JetBlue Tells Passenger it Can’t Take Responsbility For Broken Laptop That Flight Attendant Threw Iced Coffee Over

JetBlue has reportedly told a passenger that it can’t take responsibility for his laptop computer that has completely stopped working after a flight attendant accidentally threw iced coffee not only on the computer but also all over the customer.

Taking to the popular social media platform Reddit, the passenger sought advice from fellow flyers for what he described as an “upsetting experience” at the hands of the New York-based carrier.

The incident occurred when the passenger’s seatmate ordered an iced coffee from the flight attendant, but rather than handing it over to the customer, the crew member accidentally dropped the cold liquid into the victim’s lap.

At the time, the passenger says that he “tried to stay calm and cordial” over the matter and the flight attendant even apologized and brought him a cheese plate and a $25 voucher as compensation.

The passenger says this seemed like a “decent gesture” and thought that would be the end of the matter, but when he got home, he realized that the damage to his laptop was a lot worse than he previously thought.

But when the passenger reached out to tell JetBlue that his laptop was now completely unusable as a result of having iced coffee thrown on it by a flight attendant, the airline allegedly told him that it refused to take responsibility.

JetBlue’s excuse was that it had no evidence that the laptop was damaged on the flight, despite the fact that the flight attendant had apologized and issued him with a voucher.

“I understand accidents happen, but this feels really unfair since I reported the issue right away on the plane, and it was clearly caused by their employee,” the passenger wrote before asking for advice.

What this passenger did in this situation is exactly what travel experts would advise. Remain calm and polite but immediately report the issue. The expectation would be that the flight crew would file an internal report just in case the incident needs to be followed up with customer services at a later date.

Even then, however, an airline could well argue that they have no evidence that the accident caused the damage in the first place. It could be that a passenger tries to make the most out of a simple accident by making spurious claims on top of what occurred.

Of course, there’s no suggestion that this is what this passenger is doing, but it does highlight the importance of having proper travel or device insurance that covers accidental damage.

JetBlue’s contract of carriage limits the carrier to damage caused to personal property on domestic flights, with a provision limiting liability to property that is in the ‘custody’ of the airline.

The contract of carriage continues: “Carrier [JetBlue] will assume no liability or responsibility for property carried onboard an aircraft by a Passenger and retained in the custody of the Passenger.”