Shall I sue Air Canada?

In December, I stupidly left my expensive digital camera on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London Heathrow. I had got it out to take snaps of the huge de-icing machines that had to clear the ice off the airplace before we took off, and so had it in front of me.

But, through exhaustion (I started at Vancouver and then spent a few hours at Toronto before just on the second flight) I forgot to grab it when I left the plane.

As soon as I came out of baggage claim (I only had hand luggage so I walked straight through) I suddenly realised I had left the camera on board. So I went straight a policeman nearby to ask if I could get back into baggage claim and so back to the plane. He said no.

So I went straight to the Air Canada desk but no one was there. So I called Air Canada's HQ in Montreal to get an emergency UK number. Nothing. I was given a UK number to call, which I did first thing the next morning and gave all the details possible including my seat number. They didn't have the camera. I called back a fortnight later – I was told there was “nothing to report”.

And so at this point I wrote a letter to Air Canada asking it to confirm the details so I would have evidence of the steps I had gone to in order to prove to my insurance company that I had done as much as I could to get it back.

The response however really annoyed me. It didn't confirm any of what had happened – which is what I wanted – and basically said “tough”. This really annoyed me because if Air Canada staff had been there, I am certain I could have recovered the camera straight away and saved myself no only a huge load of hassle but also the expense and trouble of getting a new camera, not to mention the time I wouldn't have a camera – something that is often vital to my work.

So I replied taking issue with Air Canada's weak response.

They replied basically ignoring everything I said and just reiterating it wouldn't pay me a thing. Which wasn't really what I was after. What I wanted was the company to recognise that its system was wrong.

It also bugged me that the responses I was getting pointed to a system that was clearly open to abuse. It wouldn't take cleaning staff or Air Canada staff or anyone that is in the airplane after the passengers have left, long to figure out that there is no comeback if items go missing.

And it was most likely these weak responses that had meant my camera hadn't been picked up by Air Canada's baggage recovery system. Someone, most likely closely linked to Air Canada is currently enjoying my digital camera because they know they can get away with it.

So I sent another letter outlining this. And I got a response yesterday which basically said “sue us or piss off”.

So the question is: do I sue Air Canada? Do I have sufficient grounds (I think I do)? Is it worth it? Should I do this to try to force a change in the system and so prevent someone else from having to go through this? Or should I simply put it down to experience?

All the letters are reproduced chronologically below:

15 December 2005

Air Canada,
Customer Relations,
Radius Park,
Hutton Cross
TW14 0NJ

SENT BY FAX TO: 0208 750 8495

Dear Sir/Madam,

I lost my digital camera on an Air Canada flight AC 868 from Toronto to London on Sunday 4 December, scheduled to arrive at 9.15pm but, due to conditions at Vancouver arriving at 10.05pm at London Heathrow. I was in seat 36A.

I was unable to report my loss at Heathrow that night as there were no Air Canada staff available. However, I called your Canadian number (001 514 369 0713) at 11.30pm UK time and was advised to call a UK number (020 8564 7440) the next morning.

This I did at 10am. I was called back an hour later, informed no camera had been handed in and was given the report number DPR LNF AC 40126.

I have just called this morning (11am, 15 December) to check if any progress had been made, and was told there was nothing extra to report.

While I am clearly frustrated and upset at the loss of my camera, and would ask that you review your plane cleaning arrangements in place since it was a valuable item and I provided as much help as swiftly as was possible, to no avail, I wish to claim on my travel insurance for its loss.

As such, could you please send me a letter confirming what I have said here to my home address given above. Thank you very much. If you have any queries or wish to discuss anything with me, you can contact me on 01865 2*****.

Yours sincerely,

Kieren McCarthy

[Fax resent with the following heading in bold at the top]

20 December 2005

Please note: This was previously faxed to 0208 750 8495 on 15 December. This number was given to me by an Air Canada representative and appears on your website as the correct number. Having not received a reply, I called again and was advised that “8415” was the correct fax number.

Can you please confirm receipt of this letter. Email address: kierenmccarthy@*******.com. Phone no: 01865 2*****. Thankyou.

03 January 2006

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Thank you for your letter dated 20th December 2005 from which we are sorry to learn that your Digital Camera was mislaid whilst recently travelling on board of our flight.

I have placed a courteous search in our Lost and Found Department at all stations concerned and I can confirm that nothing fitting the description of your missing items have been recovered. Should your property be located in the future, we will contact you immediately.

All Ar Travel is governed by Tariff Regulations. These Regulations preclude liability for cabin baggage or other items that are considered in the passenger's own control and care.

We are sorry that we cannot respond on a more favourable note. However, we would recommend that you discuss the matter with your travel insurance who may be able to help you.

Once again, Mr McCarthy, on behalf of Air Canada I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience you have experienced in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Duflo
Baggage Claims

5 February 2006

Francis Duflo,
Air Canada,
Baggage Claims,
Radius Park,
Hutton Cross
TW14 0NJ

Dear Mr Duflo,

Thankyou for your letter dated 3 January (your ref: 467671) with respect to the loss of my digital camera on your flight AC 868 from Toronto to London on Sunday 4 December.

However I am not satisfied with Air Canada’s response in relation to this theft. My digital camera, a Canon Powershot G3, was left by seat 36A in a padded camera case. It is of significant value yet despite significant efforts on my part, I have received the bare minimum assistance from Air Canada in recovering it.

I realised I had left the camera on board as soon as I had come through baggage claim. I was unable to get back to the plane because of the security. I immediately walked to the Air Canada desk in the adjacent terminal but the desk was shut and there were no representatives of your company around, despite the fact that a plane containing Air Canada customers had just arrived.

There was no notice that provided a telephone number of any other form of contact details. As a result I called the customer services desk in Canada to try to find a way of alerting your staff in the UK. I was given a UK number and told the best thing to do was wait until the morning and call it.

This I did early the next morning. I was issued with a report number (DPR LNF AC 40126) and told that nothing had been handed in. When I had heard nothing a fortnight later, I again called the UK number and was told glibly that there was nothing more to report.

I was told I was not allowed to call customer services direct but would have to fax any requests. I sent a fax on 15 December but when I had heard nothing back five days later, checked and I had been given the wrong fax number. I sent another fax and heard nothing again until your letter arrived.

I do not accept that Air Canada is without liability in this matter. I made timely and extensive efforts to contact your airline’s staff, without result. If staff had been available to deal with customers arriving on your flight when it landed, I am certain I could have recovered my camera with a minimum of fuss.

As it was, the system put in place only enabled me to inform the relevant Air Canada staff nearly 12 hours later. Considering this was an expensive camera (it is worth more than £600), I was appalled at the flippant way with which my request was dealt.

I have no reason to believe Air Canada even carried out a check for my camera. It is quite clear that the system you have in place to recover your customers’ possessions is wide open to abuse, and your failure to act, even when these holes were made apparent to you in my previous letter, is a clear breach of your duty to customers.   

I would ask you to provide me with details of the efforts Air Canada has gone to with respect to locating my camera, an explanation as to why Air Canada does not have representatives available when a flight arrives, an assurance that your system will be reviewed and overhauled to prevent future thefts, and adequate compensation for my loss.

Yours sincerely,

Kieren McCarthy

February 09 2006

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Thank you for your letter dated 05th February, which has been forwarded to me for review.

I can certainly understand how frustrating this experience must have been for you Mr McCarthy, and I may assure you that all allegations concerning missing items are reported and forwarded to the attention of the Managers of the relevant department's concerned and our corporate security office at Toronto.

I can assure you that once the item has been logged as missing in our system, the baggage department at all stations concerned (ie London and Toronto) will search their lost and found for a period of seven days. This is the length of time required by our baggage offices to hold missing items after this any unclaimed items are forwarded to our Central Baggage office in Montreal where they conduct a final search.

Unfortunately as you are already aware hand baggage and other items which are taken into the cabin with the passenger are totally their own responsibility and I am therefore unable to comply with your request for compensation in this matter.

Once again Mr McCarthy, on behalf of Air Canada I apologise for any disappointment you have experienced.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Heath
Customer Relations Coordinator

14 February 2006
Kate Heath,
Customer Relations Co-ordinator,
Air Canada,
Radius Park,
Hutton Cross
TW14 0NJ

Dear Ms Heath,

Thankyou for your letter dated 9 February (your ref: 467671) with respect to the loss of my digital camera on your flight AC 868 from Toronto to London on Sunday 4 December.

Unfortunately, I feel that Air Canada has yet again failed to offer even the minimum of service I could reasonably expect as a customer. I have been provided with no apology for the failings within your system that made recovery of an expensive item of personal property impossible.

Likewise, my requests that you review the existing system of baggage recovery – which is demonstrably flawed and open to abuse – have been ignored.

Not only has a request for compensation for my loss – in which Air Canada’s failure to provide staff when the aircraft arrived was a significant contributory factor – been refused, but by disregarding flaws in the existing system, I am left in no doubt that were the same situation to happen again in future (which it undoubtedly will) that that person would find themselves in the exact same position as myself.

I feel that the unhelpful approach, to the point of wilful neglect, adopted by Air Canada to its customers in this respect, should not go unchallenged.

Allow me to state once again the course of events:

•    I arrived at London Heathrow on Sunday 4 December at 10.05pm.
•    As soon as I had exited baggage claim, I realised I had left my digital camera, a Canon Powershot G3, on the plane by mistake.
•    I was unable to get back due to security, so walked immediately to the Air Canada desk in the adjoining terminal to find a member of staff.
•    The desk was closed and no emergency contact details were visible.
•    I called directory enquiries and received and called a Canadian number (001 514 369 0713) for Air Canada’s customer services in, I believe, Montreal.
•    I supplied full details of my loss, including the flight number and my seat (36A) but was told nothing could be done at the time. I was given a UK number (020 8564 7440) and told to call it in the morning.
•    I called that number the next morning and provided all the details a second time. I was told I would be called back.
•    An hour later, I received a phonecall, was told nothing had been found and was given a report number (DPR LNF AC 40126).
•    When I had heard nothing back 11 days later, I called again and asked for news. I was that there was “nothing extra to report”. I asked for a customer relations telephone number and was told there was only a fax number.
•    I send a fax that same day outlining events, requesting a letter from Air Canada confirming that they were correct, and asking for a review of the system that had clearly not worked in my case.
•    I heard nothing back. So five days later, I attempted to check whether the fax has been received. It was then that I discovered the fax number provided by the Air Canada representative (which also appeared on Air Canada’s website as the correct number) was wrong.
•    I sent a second fax on 20 December, stating in bold at the top of the fax the problem with the fax number and requesting receipt of the fax so I knew this was the correct number. I supplied my telephone number a second time, plus my email address. I received no response.
•    On 5 January, I received a letter dated 3 January, that stated “I have placed a courteous search in our Lost and Found Department at all stations concerned and I can confirm that nothing fitting the description of your missing items have been recovered”. There was no confirmation of the details supplied, only a statement that Air Canada refused to accept any liability for the loss of the camera.
•    I responded to the letter on 5 February outlining my precise complaints with the baggage recovery system and refusing to accept that Air Canada was without liability in the loss of the camera.
•    I received your letter of 9 February, which again failed to acknowledge the details of my loss, or the clear flaws in the system and concerned itself only with a refusal to accept liability or fault.

I do feel that Air Canada is at clear fault in several regards with respect to recovering my property. Not only am I at a personal loss, but a refusal to accept or even discuss clear flaws in the existing system, when I have outlined as extensively as possible what they are, is a breach of duty to customers by Air Canada.

In particular, Air Canada failed in the following respects:

•    There were no Air Canada representatives available at London Heathrow when an Air Canada flight landed. This meant that the fastest and simplest solution to recovering my property was effectively denied me.
•    There was no number provided for emergency contact with Air Canada in the UK.
•    The system in place meant that, despite extensive efforts on my part, Air Canada only became aware of the problem nearly 12 hours later, greatly reducing the likely recovery of my property.
•    Air Canada provided me with no details of its efforts to recovery my property. I was refused direct access to customer services and then provided with the wrong contact fax number. When I located the correct number, a request for receipt of the fax was ignored.
•    By the time I received a formal response from Air Canada it was a full month since I had lost my property.
•    Air Canada refuses to discuss or even acknowledge the problems in baggage recovery, despite being made aware of them at length.

For all these reasons, and others, I do believe that Air Canada possesses liability for the loss of my property.

As such, and considering the bad faith exhibited by Air Canada with respect to this case, I repeat my request for: full details of the efforts Air Canada has gone to in recovering my particular property; an explanation as to why no Air Canada staff were available on my arrival at Heathrow on 4 December; a firm assurance that the existing system will be reviewed and overhauled where necessary; and compensation for my loss and the significant time and resources I have had to expend on this case due to Air Canada’s unhelpful responses.

I hope we are able to settle this matter amicably.

Yours sincerely,

Kieren McCarthy

February 20 2006

Dear Mr McCarthy,

Thank you for your letter dated 15th February. I have thoroughly reviewed this matter and while your disappointment is certainly understandable, I regret that there is nothing further that I can add to that already said.

I can assure you that we do value your patronage and as already stated I can assure you that your comments have been noted and passed to the managers of the departments concerned. However, it is not possible on this occasion to comply with your request for compensation.

I appreciate this further opportunity to review this matter on your behalf and once again wish to extend my sincere apologies for your disappointment.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Heath
Customer Relations Coordinator