Travel and Vaping The TSA "stole" me silver bullet... well, half of it

[Stu99]

I took a flight from ny to orlando. No pronblems. However, on the return flight, I packed my e cig the same way i did on the way south. batteries packed seperats in a plastic bag. Charger with no batteries in it, seperate. Liquids, cartos, attys, seperate plastic baggies. Silver bullet, broken down into 2 pieces with no batteries obviouslly. Ok I check the bag with all of this stuff in it. I get on the plane and fly back north. I retrieve my bags from the carousel, and proceed home. When i return home i unpack my bags. I notice that my bags have a "card" in them stating something like "your bags have been randomly searched". I think "figures i get randomly searched, but whatever". Unpacking my bags, i realize that the top half of my silver bullet is missing. I carefully check all bags as i figured it was possible it got placed into one of my other bags. Nope. So, the TSA took 1/2 of my SB, with no notice to me. Not even pull me aside and ask "what is this?". I email the TSA and of course I get a form letter with an attachment saying fill out this claim form. How can anything be removed from a checked bag without justifiable cause, and NOT letting the owner be aware of it? Completely bull . So now i have to file a "claim" that will probably be denied.

PS... Jet Blue

 

[ukeman]

wow. sucks is right. makes one pause about flying and taking along PERSONAL vaporizers.
This makes it not worth the risk to take an expensive PV along for the ride... I mean really; I'd consider taking nothing more expensive or hard to replace (i.e. one them new fangled bottom juice feeders) than a TorneGo.

 

[Stu99]

I can uderstand that it may look strange to someone not farmiliar with a PV, but why was i not questioned as to what it was in my bag. If they thought it was a danger to "airport security", why was I not questioned? Why was I not informed it was removed from my bag? That is larceny. Trust me I know. Im considering going the all the way with this, but I dont know if it is worth it.

 

[ukeman]

Go for it! It would make me feel better, knowing Vaping awareness is being expanded to the authorities who have hysterical forces behind them (not knocking security).
I hope you get it back at least.

 

[tornado9015]

I remember reading an article about somebody having pieces removed from the motherboard of a 360 he put in his checked bag. Airline security is arbitrary at best, and you ran into some horrible luck. I really hope your claim goes through. Good luck.

 

[JamBandPhan]

That does suck, we just had to fly from OR >TX and back so I only took expendable 510 manual batteries, in case anything went wrong, and they took them, it would not have been a huge loss. Good luck filing your claim, I hope you have more PV's at home.

 

[Heatherport]

What a DRAG. I guess it's a good lesson learned. My advice would be to keep that stuff in a carry on, that way if they search it, you are present, and can explain and hopefully prevent seizure. If it were me and they were trying to seize some expensive vaping gear I'd be saying "First let me talk to you manager" and so on and so forth until I left w/ that thing!

 

[Stu99]

What a DRAG. I guess it's a good lesson learned. My advice would be to keep that stuff in a carry on, that way if they search it, you are present, and can explain and hopefully prevent seizure. If it were me and they were trying to seize some expensive vaping gear I'd be saying "First let me talk to you manager" and so on and so forth until I left w/ that thing!

I considered the whole carry on thing, but decided that it was a short enough flight that I could get by without needing to stealth vape, so I put everything in the checked bag. obviously I wont be doing that again, but what right do they have to just remove something I own with no just cause? Absolutely none.

 

[tornado9015]

I considered the whole carry on thing, but decided that it was a short enough flight that I could get by without needing to stealth vape, so I put everything in the checked bag. obviously I wont be doing that again, but what right do they have to just remove something I own with no just cause? Absolutely none.

What right does the government have to hold "suspected terrorists" without charging them with any crimes? What right do hospitals have to quarantine an individual before any tests have been performed? What right does the FDA have to say that e-cigarettes are dangerous because they have ingredients found in anti-freeze?

You start worrying about what is right or fair, and you're going to lose your mind pretty quickly.

 

[Stu99]

What right does the government have to hold "suspected terrorists" without charging them with any crimes? What right do hospitals have to quarantine an individual before any tests have been performed? What right does the FDA have to say that e-cigarettes are dangerous because they have ingredients found in anti-freeze?

You start worrying about what is right or fair, and you're going to lose your mind pretty quickly.

Tornado,

I guess the whole thing is that i'm not a terrorist and not quarantined by a hospital, but I do chose to vape. Something I OWN was removed from my posession with no explination of any kind. That is what annoys me. Like i said earlier, I understand it can be strange looking to someone who doesnt know what it is, but it was taken from me for whatever reason.

 

[Heatherport]

I considered the whole carry on thing, but decided that it was a short enough flight that I could get by without needing to stealth vape, so I put everything in the checked bag. obviously I wont be doing that again, but what right do they have to just remove something I own with no just cause? Absolutely none.

They don't CARE about YOUR rights. Sorry, that's Big Brother in post 9/11. I do hope you get it back, just keep hollering and asking for boss after boss, lol.

 

[Stu99]

They don't CARE about YOUR rights. Sorry, that's Big Brother in post 9/11. I do hope you get it back, just keep hollering and asking for boss after boss, lol.

I HIGHLY doubt ill get it back.. best case scenario, they reimburse me for it. Worse case, they dont do anything.

 

[basilray]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Major bummer.

I have packed my GLV 5v on separate trips to the Philippines in my checked bag, and had no problems. I always wrap an eCig vendor card around it as well, by the off chance it gets searched. On my last trip to the Philippines, Delta lost my bag. Filipino Customs had to search my bag when it arrived in Manila, so they definitely saw my GLV2, but it was still there when I got my bag. Maybe the business card did me well?

Regardless, I would press the issue with Jet Blue and the TSA as much as you can.

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

That really sucks. Figures they take the expensive half of the SB. I guess you'll just have to get the double barrel SB top.

 

[Stu]

I HIGHLY doubt ill get it back.. best case scenario, they reimburse me for it. Worse case, they dont do anything.

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do anything. It's definitely worth trying though. That stuff isn't cheap.

Last time I flew I brought basically by entire arsenal of e cig stuff in my carry on. Never had any questions asked and was never searched, which is funny because for some reason I almost always get "randomly" searched at the airport.

Another vaping Stu in NY huh?

 

[Stu99]

Another vaping Stu in NY huh?

Coincidently my name is not actually stu but its close...but i used to live in astoria...

 

[Stu]

Coincidently my name is not actually stu but its close...but i used to live in astoria...

HA! That's funny!

 

[capecodjim]

These goons and thugs have no accountability. Some jerk saw something that looked cool and snagged it. I'm surprised all the parts weren't taken and that they left a card.

It wasn't scoffed because of any security issue or imagined threat.. they just use that excuse to dig into your life.... you want national security, don't you? It's for the safety of the children after all....

There's no accountability and they steal stuff all the time.

 

[bitey]

Last time I flew, a month or so ago, I had all my gear in my carry-on. They kept sending it through the X-ray machine over and over and announcing loudly that they were seeing something suspicious. Of course, everyone in line was staring at me.

I kept saying, let me show you what's in there; but No, they had to keep scanning it. Finally, they dragged it aside and started digging in it with me insisting that they had to be careful because I had my acrylic bite plate for sleeping inside on top and it is expensive and fragile (I'm a clencher, not a grinder in my sleep.) Ok, they pull that out carefully and then dig like crazy. Finally, they triumphantly pull out 3 Ego batteries and demanded to know what they were. I show them the identical one that they passed through in the shallow bin fully visible and tell them what it is. I offer to demonstrate, but they say No. Then, they scan the bag again without them and then again with the Ego batteries back in place in my bag. Then, and only then, am I allowed to leave, but I at least got to keep my batteries. They said it was the "shape" of them that looked "bad" to them.

Coming home, I packed them the same as I had coming to Chicago, but they didn't bat an eye at them. I have flown many times with no problem, but I always put them in my carry-on so I at least would get to argue. I think my biggest fear given my Ego battery "scare," is that my name has been added to some secret list somewhere. Aw, maybe not. I remember when flying used to be fun. Yeah, right.

Very sorry about the loss of the top of your silver bullet. I would definitely file a claim. Legally, once they saw it wasn't anything harmful, they had to put it back in your bag. Of course, they can always claim that the wiring looked like it could be part of a bomb to them. Let us know what happens.

 

[Liv2Ski]

Remember who we are dealing with folks. TSA = could not get a job at the mart as a greeter or as mall security. Half of them are outside smoking away on their breaks when I fly! Pretty soon we will all have to submit to full body and cavity search to board a plane!

As stated earlier I am suprised they didn't swipe the whole unit. Or maybe they grabbed the other half from another travelling vaper! Sorry to hear about your troubles and I wish you all the best as you try to retrieve your property. Good luck