If you’re heading out town through Baltimore-Washington International Airport and checking bags, you probably took steps to travel light. But who’s making sure those baggage scales don’t pack on a few pounds.
It is the moment of truth at the airport counter. You set down your bag and watch as numbers flicker, holding your breath. If you’re like traveler Damon Dockins, you’re probably thinking this thought, "Please don't go over 50 pounds."
Because if your bag weighs in over 50, depending on whom you fly, it could cost you an additional $50 to $200 to get your luggage on board.
To skip those costs, many travelers often trim what they're taking so their bags are under weight. But could the airport scales be tipping you over? ABC2 is working for you to find out.
We asked the state for every baggage scale inspection done at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in the last seven years.
Those checks are handled by the Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures section as a way to make sure neither the customer nor the company gets cheated.
Mike Frailer with Weights and Measures says "You could be getting charged, especially in an airport scale, a higher fee because the scale was inaccurate."
That's why scales are weight tested to see if they correctly measure things big and small. Errors could end up costing you or the airlines.
And when errors turn up during inspections, they’re considered violations. Frailer explains the ones that matter most to you involve what the section calls tolerance, whether the scale is on the money.
If the scale is off and adds weight, it could cost you. That’s one reason the device could be rejected for repairs. If it’s really off, Frailer says it may be condemned, "It is definitely a more serious problem. It's a problem we feel would affect the customer so that's why we remove it from service."
Baggage scales can be flagged for a dozen other violations too.
It happens more than you think.
As part of an ABC2 News investigation, we looked at checks done on 548 scales since 2004. In that time 195 scales, more than a third, were rejected for repair.
In the last seven years, 31 scales have been condemned and taken out of service. That news came as a surprise to Dockins, who purposely packed light to avoid fees.
He says, “We do put a lot of faith (in the scales). They could be ripping us off."
That's why inspectors are there to check. But are they there enough? By looking at hundreds of reports, we discovered scales at six out of the eight airlines we looked at hadn't been inspected by the state in two years. Frailer says, “We try to get around as often as we can but it is hard to get around with a very limited staff.”
At Weights and Measure, there’s a small staff doing an awful lot of work. Right now, the section says it has just 16 inspectors to handle checks on nearly 61,000 devices in more than 9,000 locations across Maryland. The airport is just one of them.
Agriculture Secretary Earl “Buddy” Hance says, “In that program we have a responsibility for our consumers to make sure they're getting what they paid for."
Hance says bearing that responsibility is tough with budget cuts, but says his agency has taken steps to do more with less, including keeping vehicles longer and dividing inspections into a regional system to be more efficient.
He admits that sometimes means too much time can pass between some inspections, but says program managers prioritize after looking at violation rates on all devices. Airport scales, he says, have not been a problem.
Hance explains, "We have not seen a significant increase in violations of those devices so we believe the consumers are still being properly protected and our operators are paying attention."
Many operators at BWI airport use third parties to find the balance on their scales, but you don't get to see those results.
That's why passengers want the state to be a frequent flyer. Traveler Bill Harrison says, "There are all sorts of fees that the airlines are charging now so I think it'd be nice to have some transparency to know if these things are legit or not."
But even transparency may not change things in that moment of truth at the ticket counter.
How faulty scales can impact your wallet
Passenger Lindsay Debellis knows that. She says, “I probably don't trust it but I don't know if you have a choice as far as arguing it do you?"
If you think a scale is off on its weight or if you can't see the scale's readings or if it doesn't start automatically go to zero, those are all considered violations.
You can file a complaint with Weights and Measures if you spot those issues. Their section handled 562 complaints last year alone, and despite all the other work they have to do, investigation of those complaints comes first.
But keep in mind, sometimes you're on the winning end of those problems. Our investigation found that of the 10% of violations tied to weight, more than half of the time the scale tipped in your favor.
That was the case last week when Weights and Measures visited BWI airport for its latest round of inspections. The department says inspectors looked at 105 scales.
In that testing, nine scales had violations tied to weight, with six benefitting the consumer.
©2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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