A JetBlue passenger says they had their laptop fried when a flight attendant spilled an iced coffee all over them. The crewmember “apologized, brought me a cheese plate, and gave me a $25 voucher” and they left it at that until they realized the laptop would no longer work.
Reaching out to the airline, they were told:
[T]hey can’t claim responsibility because there’s “no evidence.” I understand accidents happen, but this feels really unfair since I reported the issue right away on the plane, and it was clearly caused by their employee.
What’s going on here?
My Laptop On A JSX Flight
When a lavatory flood ruined a passenger’s laptop a couple of months ago, United Airlines offered 5,000 miles as compensation.
@united needs to reimburse me for toilet water exploding on my bag under my seat pic.twitter.com/kMGi41M8K5
— Baptize Machine Podcast (@BaptizeThe) October 10, 2024
@united offered 5000 miles for breaking my $1200 laptop in a toilet flood have not even gotten miles pic.twitter.com/Kj9cZhFcxf
— Baptize Machine Podcast (@BaptizeThe) October 10, 2024
Paddle Your Own Kanoo points out that JetBlue’s contract of carriage limits its liability to property in the custody of the carrier.
[JetBlue] will assume no liability or responsibility for property carried onboard an aircraft by a Passenger and retained in the custody of the Passenger.
And while it is ordinarily true that JetBlue isn’t liable for belongings that remain under your control, or that’s damaged by another passenger, here it is the actions of a JetBlue employee that caused the damage (whether negligently or not). I’m not sure that the contract of carriage absolves the airline of liability.
For armchair lawyers in the comments, let me suggest: by offering the voucher, did JetBlue accept liability? By accepting the voucher, did the passenger acknowledge this as full compensation for their claim?
Some people might have liked to spill coffee on Sam Bankman-Fried’s laptop
It seems to me like the best course here would be to see if credit card baggage insurance exists here. We usually think of it for checked bags, but the stuff you bring on the plane can be covered too if you use a card that offers it to purchase the ticket.
For instance here are links to American Express card coverage details. Computers are considered ‘high risk’ items where the coverage cap is generally going to be $1,000 (rather than $2,000). In this case it seems like a claim would be worthwhile, if the passenger used a card with lost and damaged bag insurance for their trip.
On SBF, obviously guilty, but if people held onto their claims, they actually did quite well, since crypto skyrocketed, so had the tide not gone out at the wrong time, he’d likely have gotten away with it, and the ‘investors’ in that Ponzi scheme would have made out alright. But, sure, commit assault/battery, especially if it makes you feel better, temporarily, right?
he shouldn’t have left his laptop on the floor.
I think the fact that the $25 was accepted, leaves the airline of any further responsibility. I could be wrong though.
There are so many ways a laptop can get damaged on an airplane. Where does the taking responsibility for your own equipment start for the passenger? I have a laptop or two with me on every flight, including JetBlue flights. I almost never take them out of the luggage that has them in it and protects them. Many people like aisle seats but aisle seats are more likely to have issues like an accidental spill by a flight attendant. Maybe insurance should have been purchased. Then if a person slams a seatback back, maybe the laptop is covered. If water floods out of the toilet, maybe the laptop is covered. If the pet dog with the service vest bites you causing the laptop to fall and break, maybe it is covered. Another thing to look at is the depreciation of the laptop in question and how much a new one or a good used one would cost. Since the damage to the laptop wasn’t noticed on the flight and with all of the factors considered, there might not be enough for even a small claims case. I hope the cheese was good and the voucher can be used.
Is the laptop actually fried, or does it just need a $15 keyboard replacement?
I’ve had tons of beverages spilled on laptops over the years and never had one become “fried” as a result, at worst I’ve had to replace the keyboard.
@Christopher Raehl : You can replace keyboards for $15! Wow, you will clean up when the news gets out. So much less than the $150 flat fee + time + parts that Lenovo quoted me.
In this example, I actually find myself (surprisingly) siding with the airline and with United (which I despise).
If a passenger is using a laptop in a crowded space such as an airplane and there is the possibility of turbulence, the obligation is ON the PASSENGER to safeguard it during meal service.
I usually enjoy reading most of these posts but as I got to the end, it appeared to me as a shameless push for the author to get more revenue from the credit cards he pushes.
@Andrea Prezioso – It seems like just the best possible advice, and what kind of push was there since it didn’t mention a specific credit card, let alone offer a link to one?
Helloooo, you specifically called out Amex!
A WIN laptop? $25 seems fair compensation.
Agreed with @jbelkin, Windows/DOS laptop is worth approx. $25 + a plate of cheese.
You could also check with homeowner’s insurance but with how much premiums have been going up that could be dangerous. The story with the flooded toilet the guy said on Twitter he tossed the laptop and bag before resolving with United. Just seems weird. Said he couldn’t work without it so seems you’d try to recover it. I’ve generally given up trying to work on a plane since as soon as the person in front of you reclines at all it’s too hard to do anything.
Actual cash value of a used laptop might be $25 and a cheese plate. Deal with it brah!
@1990 – why are you talking about assault and battery? Just another excuse to be melodramatic?
On the topic of the post, though, it’s a tricky one. It could just as easily have been another passenger spilled the drink onto the laptop, in which case the passenger would have got nothing. Unfortunately accidents do happen and having delicate electronic devices out when liquids are around is a risk.