>>reporter: she gave had snowboard to her son for christmas. this ace faith activity over the years and her son alec looked forward to taking the board out for the first time. >> very xaited to go back to school and to use his brand new snowboard. >>reporter: he took united flight from san francisco to maine. that evening he noticed a big rip in his snowboard carrierism this is where the hole is. about where we discovered meadly. never used it. 97 used it. here's the other part of the bag that was damaged as well. it is just torn open. >>reporter: short time later her son noticed damage to the snowboard itself. >> it is bent and then there's a bubble right underneath it and then when we took it to the place where we purchased it they said it would be better if it was replace and not repaired because the integrity of the board is damaged. >>reporter: her son filed a claim with united airlines but was told united didn't cover damage to sports equipment. randy is an attorney based in san rafael. >> certainly the airline would have the right to giv