Had one a few months back that I gotta add..
We were boarding in BOS, and a pax comes out of the terminal with one of those big fold-in-half zip together garment bags with wheels and a handle that becomes kind of a rollaboard. Since it's an E145 with minimal overhead space and we're full, the FA tells him that he'll have to gate check it. At this point I'm in the galley getting coffee and hear some raised voices, so I peek out to see what's up. He's doing the "do you know who I am" speech, that he's Dr. so-and-so and he's a million-mile traveler who does this trip twice a week, and he's never had this sort of rude treatment before. Of course the pax always claims that this is the first FA to give him grief over his giant carryon, but it's usually BS..
I grab the pax list from the wall clip, and sure enough, he IS a Gold Medallion, SkyMiles Elite, paid-full-fare type. I really am not in the mood to throw somebody off, and I have a feeling that he knows better, and is maybe just having a bad day. I decide to see if I can help smooth things over, and step up to the door to join the conversation and try to calm him down.
He repeats the story of never having a bag problem before on however-many hundred segments before, and I immediately noticed two things:
1. There is no way this bag will fit, it's bigger than my PNT bag and pretty rigid looking.
2. It looks way too nice to be the bag used on his million-mile journey. It has no scuffs or dirt on it, is a very clean bright red, and the wheels still have the nice little mold lines around them.
me: Sir, i understand that you've never had a luggage problem before, and I just want to make sure that we don't have a problem today either, is that by chance a new bag?
him: Yeah, i just got it yeaterday, why?
me: Is it the same as your old bag?
him: No, the old one was a soft garment bag that rolled up in thirds like a tote bag and had a shoulder strap. I got tired of carrying it, and it didn't have enough room for what I carry.
me: So this is the first time that you've used this bag, and also the first time you've had a problem.
him (wheels starting to turn in his head): Umm...ahhhh.... yeah, but like I said, I've done this trip before with my old bag. oh, wait, yeah, I see the problem. I guess I should have thought of that. Sorry.
At this point he makes one of the most gracious apologies that i have ever heard to my FA, and proceeds to gete check the big red bag. I can't say that I ever remembered a pax actually backing down and doing the right thing, and I quietly complimented him on it and thanked him for not being a jerk. About three weeks later I get a copy of a letter to customer service complimenting my crew, and thanking us for not having him removed for being an @sshole.
I would have never believed it, but pax CAN be taught..
..CT