A woman used an AirTag to track down her luggage after United Airlines lost it…and tried to act like they didn’t.
Valerie Szybala took to Twitter to share the story, saying that she knew that her luggage was lost by United due to being able to track its location with the AirTag that was stored inside of it.
I’d just like everyone to know that @united has lost track of my bag and is lying about it. My apple AirTag shows that it has been sitting in a residential apartment complex for over a day. Out back by the dumpsters, I have found other emptied United Airlines bags. pic.twitter.com/fcoq4nj3zbJanuary 1, 2023
You have to take a look at the conversation Szybala had with a representative from United. Even after explaining that she could see her luggage was at some random residential apartment complex and finding other pieces of luggage by the dumpster behind the building, the representative said that her luggage was at the “delivery service distribution center.”
Anyone wondering why I felt compelled to take this to social media, check out my most recent chat with one of their support reps through the @united app: pic.twitter.com/hxUu3jQaxjJanuary 2, 2023
Oddly, her luggage made multiple trips away from the complex — sometimes to McDonald’s — but would return again to the apartment building.
Incredibly, Valerie eventually got her luggage back after being texted by someone who claimed they were from DCA Couriers United. The “courier” eventually met Valerie outside of the complex where two news crews had also shown up to witness the return of the lost bag.
WHEW this has been a wild ride y’all. I’m happy to report that I got my bag back!!! I’ll give more details & lessons learned later. For now wanna say thank you for all of the support, and shout out to the building resident and local news crews who came out to help =) pic.twitter.com/hCDXMreiDCJanuary 2, 2023
Apple’s AirTag strikes again
United has not responded formally to the situation at this point yet, but it certainly has some explaining to do, especially after Szybala took photos of luggage sitting next to dumpsters outside of a random building that was definitely not near the airport.
Apple’s AirTag has been in the news for a number of reasons. While some stories are quite concerning and involve people using them for nefarious purposes like stalking, others are positive like Valerie’s.
The little item tracker, which can keep track of keys, bags, and more, integrates with Apple’s Find My network. If you want to find the best way to deploy AirTag across your life, check out our list of the Best AirTag Accessories in 2022.