Imagine travelling on your own at 16, it鈥檚 the first time you鈥檝e flown without your parents and the airline loses your bag.
Colleen Derkatch says that was the case for her daughter鈥檚 boyfriend when they flew from Toronto Pearson Airport to Kelowna, with a stop in Calgary.
The group flew with WestJet on Dec. 27, for a vacation at Big White.
Derkatch says a shadow was cast over their holiday once they arrived in Kelowna, without luggage in tow which had included toiletries, clothes, holiday gifts and items of sentimental value.
More than two weeks later and WestJet still hasn鈥檛 given Derkatch any straightforward answer as to where the bag might be.
16 days later, I went to to investigate our lost bag, since I keep getting different answers. 1st stop: check-in counter. Agent insists bag was sent to on Jan 5. 2nd stop: baggage counter. Agent says no evidence it ever left . 馃憖馃嵖
鈥� Colleen Derkatch (@ColleenDerkatch)
鈥淚f you go through their official tracking system the bag location is unknown. I鈥檝e been trying to get support on Twitter and they say the same thing, 鈥榳e have no idea where your bag is.鈥欌��
Derkatch says she has confirmed there are at least two different baggage tracking systems and Central WestJet support says it only has access to one.
鈥淭he mother of鈥� my daughter鈥檚 boyfriend went to Pearson on the 30th because she was really upset the bag had still not turned up and they told her there that the bag had never left Toronto and that it was actually in a storage room. They took her into this back storage area and she said that there were bags stacked to the ceiling everywhere she looked. She said the agent pointed to a stack of bags and said 鈥榟is bag is in this batch and we should be sending that batch out in the next day or two, it should arrive by Jan. 1.鈥欌��
However, the bag still didn鈥檛 arrive.
Derkatch says that鈥檚 when she learned from others that bags weren鈥檛 showing up in the WestJet tracking system and instead people were finding their suitcases on the floor at Kelowna International Airport.
鈥淲e鈥檙e up at Big White, we have no car.鈥�
With no support from WestJet, Derkatch says the ski resort proved more helpful in tracking bags down.
鈥淏ig White Centre Reservations said that hundreds of guests had lost bags and that WestJet and Air Canada were sending bags up with the Big White shuttle and then the centre reservation staff would take them to deliver them to people. Frankly, we got better information about what was happening with bags from Big White than we ever did from WestJet.鈥�
At this point, Derkatch says they were confident the bag was at YLW and just hadn鈥檛 been scanned into the tracking system.
Yet, that wasn鈥檛 the case and the bag remains missing.
Derkatch says they鈥檝e been told many conflicting things as to where the bag could be - from never having left Toronto to being stuck in a Calgary Airport storage room to having been flown back to Toronto to have arrived in Kelowna.
鈥淚 tried to talk to WestJet support about this and I said, 鈥極K look, we鈥檝e been given conflicting information. Why?鈥� And no one has been able to answer that question.鈥�
Derkatch鈥檚 husband, daughter, and the daughter鈥檚 boyfriend have flown back to Toronto already, without even attempting to check bags. They searched the floors of Pearson with no luck finding the teen鈥檚 lost luggage.
In a final attempt before flying home, Derkatch went to the Kelowna Airport on Jan. 11 to speak to a WestJet representative.
鈥淵ou get very different information when you鈥檙e at the airport than when you鈥檙e on the phone or when you鈥檙e on Twitter.
In speaking with a representative she was told the suitcase was sent to Toronto on Jan.5 and was even given a flight number.
鈥淚 said, 鈥榳ell no bag ever arrived.鈥� She鈥檚 like 鈥業 don鈥檛 know what to tell you, but it was sent,鈥� explained Derkatch.
Derkatch says she kept her family鈥檚 ski equipment with her at Big White, after everyone else had flown back to Toronto, and purchased Air Tags to place on the luggage before she flies on Saturday (Jan. 14).
鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust WestJet with our stuff. There are thousands of dollars of equipment, it鈥檚 specialized.鈥�
WestJet has a policy on its website stating that if a bag is lost for more than 21 days the airline鈥檚 liability is limited to approximately $2,300 per passenger.
鈥淭hat wouldn鈥檛 replace our gear.鈥�
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Derkatch says WestJet refused to reimburse the prepaid checked bag fees for her husband, daughter, and daughter鈥檚 boyfriend who flew home several days ago without checked bags and won鈥檛 cover costs for her to check the bags on Saturday when she flies home.
鈥淎nd then instead of apologizing for losing the bag or anything else, they lectured me about using Air Tags.
They sent me these messages on Twitter on why it鈥檚 dangerous to use Air Tags.鈥�
Air Tags contain lithium batteries, which is outlined as a hazardous good, however many travelers worried about lost luggage have used them without issue.
WestJet confirmed in an email that they do not prohibit use of Air Tags in checked bags.
鈥淚 feel like WestJet has really just dropped the ball on customer support. The fact that we鈥檝e had to invest so many hours to try to find out anything about where our bag is and the fact that there are different systems, it just feels like you鈥檙e being gaslighted all the time. They say 鈥榳ell we don鈥檛 know where your bag is.鈥� And I鈥檇 say 鈥極K but an agent at the airport gave us a flight number.鈥� 鈥榃e don鈥檛 know what that means.鈥� This is like literally their job.鈥�
Derkatch says she understands there have been issues with weather, baggage belts, and backlogs, but she was told Kelowna and Calgary airports appear to have caught up.
鈥淐anada is a country of winter, so I don鈥檛 think it should be that big of a surprise that there were storms. The holiday season is always really busy, so I don鈥檛 know鈥� When you鈥檙e 16 days out there should be more information.鈥�
With her flight home just days away, Derkatch says she is worried about their ski equipment even with Air Tags attached.
WestJet was not available to comment.
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brittany.webster@blackpress.ca
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