[TPIN] Musical Instruments as Carry-on Luggage

[Glenn Bengry]

Bob,

     If it were me, I would have my friend, Mr. Whomever, charge a fairly 
humongous fee for taking the bell off the horn,

working out the dents,

annealing the bell,

replacing the braces to the bell,

reaming the valve casing to smooth out any minute twisting which causes the 
valves not to function smoothly

doing a valve alignment

replacing the slides that were twisted

replace the leadpipe and braces

attatching the bell and braces

having the whole horn relacquered or plated

shipping (you hand delivered it, charge mileage)

Did I miss anything?


glenn, my horn's messed up and its your fault, bengry



>From: "Bob Romans" <cellblk7 at comcast.net>


>>From a friend of mine in Israel...a heads-up!




>>
>>On my recent trip to the US, I made several domestic flights with
>>instruments I bought there, and then returned with them to Israel. The
>>instruments were 1) a 2nd hand bass trumpet, 2) a used trumpet, and 3) a
>>used clarinet. Since they were all in hard, padded cases

>>However, after flying from Las Vegas to Saint Louis, I unpacked one 
>>suitcase
>>after arrival and found a slip inside that said the bag was opened for
>>inspection by TSA. I didn't think anything of it, but fortunately I kept 
>>the
>>slip and the baggage tag and boarding pass. Two days later, I took the 
>>bass
>>trumpet out to play it, and found the bell to be mashed and twisted. There
>>was no damage to the horn's case, or to the suitcase. It took a moment to
>>put two and two together, but I realized that such damage could only have
>>happened if the horn had been removed from its case and dropped. Baggage
>>handlers don't have time to do this, as far as I know, and dropping the 
>>bag
>>would not cause this kind of damage. The logical conclusion was that TSA 
>>had
>>opened the case -- don't know why, as their x-ray equipment should have
>>clearly shown a horn and mouthpiece -- and somehow dropped the horn.
>>
>>Before leaving Saint Louis, I spoke to a TSA agent who sympathetically 
>>gave
>>me a claim form. I collected what I could of the documentation they
>>wanted -- the form clearly states that the claim will not be processed
>>without all of the things they ask for, and I cannot get the main thing, 
>>an
>>estimate or repair bill, until I get back to Israel -- and I tried to 
>>speak
>>again to a TSA agent at another airport en route. I thought someone might
>>want to see the horn and indicate on the claim form that they actually saw
>>the damage. But nooooo. Has to be done by mail.
>>
>>Now I am back, and my repair guy lives on a kibbutz in the Galilee 2 hours
>>drive from my home, so I won't have an estimate or bill until I get up 
>>there
>>in another month or so and he has time to work on the horn. The form says
>>you have 2 years to submit a claim, but they want it as soon as possible 
>>so,
>>as they say, it can be investigated. I will send in the whole package 
>>after
>>I get the horn repaired, and hope for the best. All I know is, so far TSA
>>has done me more harm than Al Kaida.

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