“Southwest is hoeing me.” A Southwest Airlines passenger says that’s what an employee told her, after the airline lost her bag, then when it was found it was delivered to the wrong address, and the airline and courier service simply pointed fingers at each other – forcing the woman to get the police involved.
She flew Austin to Atlanta on Southwest but her bag didn’t make it. She got notice that her bag was found at 1 a.m., and that it would be couriered to her hotel. But she discovered at 6 o’clock in the morning that it didn’t make it to her hotel.
Austin Baggage Claim
Instead, she had a photo of the dropoff location… a random apartment complex. She got in her rental car intending to see if the pictured location was nearby. She talked to an off-duty police officer, who escorted her onto that property where her bag was supposedly delivered, but nothing was there. She reported the misdelivery to Southwest.
@sierraherbort get in ladies, we’re boycotting @Southwest Airlines ♬ original sound – SierraHerbort
Her bags contained $5,000 worth of items, she said, from technology from her job to clothes. The maximum liability limit set by the U.S. Department of Transportation for lost, damaged or delayed checked baggage on domestic flights is $4,700 per passenger (since January 22, 2025). That means the airline is legally permitted to cap compensation at $4,700 regardless of the value of contents. This is supposed to adjust biannually for inflation.
Southwest Airlines Gate
While she called every day of her trip, she never made progress. Back to the airport to fly home to Austin, she checked in with Southwest’s baggage office, and they still couldn’t get in touch with courier service.
Atlanta Airport
The airline claimed they’re not responsible for reimbursing her, since misdelivering the bag is on the courier service (that’s wrong, the courier was Southwest’s agent and Southwest is responsible for returning the bag to its customer).
Southwest Airlines Check-in
The courier service, though, offered a claim form to fill out – but fine print on that form says that only the sender (Southwest) can file the claim, and that it has to be filed within 3 days and it’s now been 3 days. Southwest re-opened her missing bag file, but no one will open a claim for reimbursement – telling her to file a police report instead.
First…An AirTag! Second…if you have that much in your luggage, maybe you should buy extra insurance. Third: Send the airline a 10 day demand letter. “You have 10 days to recover and deliver my items… and send it to their corporate registered agent by certified mail, return receipt and the airline’s investor relations department. Fourth: It will cost you some money to start but file a suit in small claims court demanding the value, court costs and punitive damages up to the limit allowed for small claims in the state where the flight originated. Send all of this to the local media…news, television, radio. Dispute the charge for the ticket price with your credit card company. Gawd help you if you booked the ticket through a third party on that one.
She needs to get in touch with Christopher Elliot with the Elliot Advocacy Group. He gets results when no one else is able to.
I agree with Win’s suggestions above. I’m a little confused by the use of the word “hoeing”. Is this standard. I know the word “ho” as an insult, but not “hoeing” in this context.
They ‘hoeing’ us all, lady…
In reality, Southworst just sucks.