baggage claim calamity. And at Fort Myers airport a few weeks ago, calamity might have been underselling it.
The story begins in Atlanta, where Fort Myers resident John Andre was beginning his travel home with golf clubs in tow. As most travelers do, Andre left his bag at baggage claim with the unspoken hope that his sticks would return home in one piece.
When he arrived at the baggage claim again in Fort Myers, he saw a bag circling the carousel and could hardly stifle a laugh. The golf bag had not just been destroyed in transit, it appeared to have been set on fire. The clubs circling the baggage claim had not only been mishandled, they’d been singed straight through the travel bag and, later, the headcovers.
Indeed, the smoldering remains of the clubs were so striking, it took Andre a minute to realize a concerning truth: they were his.
As Andre soon realized, his clubs had been dragged along the ground, eventually causing his travel bag’s protective cover to break. As his bare clubs struck the concrete, they sparked, leading to a broader fire that damaged the rest of his belongings.
Soon after his clubs had been returned to him, Andre filed a claim with Delta for some $4,000 to cover his broken equipment. It was initially denied, which led Andre to contact his local news station, WKRC, about the incident.
Thankfully, as the news station’s reporting wrapped up, Andre received a call from Delta. The airline had elected to make things right, agreeing to pay some $4,000 in restitution for Andre to repair his golf clubs and bag.
The situation was resolved, albeit after a considerable amount of frustration. Andre was left with a new set of golf clubs to join his old set of charred ones, and the rest of us with a new fear to join the joys the air travel.
