What is done with forgotten air bag in the USA
Photo: depositphotos
Do not be surprised if you meet a person in the clothes that you lost in baggage on a flight a couple of years ago. If you did not get the suitcase back, there is every chance that your belongings moved to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. In the store, the size of 3716 square. m, pick each suitcase and put the best things on their shelves.
The store is located 45 minutes east of Huntsville and was founded around 1970. It was then that insurance agent Doyle Owens received an offer from the local bus station to redeem unclaimed baggage and then sell the contents. In the end, he expanded this practice to airlines, and after 56 years, the store became home to millions of things lost by Americans during flights.
How luggage gets to the store
First, the airline does not steal your belongings to sell them in bulk in Alabama. Loss of luggage is extremely rare in the USA. Only 1% of all lost suitcases do not find their owner. Approximately 80-90% of bags returned within 48 hours. During the week, the number grows to 98%. Then, for the next 90 days, the airlines are painstakingly trying to find your baggage to avoid paying insurance. According to mathematical calculations, you only have 1 from 10 thousands of chances to really lose your bag when you fly to the United States. And yet there is a small chance.
After 90 days, the baggage legally belongs to the airline, and people sometimes get fair insurance compensation for it and refuse to search.
What will happen next? The unclaimed baggage center has an exclusive agreement with the airlines. He takes away not only the lost main luggage, but also things that were forgotten in the cabin. Often, forgetful passengers leave a lot of electronics. Since airlines do not bear any responsibility for the safety of hand luggage, boxes with electronics and other hand luggage are also transferred to the Unclaimed Baggage Center.
After the Unclaimed Baggage Center has delivered everything to the store, workers sort it out, selecting what can be resold. About a third is spent on recycling, a third is donated to charity, and a third is laid out on shelves.
The stock store is different from the commission by the fact that the shelves are full of things that people want to buy, and not consumer goods, which they threw away.
“You can find a wedding dress at a thrift store,” said spokeswoman Brenda Cantrell. “But you wouldn’t find a Vera Wang wedding dress.” And we had a few of them.”
As for electronics, its memory is completely cleared before being sold. So you don’t need to worry that a stranger in Alabama will buy your lost MacBook for $ 300 and get all your data as an extra bonus.
The inventory you can find at the Unclaimed Baggage Center is limited to what people have left behind in their suitcases. All this can be purchased for 20-80% of the retail price. Jewelry is sold for half the appraised value. The most expensive item currently in the store is a bracelet that costs $42, but is selling for $000.
The unclaimed baggage center has become a tourist attraction. It is only 30 minutes from the states of Georgia and Tennessee.
Read also on ForumDaily:
What airlines hide: 16 secrets
How to complain about being heard: flight attendant tips
Five ways to save when buying air tickets
7 sites for finding cheap air tickets
Restaurant in the air: the airline showed what was fed on airplanes half a century ago
Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.
-
Personal experience: who and why you should not move to the USA5614
-
50 diseases whose presence will increase the cost of health insurance in the USA4329
-
Great opportunities with ChatGPT: 12 easy ways to make money using artificial intelligence1324
-
What should not be on your resume if you want to find a job in the USA763
-
Four unforgivable mistakes immigrants make to the United States552
-
Dependence on cars and one supermarket per city: why ours is unusual in one-story America403
-
Ten secret restaurants in the USA: what is their highlight and how to find them254
-
Personal experience: who and why you should not move to the USA5614
-
Where in the USA to buy the medicines we are used to: a list of pharmacies5330
-
How to hit the jackpot: tips from a man who won the lottery 7 times4898
-
50 diseases whose presence will increase the cost of health insurance in the USA4329
-
Street, avenue, boulevard or drive: how to understand the classification of US streets and roads1461
-
Personal experience: what not to do in America1402
-
Great opportunities with ChatGPT: 12 easy ways to make money using artificial intelligence1324