Air Canada Destroyed My Suitcase. Can You Make It Pay?

Donna Wells-Boyle's expensive luggage was "destroyed" by Air Canada. Why won't it repair or replace her luggage? And how much does it owe her?

Q: Air Canada destroyed my Rimowa suitcase on a recent flight from Toronto to San Francisco. The airline instructed me to send the suitcase to a repair agent in Texas. The agent declared the suitcase unrepairable, despite the fact that they have no contract with Rimowa and no product expertise in this brand.

Air Canada then offered me a choice of inferior replacement bags, which I declined, and recently sent me a $230 check in proposed compensation. I paid roughly $1,000 for my Rimowa bag, and it was of a quality to last a lifetime. So, neither of these options is acceptable to me.

I have had multiple unsuccessful phone calls with Air Canada. I've escalated my complaint to the CEO by email using the contact information on your website. I have received no response. I would like Air Canada to either send the luggage to an authorized Rimowa repair shop and pay for the repairs or refund me for the luggage. Can you help? -- Donna Wells-Boyle, Portola Valley, California

A: Air Canada should have handled your luggage with care. And if your checked baggage was damaged while it was in the airline's custody, it should have promptly paid for a repair or replacement. Under the Montreal Convention, which governs international flights, Air Canada's maximum liability is $3,800, which is considerably more than you were claiming.

Before I get to what went wrong, I have to say something about checking luxury designer luggage that is worth $1,000. I saw this recently when I was standing in front of a five-star hotel in Barbados. (I was not staying there -- too expensive!) Another guest had Italian designer luggage that was unfit to be checked, even on a private jet. It was strictly for show.

Elliott's guiding principles for luggage are durability and inconspicuousness. You scored well on durability. Your checked bag was made of sturdy plastic, and in your words, it was in "perfect" shape after many years and thousands of miles of commercial air travel. But you also want your checked bag to hold up to the rigors of travel without attracting too much attention, and pricey Rimowa luggage is a little flashy. You were lucky it wasn't stolen.

This doesn't let Air Canada off the hook. It accepted your bag, and you paid a fee to have your luggage transported. Sending your luggage to someone who doesn't understand how to fix Rimowa luggage is not my idea of of assuming responsibility.

You bought the bag over 10 years ago and unfortunately do not have the receipt. The bag's serial number would tell me the exact year of purchase. It certainly is past what was its five-year warranty at the time. (I believe the bags are now sold with a lifetime warranty.)

You kept an excellent paper trail between yourself and Air Canada, which showed that you followed all the correct procedures. But here's where things went off the rails a little. As I mentioned, your luggage is well-worn, and you don't have a receipt for it. Air Canada can ask for proof of your purchase when you request a replacement. If you don't have it, you may not get the full amount. Also, given the bag's age, there's some depreciation.

It looks like you appealed this to one of the executive contacts for Air Canada that I publish on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. And it also looks like Air Canada didn't bother to respond. Not good. I asked Air Canada to review your luggage claim. Air Canada says that "after further review," they are sending you a second $270 check. So, your total compensation with the two checks comes to $500.

"I still think they owe me more," you told me, "but I'm going to call it a day at this point."

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

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