Jan Ogden didn’t recognize her brand new suitcase during its first turn around the baggage carousel: gaping holes on either side, the fabric stained and mangled, the clothes inside filthy and shredded.
Somehow, during her five-hour Air Canada flight from Ottawa to Edmonton on Dec. 19, the luggage had been ruined.
Some of the clothes inside the suitcase were shredded and covered with what appeared to be burn holes. (Jan Ogden )
“I remember kind of looking at it. We really didn’t recognize it as our suitcase,” Ogden said in an interview with CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM.
“And then as it went around, we both kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Oh my God. That’s our suitcase.’ “
Ogden and her husband went directly to the baggage claim counter, where the suitcase became the centre of attention.
Staff and fellow travellers flocked around the bag, snapping photos and offering theories.
The suitcase was a write-off. A couple items of clothing were also destroyed, the rest needing dry-cleaning to remove the dirt that had made its way inside. Two small Christmas gifts were broken.
“The gentleman there was shocked and he started our claim for us. I mean people all through the airport were staring at this suitcase,” Ogden said.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve travelled, and I’ve travelled quite a bit.”
‘Covered in dirt and black stuff’
Ogden says airline staff thought the bag may have fallen off one of the carts used to haul luggage across the tarmac and become caught up in the under carriage, then dragged at full speed across the runway.
No one had an explanation for gaping holes.
“It was certainly dragged because it was just covered in dirt and black stuff,” Ogden said. “I had people say it looked like it was out of a war zone.”
Ogden asked that the luggage be replaced, but the agent told her if they needed a suitcase for the return flight, they could get one on when they returned to the airport after their holiday in Edmonton.
“Now when I think about it, why wouldn’t they just give us a suitcase then and there in case we needed another one?
“We probably didn’t ask all the questions we probably should have because we were just in disbelief that this had happened.”
Ogden was given a voucher to the store in Edmonton contracted by Air Canada to replaced damaged luggage.
Her husband went to the store, but the store refused to order one to match their suitcase set.
Her frustrated husband went back to the airport for a visit to the baggage claim counter.
“He said it was just like starting over again. They guy didn’t have a clue. He had no information. He knew nothing. So I thought, oh my goodness.”
‘Holy crow, is that the best they could do?’
Since that latest trip to the airport customer service counter, Ogden has spent hours on the phone trying to get through to an Air Canada’s agent.
She wants compensation for the damages and warn other travellers to keep their valuables out of their checked luggage.
“I’m lucky that I didn’t have things missing,” she said.
“Somebody obviously picked this suitcase up in the condition it was in. They didn’t put in a plastic bag, they didn’t label it in any way … and it was basically just thrown on a conveyor belt with the rest of the suitcases.
“It’s like Holy crow, is that the best they could do? Wow.”
In a statement emailed to CBC News, Air Canada apologized for the damage caused to Odgen’s luggage.
“We are sorry for the damage caused to this customer’s bag,” reads the statement. “We have a process to repair or replace damaged bags and will be in touch with the customer to advise them of the necessary steps to resolve this matter.”
Despite the apology, Ogden remains skeptical that she’ll end her Christmas holiday a satisfied customer.
“It’s just typical. We’ve lost luggage before and you go to the counter they tell you, ‘Oh yeah, everything is going to be fine. It will all work out.’ And it doesn’t.
“What they tell you and what you actually have to deal with are two different things.”