'Tis The Season To Be Frustrated

by ANN Managing Editor Rob Finfrock

Is it just a numbers game... or are more travelers than ever fed up with the treatment they've received at the hands of the Transportation Security Administration's best and brightest? Well, that depends.

The Wall Street Journal reports TSA says a surge in complaints in recent months is due to changes in the way the agency handles complaints. TSA officials admit before May, the agency often lost complaints, and under-reported travel-related gripes.

But few travelers believe that's the only reason for the increase. They say screening is as big a hassle than ever... a situation not helped by increasingly grumpy TSA personnel, some of whom appear to passengers as being on an unwarranted power trip.

"It is the scolding and harassing tone that I will never understand," said Mary Ann Ramsey, president of a Florida travel agency, who says a screener in Fort Meyers last week stopped her, and said her quart bag of toiletry items was "too full."

TSA horror stories are nothing new... and lobbing complaints at the agency is as easy, apparently, as smuggling components used to make IEDs past screeners. But as more flyers than ever travel through US airports this week, numbers of frustrated passengers will only increase.

Complaints about TSA courtesy, processing time and procedures fell sharply earlier this year... but began climbing in June. The agency recorded a 9.2 percent jump in total number of complaints over the same period in 2006; in August 2007, complaints were 88.1 percent higher than the same time last year.

TSA chief Kip Hawley says the sharp increase is due to the agency's increasing efforts to handle complaints. In May, TSA built up its customer service department, adding phone lines and bandwidth to handle passenger gripes.

"Now we're able to receive all the input everyone calls in," Hawley said.

There appears to be some truth to that supposition, though Hawley couldn't explain why complaints in some categories -- including gripes about TSA service -- skyrocketed faster than others.

Perhaps frequent flyer Tom Zanecchia can shed some light on that. He told the WSJ he and his wife complained to the TSA in September, after a screener at Denver International Airport screamed at their 20-year-old daughter for not removing her iPod and camera from her bag. The screener then threw the items into a bin, damaging the camera.

When the Zanecchias called the TSA to complain, the call center worker admitted the screener was out of line -- but added without a name, the agency couldn't do anything.

"Assuming TSA really does care about the treatment of travelers, then it is important for anyone that is treated badly to get the security person's name or badge number," said Zanecchia, founder and president of a Denver financial consulting firm.

The family filed a damage claim on the camera, "but no response as of yet," he added.

Some passengers paint a rosier picture of TSA, particularly business travelers -- who are often able to speed through security in special lines designated for elite-level customers and first-class passengers.

"The consistency is better than the old days. The customer service at the airport is better -- I haven't filed a complaint in some time," said photographer David Fauss.

FMI: www.tsa.gov