complaint letter(s) update :)

It has been a fair bit of time since my myriad of complaint letters were sent off into the ether with an enraged shove and I figured it time for an update.

This little gem that I sent off to Air Canada got me 20% off my next flight and refunded food, clothing, and luggage credits:

AC8157 Yellowknife to Calgary. We had an unscheduled stop and deplaned and changed planes in Edmonton – based on the reaction of the pilot and our flight staff, this was not planned. Our plane was sent to Winnipeg and we were given a plane that went mechanical. In Edmonton we were delayed several hours without any explanation or meal compensation – there was an option on the Air Canada website where I paid $7 for a meal option on each section of my flight. There was nothing offered on this flight in the form of meal/snack other than a free bag of pretzels. Why is this option offered and encouraged but not honoured? Our plane worked perfectly and yet it was taken away from us and sent to Winnipeg, why?

Edmonton to Calgary – I spoke to the customer service desk in Edmonton regarding being worried about making my connecting flight. The agent would not give me any information about the cause or expected duration of the delay. She would also not guarantee that I would have a seat on a future flight should I miss my flight. I spent the entire flight delay trying to purchase a ticket on my smart phone to insure that I could be home for Christmas – this was not possible because of the quality of the wireless at the airport. Arrived in Calgary at 7:15pm but could not physically get to the gate of my connecting flight leaving at 7:30pm despite running to the gate. I was given a hotel room at The Radisson and $20 voucher for the airport. Unlike some other passengers I was not given a food voucher for the hotel, so my dinner (which I should have got on the plane because I signed up for the onboard meal option but neither flight offered a meal or snack) was out of pocket. I was given a spot on the 7am flight. 

AC134 or AC107 Calgary to Toronto – The flight left late and we were told that the number of passengers was restricted because we were overloaded with cargo. While sitting on the tarmac, our plane was notified that we would be also stopping in Regina, making our flight Calgary-Regina-Toronto-Ottawa. When we landed in Regina the 20 minute stop turned into an hour and we were forced to deplane. There was no meal on the plane and we were not compensated with meal vouchers. I was told that because of the duration of the flight my meal icon on my ticket would not be honoured. 

Arrival in Toronto – When I arrived in Toronto, my bags were nowhere to be found. That was also the case for everyone else who got off our flight. The only exception was someone who got on the plane in Regina and sat across the aisle from me in row 11. He loaded up a cart and took all of his bags to a box van waiting outside the double doors beside baggage carousel 1. When I spoke to baggage, at first they didn’t even know we stopped in Regina. Upon further exploration by a very nice man, it was determined that the only bags taken off our flight in Toronto were the 6 or 7 priority bags that I watched loaded onto the box van. It took 20 hours for my bags to be returned to me - for which I was not compensated - and although there was no external damage to my baggage upon closer inspection an Inuit carving that I brought down from Gjoa Haven , Nunavut with me as a gift was broken into several pieces despite being wrapped and packed appropriately in its own box within a Rubbermaid tub. This tells me that my baggage was not handled appropriately despite the fragile stickers placed visibly on the tub.

I understand that Christmas is a busy time of year with a large volume of passengers flying on your planes. I also understand that mechanical issues arise and cause delay. My experience flying with Air Canada this holiday season cannot be played off by the volume of passengers or merely mechanical issues. Our plane was targeted to receive the short end of the stick. We were made the plane that would get all the delays so that everything else would run smoothly. I understand that, it's sound business practice to upset a few people to benefit many. It is my understanding that only a fraction of the people upset will actually file a complaint and from those people most will accept the initial apologetic response given by customer service. I am not one of those people. I want compensation for all the meals I had to purchase out of pocket because your meal program wasn't honoured. I want all of my money refunded from that online meal option I put on all of my tickets. I want the meal purchase option removed from the flights offered to Yellowknife because they are offered under false pretenses. (Furthermore, I flew back to Yellowknife AC8138 on December 31st on Air Canada and although the flights were on time, the meals that I prepaid for were not honoured. Now, this may not have been a serious issue for me but what would have happened if I was diabetic or hypoglycemic?) I also want an explanation as to why our plane was sent to Winnipeg and why we were given a broken plane. Where did my luggage actually go and why? I want compensation for the outfit I had to buy to go to the Christmas party the night I arrived in Toronto with no luggage. And finally, I want at least ONE good reason I should give you my business again. 

In the past, I have booked with you because Air Canada has provided fair ticket prices and convenient flight times and I’m sure your company will continue to provide fair ticket prices and convenient flight times, however, I will be exploring my options the next time I book a flight because I would rather pay higher ticket prices than have an experience similar to the one I just had. 

I am attaching a copy of my flight itinerary so that you can see that I am not exaggerating about the delays, mistreatment, lack of food, and lost luggage.

My goal with this letter was to receive a credit of about $500. Mission complete.


And the rant/love letter that I sent to Canada Goose (it can only be described as such because I took the position of "I love your product but in order to make it perfect you must make these few changes...") as detailed in a previous post garnered me a custom made parka hood for my Mystique parka with proper hood ties. The package is currently in Edmonton and when I get it in my hands I will post pictures. Now, I'm going strictly by the short letter of response to my email, I'm not sure if there will be anything else in the box. My goal in writing this letter of love/complaint was slightly more ambitious. In a perfect world, I wanted Canada Goose to give me credit and royalties in the new parka design as well as a free or significantly reduced Polar Bears International Camp Hoodie (I implied that it would be my next purchase regardless of the outcome of the letter but that I worried that I would have to make some sort of alteration to make the hoodie appropriate for the Arctic - sneaky, I know).  I was also kind of hoping to become one of Canada Goose's "Goose People" one of the beautifully accomplished Canada Goose wearing people that are featured on the CG website.


Finger's are crossed for my Canada Goose pandora package.  

Regardless of the contents of the box, though, I'm ahead.  So the next time you're stewing about terrible customer service or a faulty product, don't just natter at your friends and family or try to salt your facebook friends against the company.  WRITE A LETTER.  It will take ten minutes of your valuable rant time to scratch/type out your beef and another ten minutes to make it classy (name calling doesn't win friends).  Those 20 minutes will immediately make you feel better and will probably result in something free.  What's not to love about free?  Remember to lead in with how long you've been a happy customer and hit them low with how disappointed you were with your last experience... provide detailed proof (names, dates, and times) and make sure to keep the baseless accusations to a minimal.  Mr. Massey at Sherwood High School had a point when he said as soon as you call names in a debate you lose your argument.  Don't be the frustrated, helpless child calling the bully a stupid head.  You're better than that.

I'm not always successful, however.  My last letter, a quick rant to Body Shop about not qualifying for free shipping due to my postal code resulted on a head pat and a link to the fine print.  

Meh, it happens.

Happy Ranting!