October 25, 2005

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in regards to a trip I took on Northwest Airlines/Pinnacle on October 6th, 2005.  


I was on flight 3723 from Des Moines to Detroit, and in exiting the plane, I left my digital camera
on board.  I realized this when I was already more than halfway from the C concourse to the end of
the A concourse, and rather than run back and risk missing my flight, I decided that I would speak
with the agent at the desk for my Detroit-Providence flight.  That agent called the agent at my 
arrival gate, and found out that she had in fact found my camera and had it with her at the desk.  
I asked what my options were, and was told that since there was not enough time to go back to the 
initial gate before my flight to Providence departed, they would send it on to the Northwest Lost and 
Found department with my name and phone number attached to it and that I would receive a phone call 
within a week about how to get it mailed back to me.  

After a week had gone by and I had not heard anything from the Lost and Found department, I called the 
number I had been given and was told that anything from Pinnacle or Mesaba would have gone to a different
Lost and Found.  I call the numbers for the Customer Care departments for those airlines and was told by 
them that no, they didn't have anything from that date or flight number and that I should call the airport 
Lost and Found.  From there I was directed back to Northwest, and so on.  

I know that my camera was initially in the possession of a Northwest/Pinnacle agent because the agent I 
spoke with called the gate directly, and the agent at the gate I had arrived at confirmed that it was my 
camera that she had found.  I was told that I would be able to get my camera mailed back to me; had I known 
that I couldn.t rely on the airline staff to follow through with what they had assured me they would do, I 
would have postponed my flight and gone back and picked it up myself.  

I use my camera regularly for work and for personal projects, and I was not planning on purchasing a new one 
any time soon; however, I am estimating that it will cost me at least $300 to purchase a comparable camera.  
I have been very disappointed in the responses I have received from those I have talked to at Northwest, Pinnacle,
and Mesaba; the primary message I have gotten is that it is somebody else's problem, and that as agents are busy 
people, they should not be expected to comply with what they say they are going to do.  The bottom line, though,
is that my camera was in the possession of Northwest staff, and now it is missing.  If necessary, I will file
a police report with the Detroit police.  

I have been a loyal Northwest customer for many years; I fly frequently between Providence and Des Moines and 
Northwest is usually my airline of choice.  However, this most recent experience has made me much less fond of
Northwest.  There are many other airlines that fly between Providence and Des Moines, and when I fly there to 
see family for Thanksgiving  I will be giving them much more consideration.

I expect a prompt response to this complaint, and I would greatly appreciate compensation for my loss.  I feel 
that given the circumstances, this is a wholly reasonable request.  


Sincerely,


Rachel Pleasants