The Empty Carousel

My name is Scott Mueller I have a passion for people and I am passionate about making a difference for air travelers and their luggage, as I have successfully demonstrated for 20 years as a veteran of the airline industry. In my former career as the system manager for baggage services for more than 50 cities, I personally
helped thousands of air travelers. It was not long before I realized my customers all had one thing in common; they did not know the baggage process, their rights or what to do when their luggage was lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered.

I realized that the information air travelers needed from the airlines was vague at best, and difficult to find if even available. The one common theme that I kept hearing from my customers after the damage to the customer's trip was done was“Why don't the airlines tell us this before we travel? How was I supposed to know
this? And where is it written?”

I have seen my customers lose personal property, family heirlooms on their return flight from a loved ones funeral. I saw business deals go sour because the materials they most needed to seal the deal were lost or delayed in transit. I helped a couple on their 50th wedding anniversary who took their entire family to Hawaii to celebrate their Golden Anniversary, and all of their checked luggage was carelessly mishandled, not once but twice by the airline. The family finally got their luggage,
but it was five days into their week-long once-in-a-lifetime vacation and celebration. The cost of lost time and planned events was more than money could ever replace. I helped a customer whose beloved cat was lost forever because of carelessness, and I helped a 70-year-old grief-stricken woman who had packed her husband's ashes in her luggage to fly him to their vacation property and spread his ashes per his dying wish.

I decided the only way to make a difference for the air traveler in the continually down-spiraling world of luggage handling was to write The Empty Carousel so travelers could make informed decisions and take back some control of their personal property when they travel. More than 20 million travelers are directly impacted every year by luggage mishandling. Sometimes the damage is minimal, but many times the damage is severe and irreversible in terms of what it costs the customer.

My hope is to reach out to as many air travelers as I can to help share my unique insider knowledge and expertise and spread the word that help is available. I encourage my customers to this day to email me through my website if they have
luggage questions before, during, or even after they travel. Understanding the luggage process and the pitfalls to protect you now is much easier than trying to resolve a potential problem with an airline after the luggage is mishandled.

Delayed luggage, lost luggage, damaged luggage and pilfered luggage are all a major problem in the airline industry and not only the mishandling but the lack of effort made by many airlines in reuniting your luggage with you is just as major a
problem. Did you ever hear of the “unclaimed luggage store” in Scottsdale Alabama? This family business has grown rich from buying your property from the airlines for pennies on the dollar and reselling it to the public. In my book, I will share with you
why this is possible and why this will most likely get worse as the years go by.