[tigerlilly]

Delta broke my driver and would take no responsibility. The reason for this is that you must sign a waiver when you check them, if they are not in a hard shell case. Mine were in a soft shell case meant for travel.

It is interesting that I have never had to sign a waiver before with any other airline and the clubs have arrived just fine. Once you sign this waiver it appears that it is an open ticket for the baggage handlers to throw around the bag. For the damage that was done, this was surely the case. I wrote to Delta and they did give me a reply stating that there is nothing they could do but would investigate..... Not to sure what exactly they are going to find out in that investigation. So be careful with your clubs because not only to do you have to pay to put them on the plane in the first place, payment doesn't ensure your clubs will not get damaged. Seems odd that I paid Delta to break my clubs.......... Definitely a deciding factor on who I will fly with again. By the way...... Came home on Jet blue, with a new driver and no waiver was signed and clubs arrived in perfect shape.

[jimworcs]

It's Delta.. when will people learn?

[The_Judge]

Common practice among all airlines to have a waiver signed for golf clubs not in a hardshell case or a case called the Club Glove (which is soft but approved by the airline I worked for to be waived)

I know for a fact not all bags are signed for cuz I let many many many go myself. Sick of the whining by passengers saying they never had to sign before. The fact is it's an airline policy that they be signed so whether or not you signed before is really mootpoint. Chances are the airline would pull the high value item card or something like that if it's damaged and not signed anyway.

[Corbel]

When i worked as an agent for TMA and skywest we had people sign the waivers. if they choose not to and something happend to the club or bag, we were not responsible.

[PHXFlyer]

It sounds like the waiver for soft-sided golf bags was out of necessity. I doubt the baggage handlers try to damage them. Many soft-sided bags just might not be sturdy enough to provide adequate protection of their contents during normal baggage handling which includes sorting by heavy machinery. If you have expensive clubs my advice would to be invest in a more durable case. I found this company online that even backs their product with a club protection warranty:

IZZO Golf Club Protection Guarantee
IZZO Golf is so confident that all clubs will be safely secured inside the High Roller™, we’re offering a Club Protection Guarantee. If any golf club shafts are broken inside the High Roller™ while traveling by airplane, IZZO Golf will have the club re-shafted at no expense to you.