Yes, and you can be sure that once the decision is made, you are not getting on the aircraft.
I've searched for bags many times. On a bin loaded flight, it's not quite so bad, in that if the job is done properly you know which bin it's in. can still take a while, depending on the type, you might have to take 3 or 4 bins out to get the one you need, and sod's law says that as you thought you'd finished, another crew has already robbed the bin dollies for their flight, which means going looking for something else to put the bins on, they won't all fit on the high loader
Trouble starts when it's something like a 757 charter flight, they could be anywhere, and there's over 300 bags to be checked. That takes time, depending on how full the hold is, some bags have to come out to make room to get to the rest of them, the hold is not exactly easy to work or move in. If you're really lucky, and know what order the bags went on in, and the operator is one that has the tags recorded, then you've an idea where it is, and which end of the aircraft to start at. Otherwise, it can be a 45 minute job.
I'd love to see carriers surcharge late passengers with the
full cost of the delay, it can be very high, especially if a slot has been missed, the knock on effect of a delay on Friday can sometimes last till Tuesday on a busy charter aircraft if the delay is more than a short one.
I've known Monarch at DUB operate over 2 hours late all weekend because they missed a slot on Friday morning because some
eejit was in the bar, and didn't realise his flight had closed. By the time we'd taken out 5 cans to get at the 6th, found the bags and put it all back, the aircraft ended up taking a 3 hour slot delay. That lasted all weekend, so over 2400 passengers were inconvenienced because of one inconsiderate as
e!