Sunday, November 16, 2008

God, Air Canada sucks.

My everyday hate for Air Canada - which I share with most Canadians, it seems - has today reached murderous new depths.

I sit here writing this in a cheap Best Western airport hotel, where I have been forced to stay for the night (on a travel voucher) because of Air Canada's spectacular incompetence. I had three flights booked home from Conference City to Scary City - an epic day. I won't get into the boring details, but I was bumped off the second leg of my trip, and can't now get home until tomorrow. This makes me miss both of my classes tomorrow, at a crucial time in the term, with work coming in from them. It means Diamond is without me for another night, and the cat sitter isn't coming in. I don't have any clean socks or underwear left, nor any comfortable clothes. I don't even have any toothpaste left.

The rage I feel is pretty strong. Not least because the people around me were given flight vouchers, and I wasn't. The customer service agent just shook his head sorrowfully at me until I wanted to strangle him. Due to some arbitrary technicality, they are calling mine a "missed connection," when it wasn't. I was there, at the gate, while they were boarding the flight, but they wouldn't let me board. Everything that happened is their fault, and others got compensation, but this bullshit means I didn't. God, I'm angry. This is simply too much.

9 comments:

PG said...

I hope you're writing a long complaint letter. Air Canada sucks!

Amanda K Allen said...

I once had to throw an absolute tantrum to get on an Air Canada flight. We're talking tears, hysterical yelling, the works. This is very much not my personality, and the poor airport people certainly shouldn't have had to deal with me, but it seemed to be the only way to get on the flight.

It seems that, with Air Canada (and Westjet... and American Airlines... and United... and US Airways --obviously I've been doing some crazy annoying traveling lately) we have to become the terrible people we hate to get the seats WE HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to change this situation, other than not flying.

Sympathy to you.

grumpyABDadjunct said...

You have had a hell of a week my dear! You either need to take up karate, so you can kick some ass, or meditation, so you can let it all go. Perhaps both.

Hang in there, some sunshine must break through the clouds soon. If nothing else it is almost the end of term.

Michael LeVan said...

I hope you make it back with your sanity intact.

Hilaire said...

Psychgrad - Yeah, I thought about an epic complaint letter, but I am sure, judging by people's litany of compaints about them, that they get hundreds of letters a day. That have absolutely no effect.

PFDG - You know, I actually like Westjet a lot, and I *always* fly them when I can. They weren't an option because my conference was in a US city that they don't serve. But I'm been extremely pleased with Westjet, I have to say...

Grumpy - I like the idea of taking up both!

m(mmm) - Yeah, I'm back now, safe and sound. Never thought I'd be so happy to get to Scary City.

Anyway, I have become determined to make an even stronger effort to avoid Air Canada. I.e. if I'm flying to Europe, I'll fly Westjet to some other city where I can get a European carrier. I don't want to give Air Canada another penny. I was already feeling pretty uncharitable about them, anyway. This pushes it over the edge.

The Clever Pup said...

I'd visit Germany more often but the Lufthansa/Air Canada partnership is a joke. (There's nothing Lufthansa about it)

The thought of flying into JFK or Heathrow to transfer would throw me into a fit.

AND I'm getting more and more claustrophobic. I guess I'll have to stay put or drink alot.

Brenda said...

I feel your pain - I loathe, hate and despise Air Canada. I plan most of my air travel around where Westjet flies.

I did send in a complaint to Air Canada once through their online complaint service and did get a response. Took several weeks, but it might work. If only to relieve your outrage.

Sara said...

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOW does AIRRRRRRRRRRR canada suck!!!!!!!!!!
I booked my vacation with my boyfriend online with Air Canada Vacations to the Dominican Republic. First of all I had bad experience with the customer service over the phone when trying to book a seat, they were extremely unprofessional.
Next we get to the Dominican but BOTH our luggage is misssing! BOTH, what are the odds! On a direct flight from Montreal! Then the Air Canada rep was totally useless and rude, would not call lost & found, he refused!!!!!!!!!! I could not believe it, now could the resort's hotel manager. My sister back home had to do his job and after calling six different numbers someone finally told her they do not know where our luggage was!
I had liquid medication in my bag that I was not aloud to bring in my carryon so I began to panic. The next day, all the rep seemed to be interestedin was whether we would buy a tour with him! He would not even call the local airport for us! They told my sister that we would get our luggae the next day and we got nothing, then the day after that and nothing. Had I known we weren't going to get our luggage I would have bought my meds but it was too late, at 2 am on thursday i was rushed to the clinic and got a needle in my behind after two days of pain. Horrified, that's what I was. I had to keep taking meds for the rest of my trip.
The fact that they lied to us made me sick to my stomach and all the people on board with us were shocked and outraged! We arrived on Sunday morning to the Dominican airport just to learn that air canada delayed the flight because they FORGOT TO PUT WATER ON THE PLANE! come one for the love of God! I was starting law school the next morning at 8 a.m. and this was the vacation from hell!! At that airport, Air Canada said our luggage is waiting for us in Montreal. On board the flight attendants said they brought our luggage to the Dominican! What on earth, can't they get something right!? In Montreal they told us it cannot have been on that flight, but surely enough they flew it down to Dominican just to come back to Montreal!
When I retrieved our luggage it was totally damaged, my father-in-law is a journalist and took plenty of pictures (wheels broken, zippers broken...) stuff were missing and my products leaked all over my clothes. If that was not enough all they want to give us is 20% off my next flight BUT it must be within the next 12 months and not in combination with any reward miles... When I try to call them there is no answer, when I call customer service and lost luggage they don't know what I'm talking about. The lady that had called me with the 20% rebate even gave me a wrong number!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This disaster is going into 6 newspapers next week!

On top of that, one of my professors said that according to Quebec's Civil Code, their clauses to limit their responsibility go against the law! And he told the entire class about one of his cases where an Air Canada baggage truck crashed into a small plane that was taking off! My parents-in-law missed their fcruise because an air canada pilot was drunk and the flight was canceled. And last week they lost my sister's luggage! Never flying with them again and that's a promise!!!!

Oh and I forgot, the lady named Lisa Hope from Air canada said they remove baggages when there are too many! OMG!

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