Air Canada Grievance: Results Still Up in the Air

I think a lot of people are aware of my Air Canada gripes as of late.  It's a long story that I haven't really felt like talking about, so I decided to just post it on my blog.  Here is my original message I sent on September 3rd, which shall now become an open letter to Air Canada:

On August 16^th, my husband and I had such a string of horrible experiences with our return Air Canada flight that I’m not even sure where to begin.  We flew from Windsor to Toronto (7748) and then Toronto to Hong Kong (015).  This was my first time flying with Air Canada and to say I’m not impressed would be putting it lightly. 

First, you will note that we already have a 20% discount credit on our file because shortly after our flight was booked, the price dropped significantly (over $1000 CDN per person) and we were refused compensation, as per standard practice.  That discount was offered as a gesture of goodwill and we appreciate it. 

Shortly before our July 10^th flight, we decided to use the online booking management tool to book ourselves into the Maple Leaf Lounge during our long layover in Vancouver.  Somehow, that booking ended up on our return flight in Toronto, where we only had a 2.5 hour layover and would have no use for the lounge.  No one in Hong Kong could help me so I contacted the booking office in Canada.  I spent nearly an hour total on the phone (long distance from Hong Kong) before being told I’d have to ask in Vancouver but it shouldn’t be a problem to make the switch.  Upon arrival in Vancouver, we were ushered from person to person before finally being brought to a courtesy phone to call the same number I’d already called from Hong Kong.  Nearly 4 hours after landing, we finally found ourselves in the Maple Leaf Lounge. 

Weeks later, we checked in at the Windsor airport for our return flight and were told we could not be provided with seat numbers for our pre-paid preferred exit row seats for the long haul and we would have to ask when we got to Toronto.  We always book exit row seats when we travel because my husband is 6’3’’ so he does not have enough room for his legs in a standard seat.  15+ hours is a long time to fly without adequate legroom.  Also, I suffer from claustrophobia and very strongly prefer to be near a window. 

When we approached the customer service booth in Toronto, we dealt with a very curt woman named Donna.  She informed us that we had cancelled our booking that morning in Windsor.  We insisted that we didn’t so she called someone to check.  While on the phone, she then told us that we’d cancelled our return flight on July 11^th.  After another minute on the phone, she informed us that our seats had been cancelled on Air Canada’s end and it wasn’t our fault, but she still offered no apologies or viable solutions.  She said our seats had already been sold again and there was nothing she could do.  Donna then told us that our options were to take two standby seats (in the middle rows, where my husband simply won’t fit and I would have felt anxious) or stay overnight in Toronto (making me miss my first day back at work).  We asked about the flight leaving later that day and transferring through Vancouver but she refused to even look at that one for us.  We debated going the next day but she wouldn’t even put us up for the night in a Toronto hotel since technically, at this point, we were just flying on standby and Air Canada had no obligation to us.

I was feeling very frustrated and started crying (it is of note that the lady at the customer service counter beside us was also crying).  Donna simply looked at me and told me I was “clearly mentally unfit to fly” and that I should just stay in Toronto.  That was a highly inappropriate thing to say.  She then ushered us away from her desk by handing us the standby tickets and saying, “This is it.  These are your options. Deal with it.”

We proceeded to the gate with our seats in the standard middle rows, hoping someone there could figure out our problem.  When we arrived at the gate (less than 5 minutes later), we went to the desk and found there were new tickets issued for us with our original seats on them.  Our flight was then delayed nearly an hour as someone had already taken our “standby” baggage off the flight, as per Donna’s request, and it had to be put on again.  (And when we received our bags in Hong Kong, they all had standby tags on them.)  At this point, we chalked it all up to Donna’s incompetency.

As it turned out, our booking truly had been cancelled or severely tampered with.  I am a strict vegetarian and therefore booked the vegetarian meal on the flight.  All the other vegetarian passengers received their vegetarian meals prior to the regular food service.  When I asked about mine, they didn’t have me on record, I assume because of the “cancellation”.  Yet, all the way from Hong Kong to Windsor, I had been served my vegetarian meals with no problem and it is printed clearly on my itinerary.  The cabin crew was very kind and did their best to accommodate me, but this basically meant I spent 15+ hours subsisting on a carrot stick, a piece of broccoli, a few pieces of pepper and a bun for the first meal, nothing for the second meal, and a croissant and fruit cup for the last meal. 

We have received a refund for the Maple Leaf Lounge on July 11^th, which is good because we were robbed of nearly half our time in there.  We also got a refund for our preferred seating on August 16^th, as standby passengers don’t have to pay the extra fees.

We do, however, feel we deserve more, for the emotional turmoil this experience put us through, the delay because of the way in which our bags were handled, the lack of food on the plane, and the rude, unprofessional attitude of Donna.

We would appreciate at least an additional 20% added on to our current discount code, totaling 40%, and the deadline extended until January 2016, so we can visit our families again within a realistic timeframe.  Otherwise, we really can’t use the discount at all, as it currently expires in June 2015 and we won’t be able to take a trip home before this point.  We are young newlyweds working in Hong Kong, away from our families, and we are usually able to fly home once every 2 years to see our parents in Windsor because it is too expensive to go more often than that. This would allow us to go next summer or next Christmas and give Air Canada a second try.

After recieving nothing but an automated email message and 40 long distance minutes worth of an on hold recording stating something to the effect of, "Your call is important to us.  We are the number one airline in North America" (um, that's not saying much), I wrote this on their Facebook page:

I lodged a complaint (and it was a big one) on September 3rd and was told it would take 15 business days for a response. That turnaround in and of itself is not an appropriate response time when dealing with distressed customers, but based on my Air Canada experiences, I understand you likely have MANY complaints to deal with. I tried to be patient, but now those 15 business days have come and gone and I've heard no word from Air Canada. I just want to know when my email will be answered because the compensation I'm expecting from this has become a bit of a time-sensitive issue. I tried to call the only number listed on your website. After being on hold for over 40 minutes, long distance, I was informed that it was the wrong number to call for such matters. However, the man on the phone couldn't seem to give me any other number to call and said I'd have to email.

So, if I have this right, the only way to find out when my email will be answered is to email again with a new 15 day queue? First, this is just a blatently inefficient way to communicate and second, do you see the ridiculous paradox in communication this would create if people have to email a new message to see when their first one will be answered?

I'm hoping that whoever moderates the Facebook group can just kindly inbox me so I can give you my booking reference to enable a check of exactly when I should expect my response email. That's realy all I want. Well, that, and I'd like to somehow get back the 15 horrible hours I spent aboard my last Air Canada flight.

I got a very quick response from a social media liaison and my email was finally answered within a few hours.  The social media Air Canada people rock!  However, the email I recieved was an unhelpful cut-and-paste:

We value our customers and work to meet or exceed their expectations every day.  Our employees are expected to perform their duties in a courteous, friendly and efficient manner with a full appreciation of our customers’ needs.  Air Canada recognizes the value of customer satisfaction and we continually monitor and address the performance levels you should expect to receive from us.Your email is a clear indication of your disappointment and we apologize for the poor impression we have created.  Please be assured that although we have not addressed your concerns in detail, I am pleased to bring your valuable comments to the attention of our senior management team.

And then I recieved an additional 20% discount coupon for only one person (there are two of us involved in this mess) with an expiry date that makes it impossible for me to use it.  Last correspondence from me to them:
I appreciate you responding to my complaint, but, as I stated in my original message, I already have a 20% promo code from a previous incident.  Truthfully, based on my own horrible experiences and things I have read by other mistreated customers, I'm hesitant to travel with Air Canada once more in the next year, let alone twice.  Also, it is very expensive, even with the discount, and making two trips to Canada from Hong Kong (where I currently live) is not really possible within the next year.  Since I now have two 20% promotion codes that I can't use, would it be possible to combine them into one 40% promotion code instead?  This would afford my husband and I the opportunity to go home for Christmas for the first time in 6 years and that is a promotion code we could truly use.

I am now impatiently awaiting results.

Travelling with Baggage

“Life’s too short, babe.  Time’s a flying.  I’m looking for baggage that goes with mine.”  -Mimi, Rent   

I travel a lot so I’m an expert at stuffing more than you can imagine into my suitcase for long trips.  I also know that, in all reality, I can pack very lightly; I only need a bikini, a few sundresses, and my SPF 100 for any trip less than a week.  My carry-on always contains my MP3 player, Kobo, camera and Ultrabook because, well, we are living in a technological world and I’m a technological girl.  I also know that despite what all the regulations state, no one is ever going to weigh or measure my carry-on.  If my luggage gets damaged on flights, I know how to contact the airline for repairs.  If (God forbid) it should ever get lost, I keep a photocopy of my passport with my address and phone number written on it so I will be easy to track down. I am like a well-oiled machine.  I’ve got this baggage thing down!

I know people view me as a globetrotting free spirit… and yes, that’s true.  People wistfully say things to me all the time like, “I could never do what you do.” And then they put up roadblocks and hurdles to fulfill their own prophecy.  I’m hoping this blog entry can inspire people to tear down their roadblocks and jump those hurdles.  Don’t let anything hold you back from your dreams, whatever those dreams may be. 

Confession: Oh man, do I ever have baggage that cannot be checked or stored in the overhead compartment.  This suitcase has a luggage tag labelled “Pandora”, but let’s go ahead and open it anyway:  I have generalized anxiety disorder (with debilitating panic attacks) and obsessive compulsive disorder.  Whew!  That sure is some heavy baggage I lug around the world with me!

Most of the time, I’m fine.  These are things I’m very used to and I’ve been dealing with for most of my life.  Lately, I haven’t been okay though.  I got stuck in an elevator a few months ago on the 38^th floor and that triggered everything negative inside of me to come rushing to the surface.  Since then, I’ve been unable to shake this feeling that transits between moderate uneasiness and complete dread.  I have a silent freak-out every time I set foot in an elevator now (I live on the 39^th floor and my school is 8 stories high, so daily).  And there are these constant catastrophic “what if” scenarios running through my head about pretty much everything.  I’m living in fear of life and that is unacceptable.  I’ll be okay.  Yes, I feel like I’ve reverted back to my 18 year old tragic mess of a self, but I know this will pass. 

Panic attacks come at the most inopportune times.  Scuba diving, for example, is a very bad time to have a panic attack.  I liken diving to what it must be like to go to space.  The ocean floor is a giant expanse of unexplored vastness where you are removed from the world, feel particularly small and even experience gravity differently.  One of my favourite views is that of looking up at the surface from the bottom of the sea.  It’s incredible.  But not this time.  Last month in Malaysia, I was 25 metres down at the bottom of the ocean when a cold sweat poured over my body and a mini existential crisis swam through my mind.  When did the ocean become so darn big?  And blue?  I had no choice but to silently work through it as I swam along a coral reef.  (When diving, you have to follow a dive plan and can’t just pop up to the top whenever you feel like it.  The changes in pressure and air can make you very sick if you don’t follow protocol.)

These past few weeks, I’ve been consumed with the news of Malaysian Airlines flight 370.  The first few days, I just sat there and robotically refreshed the news on the internet.  It was very unhealthy.  Then I took two days off work because it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, ripping my heart out and I didn’t want to leave the apartment.  I don’t know if it has hit me so hard because I was already in a vulnerable state or because it is so literally close to home.  Or maybe it’s because I just returned from Malaysia a week before this incident.  I keep thinking about the families involved and what they must be going through and hoping it never has to be like that for my family.  I also keep thinking about what the passengers must have been going through.  I know that next time I get on a plane (in 3 weeks today), that regular fear that grips me is going to feel much more suffocating than usual. 

Aside from the situational and explainable anxiety, it has pretty much been the steady state of my mind for the past few months.  Even when I'm happy and the anxiety is not bubbling over, it is still in a gentle boil on the backburner, right below the surface.

But I’ll be okay.    

Here’s what I’ve learned from my decades of battling mental illness:

-Be patient with yourself

-Take a break.  That’s okay now and then.  But don’t let your whole life become a break.  You don’t want to end up like the Ediths of Grey Gardens.    

-It’s okay to allow yourself to feel anxious or to give in to the compulsions sometimes.  If you try to block those feelings, they just become even more persistent (like when someone says “don’t think about a pink elephant”… you know you’re going to).  But know when to tell yourself no.   

-Keep a sense of humour.  Humour solves everything.  Seriously.

-Find soothing distractions: mine are swimming, writing and chocolate. (Note to self: substitute chocolate with swimming more often or this will not end well.)

-Find support.  You don’t have to do this alone (unless you want to).  I like to be alone, but it helps to talk to friends about it now and then.

-There are going to be enough people and circumstances in life that try to keep you down or hold you back.   You shouldn’t be one of them.  I want to travel, explore and do everything, so that’s what I’m going to do. 

-Gratitude: appreciate the good things and focus on those, even if they are small in comparison. 

-Face your fears.  If you have actual, concrete things you're afraid of, just face it or you're giving the fear the power.  (Unless it's something actually dangerous, then use your common sense and don't do it.)  

  

-Live your life anyway.  Sometimes I just ignore how I'm feeling and do things anyway.  I have to, otherwise, how would I live my awesome life?

-It will pass.  It always does.   

I guess my point in all this is that travelling the world is not always as easy as I make it look.  I’m a mess right now.  But if I can do this, anyone can!

Embrace the world anyway!

Hair

I did my grade 6 speech on hair and I still remember my ultra-cheesey opening line.  I would like to start this blog entry the same way:

*Enter 11 year old child with enough hair to provide an entire nation with weaves*

"Classmates, parents, and teachers, I would like to talk with you today about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind: my hair!"

Return to present day:

I have never run into this in Canada, but in Hong Kong, stylists always rudely tell me that my hair is damaged.  It’s not (well, it wasn’t before they got their hands on it).  I have naturally curly hair.  Like, REALLY curly.  That means its texture is very coarse.  Coarse hair tends to be dry.  I’m just never going to have shiny, silky, Chinese hair… and I’m ok with that.  I usually like my hair (just not lately).  The great thing about my hair is that I can douse it in Moroccan oil, straighten it and then leave it for a few weeks.  Or I can let it dry naturally out of the shower and end up with fancy curls that people would pay good money for.  My hair is very low maintenance and rarely needs washing.     

I’m not a natural blonde.  (Shocker, right?)  The whole blonde thing happened as the result of a series of major changes in my life.  I guess I was just ready for a new start.  However, I did have more fun as a blonde and was not ready to give it up yet.  And it was certainly not my intention to chop over a foot of hair off my head, leaving me with an unflattering bob.  (Some people, my sister for example, look great with short hair.  I am NOT one of those people.  I hate having short hair.  It makes me cry!)  So, why did I do it?  Read on and find out.

Naturally, I'm a regular ol' Shirley Temple.

Salon Shaming

All you have to do is search “blonde in Hong Kong” on Google to find that salons here have no idea what they’re doing.  Even people who have worked in western countries for years manage to mess it up.  My very talented husband usually did my blonde roots at home, using salon quality products, NOT Blondissima.  Unfortunately, after my husband had to return to Canada for a while, I had no choice but to explore the lesser of the evils myself. 

I looked long and hard for a salon that didn’t have blonde horror stories posted all over the internet.  I settled on Tala’s Hair &Beauty Centre (now closed in Central, only in Sai Kung).  The idiot there managed to strip my hair of absolutely all colour.  My hair was white as the fresh fallen snow, but in patches.  He told me it looked fine and completely matched the rest of my hair.  The salon was closing for the night so they attempted to send me on my way saying that I could make an appointment to have it fixed the next day.  I refused to leave and the store owner stayed an extra three hours that night to fix that disaster.  She did a good job, but the result was severely over-processed hair because she had to dye over my entire head several times.  I also had chemical burn all over my scalp.  She gave me free products for the burn and I never went back.    

This is a problem, right?

Gee, Steph... I didn't know you were on Firefly!

Again, through a lot of research, I found another salon:  Paul Gerrard.  Now, I don’t usually like getting a blowdry finish in a salon because unless you use a roundbrush and know what you’re doing, you’re probably going to make me look like a clown.  So, after the first time at this hair salon, I left with my hair in a wet ponytail.  By the time I got home, I couldn’t help but notice that my roots were sunshine yellow.  How had I not noticed this in the salon?  So I called them and had to go back in the next day for a fix, which involved not just toner but more bleach.  Hmmm, double bleaching the same hair… that sounds healthy. 

Ruin my hair once, shame on you… Ruin my hair twice… shame on … Dame Edna?  Thinking they’d now know that they need to leave the bleach in longer, I returned to Paul Gerrard because I was just too afraid of what might happen in yet another new place.  I returned only to find the place abuzz with news of Dame Edna coming to town and hiring a hairdresser, MY hairdresser, before her show that evening.  That’s right.  I had been double-booked with Dame Edna.  Now Dame Edna is a funny lass, and I can see myself getting a hair-do much like hers when I’m an old lady.  However, on that day, her makeup and purple locks (wig?) took precedence over my sad blonde roots so my giggling, fanboy stylist disappeared without actually communicating anything about me to the other stylists.  Someone promptly confused me for Dame Edna and turned my hair into an orange and yellow disaster by rinsing my bleach too early, despite what I insisted.  Consequence: another round of bleach over the same weakening roots.

In case you have lost track, there were now three severely weakend, double-bleached sets of roots growing out in my hair.

Dame Edna thinks I look ridiculous

Luckily, at this point, my husband came home and we went back to doing my roots in our living room.

Long hair, don't care!

Enter the Brunette

Though those sections of my roots had long grown out, the most recent of which was near the tops of my ears and the first ones near my chin, those strips of hair were feeling weak and weird.  When I’d wash them, they’d get an almost elastic-like texture and when my hair was dry, they felt brittle.  I decided that Tala’s Hair & Beauty Centre and Paul Gerrard had done so much damage that it was time to give my poor hair a break.  I contacted a stylist friend from home who did an excellent job coaching me on exactly what store-bought shades I could use, with the limited selection here, to go from blonde to brown without going green.  She did an excellent job.  (Thanks, Cerah!)

After the job was done, I was pretty pleased with it.  But within hours of being a brunette, my hair began to fall out in large chunks in the EXACT spots where the weakened roots had grown out.  When all was said and done, I looked like a ragdoll who had been ravaged by rats after being forgotten about in the attic for years.  I knew I’d have to get a cut.  I went to a salon that I had come to trust with scissors (though I’ll never trust anyone in Asia with bleach again).  They salvaged what they could and confirmed that those former roots were horribly damaged, courtesy of the Tala’s Hair & Beauty Centre and Paul Gerrard handiwork.

Immediately after the salon.  This is the only time my hair ever looked both short and respectable. 

Note the ironic beer that I clearly needed after such an ordeal.

Never before have I felt so much like a Disney princess.

The Aftermath

I hate, hate, hate, HATE my hair short.  I try to put on a smile, but somehow that only makes my hair look more stupid.  Short hair is just not me.  Luckily, I’ve been using organic horse shampoo (yes, you read that right… horse shampoo) and it’s making my hair grow out shiny and quickly.  (I’ll be “best in show” in no time!)

In the meantime, I’m running into problems.  The biggest problem is that my hair is defying gravity.  I talked to my mom and she said that my hair did the same thing when I was a baby and just growing it in for the first time.  I’m sure this look is adorable on a toddler, but it’s soooo not good for a woman in her 30s!

The other problem is that Hong Kong is a VERY humid place.  This transforms my ordinarily springy curls into complete frizz that makes me look like I’ve just touched one of those electricity orbs in the science centre.

Gravity, Schmavity.

I'm trying to rock this afro-esque do.

Hairmageddon 2013 for the win!

And then there's the comments...

Drunk stranger on the street to my friend who looks great with short hair:  Wow, your hair looks awesome!

Drunk stranger on the street then turns to me:  Ewww, yours… not so much.

In my head: I know!  I've been looking at my beautiful friend all night.  I don't need you to tell me that!!!!!  Besides, it's raining!

~~~

Someone upon looking at my passport:  That girl was hot… what happened?

In my head: Is 'hot' a visa requirement for Scotland now?
~~~

Co-worker, after I spent hours straightening my hair and spent the night with a toque on my head: 

It looks much better that way.  Less is more.

In my head: Really????!!!!  You think I have actually been TRYING to look like a cat in heat on a stormy night?!

~~~

Well-meaning friends: You’re still so beautiful!

In my head: Well, thanks... that's really sweet, but no thanks… your pity makes me uncomfortable.  Tell me that again when my horse mane grows past my shoulders.  But until my hair concerns itself more with Newton’s Law and less with Murphy’s Law, I just don’t want to hear it. 

2016 Update:  I got pregnant in late 2014 and it turns out that hormones were the magical elixir my hair needed!  It grew so fast and is back to normal now, but I'm still in Asia so, therefore, still brunette.  However, I've found an amazing British lady, Becky Flynn, who does keratin treatments in her home.  My hair is now relaxed and silky all the time, straight out of the shower.... absolutely no effort at all.

#wokeuplikethis