Dodgy airport check-in luggage scales

[Mattg]

I just checked in for a flight at the Swiss counter at ZRH. When I placed my suitcase on the scales, the reading was 25.4kg.

Now, I thought that was rather strange because I know that my suitcase weighs between 17 and 18kg. It has been that weight for my last several flights and I haven't added anything to it since then.

I told the lady that the scales must be wrong, and she insisted that this wasn't the case and my bag was too heavy to check in. So, I removed my bag and placed it on the neighbouring luggage belt, which said my bag was 17.6kg.

This satisfied the checkin agent that my bag was in fact not overweight, and bizarrely, when I placed my suitcase back onto the original belt, it returned a reading of 17.9kg. The lady didn't apologise or anything, just shrugged her shoulders and said "strange". The rest of the checkin process was uneventful.

If this was a one-off, I wouldn't think anything more of it. Except that the gentleman checking in before me was also told that his bag was overweight and given a lecture to make sure it's within the limit next time.

Are there not certain standards to ensure airport luggage scales are accurate, especially if airlines are using this information to either refuse your checkin luggage or to charge you handsomely for every extra kilogram?

 

[Mwenenzi]

Reads like a sticky load cell.

6 Common Causes of Load Cell Malfunction

Load cells are at the heart of how a weighing system works. Their technology has been refined to be as precise as possible. Today’s load cells calculate non-intrusive, highly accurate load measurement data. And when they are calibrated well, their accuracy measures around 0.03 to 1%. Load cells...

activescale.com

Faulty Load Cells? 5 Common Problems & Solutions

Do you have faulty load cells? Here are five common problems & solutions with strain gauges or cell bodies. Arlyn Scales will help find the answer to inaccurate weighing systems.

www.arlynscales.com

Am 99.999% sure EU & Swiss will have weights and measures testing requirements. Reading low could be dangerous to aircraft weight. But expect would be weighed again to load.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not the first time. Has happened to me before. The checkin agent even said just lift it off and redo. The weight was different. I check against adjacent scales like you - Also different

 

[jb747]

She was resting her foot on the scale….

 

[Forg]

I’d packed with extra stuff for a work long-weekend away, so wasn’t awfully surprised when weighing my carry-on sized bag in the check-in queue and it was something like 7.2kg … other workmates had checked their bags so we were going to be waiting for checked luggage anyway, so to avoid potential problems I figured I’d check mine … the check-in scales said 5.7kg. I guess that’s not a huge diff compared to 20kg or 23kg or 30kg, but as a percentage it’s a fairly big variance.

 

[p--and--t]

I have noticed in the past on more than one trip I checked in a bag on one sector, collected it on arrival and checked it in again for the next sector without opening it and the weight was distinctly different. Luckily each occasion under the limit.

 

[AIRwin]

Reminds me of this previous thread:

How Accurate Are Luggage Scales At Airports?

When I weigh my luggage, I use two techniques. Most accurate is weighing myself on scales, then weighing myself with scales and suitcase, and finding the difference. Less accurate is using digital hand scales, which requires a bit of technique, and I calibrate against my first more accurate...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Quickstatus]

weight was distinctly different.

Reminds me of a certain traveller and boogie board

 

[Sprucegoose]

Are there not certain standards to ensure airport luggage scales are accurate

Yes, indeed. I don't pay for excess baggage - ask to see the calibration certificates, the engineering department and challenge everything!

The checkin agent even said just lift it off and redo. The weight was different

If only it were that easy with the home scales!

he was resting her foot on the scale

Tell her to back off

Reminds me of a certain traveller and boogie board

Maybe our darling girl needed the oversize drop off?

 

[Mattg]

Thinking more about this, I find it odd that of all the airports this would happen in Switzerland where they are famous for their precision!

She was resting her foot on the scale….

Haha - in this case, I could clearly see that her feet were not on the scales. That could be a clever way for an airline like Ryanair to extract extra money though.

 

[jxv]

Checking in on BA at ZRH in early November I noticed our bags both were over 20 kg, while a few days earlier they were 17 and 18 kg at BUD and we had not done any significant shopping.

It is remarkable that you had a similar experience at ZRH!