them's the brakes...

FIGURE A.
The end of last month we went on vacation and because we were traveling with the munchkin, that meant we had to bring the car seat and stroller. Well I knew we would have to gate check the carseat and the stroller because I didn't want to have to pay an extra $250 for a 3rd checked bag and $325 for a 4th, (ridiculous I know)so we got to the gate, we took our seats on the plane and I mentioned to the flight attendant that unless someone knew how to release the brake (which is NOT that hard, see figure A above), seperate the top part of the stroller and collapse the chassis, to please come and get me and I'd be more than happy to do it for them. (The stroller doubles/triples/quadruples to a playseat, highchair, etc etc so it seems complicated if you've never used it before) Well anyhow...back to the story. The flight attendant said Okay, we'll come get you if we have any problems" and right before we were set to depart she came by and said "oh, we had no trouble with the stroller" so I figured all was well... Well, all was not well.
Once we arrived in Orlando I waited for the stroller and here it came. All in one piece. Not separated, not collapsed. Hmm I thought, I guess this is why she said they had no problems with it, beacuse they didn't collapse it. I put the brake on and instead of staying put so I could load Jolie in, it went cruising down the ramp at what seemed like 25mph. Apparently, their version of collapsing it meant not figuring out how to release the brake and just kept pushing it till it broke. GAH!
Well I called the airline and they said unless I could prove it wasn't broke before the flight there was nothing they could do! WHAT?!@ You just ruined a $900 stroller! There's nothing you can do?! Well I decided to give Bugaboo a call and see what they could do and they said they would send me a whole new chassis for FREE! They said they don't bother trying to replace the brakes anymore and that it should be here within a week. Well I am so happy to say that the chassis came yesterday and that I can't say enough how good of a company Bugaboo is. Allegiant Air, not so much. I guess you get what you pay for.
So there's 2 morals to this story. One is, Bugaboo is an awesome company and I cannot recommend them enough! and two, apparently you need to video tape your strollers, and any other belongings that you think might get damaged, as you are boarding one of Allegiant's flights because, then and ONLY then will you have "proof" that the brakes, or whatever it is they could possible screw up, worked before hand. Yes, I am still a tiny bit upset.