So when mom arrived, I went to the airport to pick her up and when I got to her she was standing outside one the sidewalk with just her backpack. I just thought that she's been unable to drag it out from the baggage claim - what with her new knee being only a month old. I thought she had left it and needed me to run in and get it.
Nope.
Mom said that all the passengers has waited for ages for their luggage then got stunned when the carousel stopped turning. A few minutes after that an announcement came on that the luggage from Sandspit had been left behind (On purpose) because a huge load of fish had priority!
So, they'd been told where to go to register their luggage claim and, after much furor were at least informed that the bags would be in the next plane and would be delivered to our door.
Naturally, though, the next plane was overfull and the luggage did not show up at the scheduled time.
So then we started phoning about it. Every phone call of the many we made to the delivery company started with gratuitous sorries for the inconvenience (ugh!) and ended with absolutely no information.
Air Canada does not track the luggage in any way. In fact, they contract out the luggage delivery - so the complaints calls don't even go directly to them. Grrr.
In the end we phoned Sandspit airport itself and they gave us the Sandspit Air Canada direct number. It was from them that we finally found out that the luggage was all still sitting in a locked room there, in Sandspit airport, awaiting some extra room on a plane. This meant that another 2 planes had flown from Sandspit without all that left-behind luggage! it was About 36 hrs later! Grrowl.
Momma was NOT happy and we were all totally getting a giant hate-on for Air Csnada. I told them that their service was terrible and substandard and that I thought that the govt should have let them succumb to being out competed and allowed to go bankrupt.
So without mom's bag and thus no appropriate clothes, we went shopping at a thrift store to at least get her an outfit to wear to Margeurite's funeral/memorial.
Anyhow, we FINALLY got a phone call last night that the bags were in Vancouver and would be delivered between 9:30-11:30 pm.
We were pretty happy to hear that, but I was starting to be skeptical so didn't really relax until, lo and behold, the can arrived at 11pm.
But the story doesn't quite end there because mom was sleeping when they arrived, but the guys' slamming the van door woke her up and she knew instantly that it was her suitcase and she got out of bed and wandered out to get it. I saw her out of the corner of my eye (I'd been waiting up) and dashed out onto the patio to shoo her back indoors because she looked like a half-naked sleepwalker.
Now the story is over. Her bag is safely here and we will have it to take to Kamloops.
Whew! Now all that's left is trying to worm some compensation out of nasty Air Canada. Gawd, how I wish there was another airline doing the Haida Gwaii runs. Need some competition there.