I had purchased a ticket from Delhi to Boston via Toronto from an Authorized Air Canada Travel Agent. I hold a valid visa to the United States. I arrived at the Canadian Airlines counter at the Indira Gandhi Airport, Delhi ready to go on the night of 5th June. I was startled and surprised when the Canadian Airways boarding pass issuar that I couldn’t not board the flight since I didn’t have a Canadian transit visa. I had recieved no information of any such requirement before & is wasn’t written anywhere on the ticket. (interestingly, upon checking, no such information was available on their web site either). The Air Canada man was unaplogetic and just squarely put the blame on the Travel Agent.
I pointed out that I had brought the ticket from an Authorized travel agent and as a customer I had done nothing wrong. Upon this the man still insisted that it wasn’t their fault. Upon my asking why the didn’t write it on their tickets, I got this response - ’’We don’t write it since the ticket is rather crowded, we just tell the travel agents to tell the customers’’. So they don’t tell the customers anyway and then leave them stranded.
I then asked the ACanada man if he could shift me another carrier - say BA. The AC staff was unhelpful and refused saying that I would require a Transit Visa in any airline. I pointed out that I had flown BA before and they didn’t require any transit visa. The AC man was adamant & unwilling to accept responsibility or help.
The Air- Canada man choose to ignore this. I also asked them why they didn’t state the Canadian Transit Visa requirements on the ticket.I pointed out that this was untrue and my statement was immidiately corroborated by a BA executive next door. However upon this the Air Canada man turned extremely rude and said that asked me to go away & not hold the line or he shall call security. They said I should contact their booking office on Monday and make a new reservations.
I am then told that the manager is standing there and that he wants to see me. I point that I am at the air Canada counter and I therefore expect to see the manager here. I then went to the manager anyway. The manager continued chatting with another Air Canada Employee who was a Canadian Airlines manager (I know this since this guy had tried mediating my interactions with the guys at the boarding card issue desk). I said excuse me, and was given a rude rejoinder that hey I am talking to a someone else here. The conversation was audible and went like : Hey we have the same managers...yeah...this while a customer in trouble (because of your airline) waits.
The manager finally turned to me after a few minutes. I explain the situation and he has this, you are wrong, I am right attitude. Left with no option, I then ask what is the next best thing for me to do. He says, look I can do you a favor and let you go on the Monday flight. I get really agitated at this statement. However, he is not ready to give this in writing. On this, I was again rudely refused. Moreover he stated that if I show agitation, he will not do me the ’favor’ of letting me go on the next flight. Air Canada, the airlines that shall make you feel helpless and humiliated.
Left with no choice, I then asked them to give me a phone to call my parents. The manager then pointed me to a payphone on the far side of the airport lobby.
I also asked that since evidently Air Canada believes the fault lies with the agent, Air Canada should atleast blacklist him (which I think is what any good company would do for its own good.). However the manager in particular and the staff in general was unwilling to do anything to ensure that something like this should not happen again.
Upon exiting, I was told by airport security that somebody from the Airlines has to escort me out. I then went to Air Canada and repeated this. They then continued to ignore me for the next 1/2 an hour and then I had to block one of their counters to get them to send a person along for the 2 minute job. This is ’the Canadian Way? ’ ?
Later I discovered Air Canada customer service has no phone number you can call. You can only fax them. I faxed them my complaints and recieved a reply after a week stating that it is not their responsibility to inform customers about travel documents. So I should have find out from Canadian Embassy even though I was flying to the US. Why then did they ask me for copies of American Visa and Passport? Nobody knows. Their customer service just ignores.
For those of you who thought western airlines are good...Try Air Canada