On a recent trip to Orange County I had an issue with my checked baggage. I flew during the December rain storms and when I picked up my bag at baggage claim, it was soaking wet. I realize that bags are outside for a period of time during transport, so I didn't think much of it, until.....
I got home and discovered that the inside of my bag was soaking wet too! All of my clothes were soaked or damp. I was trying to figure out what happened when I realized that my flight was delayed 2 hrs in Orange County and it was pouring rain....the bags must have been sitting on the runway exposed to the rain. I didn't mind the clothes getting soaked, but I had 2 textbooks that got damaged.
I promptly called Southwest Airlines and they asked how much they were worth. I told them I checked on Amazon.com and that the replacement cost was $117 for both books. They checked on their computer to verify it....once they did, they said "come on down and we'll write a check for $117".
The next day I brought my damaged textbooks to the baggage claim office at the airport and they promptly wrote me a check for $117 after verifying the damaged books. Awesome!
One quick tip: If you fly Southwest and have any issues with your bags, you have 4 hours from the time your flight arrives to report the issue, otherwise you can't file a claim with them. I was lucky that I noticed right away and called them in just under 2 hours.
Kudos to Southwest!