Air Canada baggage dispute sours Okanagan traveller

WEST KELOWNA – Glen Cromarty vows to never again fly with Air Canada following an incident last Saturday.

“Personally, anybody that I can stop flying with them, I will do my best,” says Cromarty.

The West Kelowna resident was at the Regina airport preparing to board a flight home after an ironworking job.

He says his debit card wouldn’t work to pay the $26 luggage fee and the Air Canada agent was unsympathetic.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“I even told the lady my wife will be meeting me on the other side, I have the cash, we can pay. She just pretty much looked past me and said, ‘no, go away,'” says Cromarty.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I even told the lady my wife will be meeting me on the other side, I have the cash, we can pay. She just pretty much looked past me and said, 'no, go away,'" says Cromarty.

“I asked for options and they pretty much just said ‘no’ and the security guard just walked me over and I threw everything in the garbage.”

Cromarty says the discarded work clothes and boots will likely cost $500 to replace.

“They were extremely rude, they treated me like I had no money, like I was a loser pretty much. The young lady at the desk kept asking me why I had no money. I said, ‘I do have money, my card isn’t working’ and I apologized. She treated me like I had nothing.”

Air Canada calls the situation disturbing, saying it’s not reflective of how customer service representatives serve customers.

The airline also says it will be contacting Cromarty.

~With files from Global News sister station CKNW~