[john78]

Air Canada Vacations brings a new level of belligerent incompetence to the usual Air Canada palate of awful service, consistently delayed flights, blame-the-customer attitude, and no in-flight meals. Never, ever make a vacation with Air Canada Vacations; you may come to regret it. The response from Air Canada Vacations below may have been approved by the company's legal counsel, but the level of customer service is at the standard abysmal level:

The purpose of this email is to inform you of a grevious situation that arose with Air Canada Vacations, and to seek restitution for this.
On 5 November 2008, my wife and I booked an all-inclusive vacation to Mexico with ACV, through Selloffvacations.com. This holiday was paid with my xxxx credit card and confirmation was received via three separate emails (PNR # ACV xxxxxxxxxx). At 0645 on 29 November, we arrived at Ottawa International Airport, and upon attempting to check in were told that our vacation had been cancelled two days previously, by an individual at Selloff by the name of xxxxxxx, and was no longer valid. Needless to say, we were surprised at this information, but the service agent's response was that we should have confirmed our flight 24 to 48 hours previously, and she could not help us. We were directed to another agent, Mr. John xxxxxxxx. We were provided a $14 meal voucher, as by now our flight had departed without us. At 0800, Mr. xxxxxx contacted ACV and confirmed that our vacation had been cancelled. He and I attempted to rebook an all-inclusive vacation with ACV, with three separate staff at ACV (xxxxxx, xxxxxx, xxxxxx), but were told this was impossible for either 29 or 30 November. I was also informed that our vacation was non-refundable and that the entire amount, less taxes, would not be refunded to my credit card, even though I did not cancel the vacation. At 0900 I contacted Selloffvacations and was informed that, as far as Selloff was concerned, our vacation was still valid, and they did not in fact have any employee named xxxxxx. For almost five hours I and Mr. xxxxx worked with ACV and Selloff on the phone to coordinate some type of resolution to this problem. Selloffvacations.com was very helpful in trying to resolve this, as was Mr. xxxxxx. It was their professionalism and competence that finally allowed my wife and I to travel on an 1100 flight that morning. ACV, on the other hand, was obstructionist and, frankly, incompetent, and demanded that we pay an additional $2314.90 including taxes, before proceeding. Luckily we have the means to do so, or we would have been unable to continue on this vacation. If this situation had been left to ACV to resolve, I am sure that we would not have travelled at any point in the last week.
In our dealings with Selloffvacations.com now and in previous years, we have found a proactive and customer-friendly service model. In this case, while the error appears to me to have been ACV's, Selloffvacations.com was willing to attempt to work with myself, ACV, and Mr. xxxxx to resolve the situation. Upon returning home today, we were contacted by Selloff to express their regrets over this situation and to indicate that they have been and continue to work with ACV to retrieve the second payment (of $2314.90) we were required to make. On the other hand, ACV has not contacted us, has not offered any type of explanation or apology, nor did ACV provide any type of compensation at any time to try to mitigate this situation, beyond a $14 meal voucher. An apology and/or upgrade of some type at any time would have been a sound business decision and common courtesy on the part of ACV.
My wife and I are now seeking the following:
the immediate refund of $2314.90 to my wife's credit card, the amount ACV demand be paid to secure services for which I had already paid $3036.94 on 5 November;
an apology from ACV;
an explanation from ACV of why this happened;
compensation for my wife and I for spending the entire morning of 29 November at Ottawa International Airport trying to resolve ACV's cancellation of our vacation, and the associated stress; and
compensation for my wife and I missing one-half day of our vacation in Mexico because we were stuck at the Ottawa Airport.

While Air Canada Ottawa agent, John xxxxxxx, and your ACV staff in Mexico, were consistently professional and competent, ACV's overall mishandling of this situation was poor from beginning to end. In my wife and I's experience in dealing with other companies in your field, such as Selloffvacations.com, any issues have led to a prompt call or email from the company to resolve the issue. Having a confirmed vacation cancelled at the last minute, and then being required to pay a second time for the same service, is not only a violation of the basic tenet of business (payment is provided and in return a good or service is rendered), but is unprofessional and demonstrates no regard for client satisfaction.
ACV's mishandling of this situation placed a pall over our entire vacation. While you Ottawa agent, Mr. xxxxxxx, was the sole Air Canada or ACV employee able to resolve this situation to any level of satisfaction, he informed us that he was retiring on 1 December. From this experience, it appears to me that AC and ACV's next generation of staff have, sadly, not been inculcated with anywhere near Mr. xxxxxxx's level of professionalism. This bodes poorly for AC and ACV's future ability to provide customer satisfaction and loyalty.
I await your timely response.
Thank you.
John xxxxxxxx


From:
Sent: Friday, 12, December, 2008 12:11 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: Air Canada Vacations
"WITHOUT PREJUDICE"
Dear Mr. xxxxxxxx,
This is further to our e-mail of December 8 and our subsequent telephone conversation of December 10.
While we regret any inconveniences you may have experienced on November 29, upon verification our findings reveal that Air Canada Vacations conducted its business in good faith and with diligence.
On the other hand, we are pleased that Air Canada Vacations was able to reinstate your hotel reservation. You also may rest assured that your satisfaction with the services rendered by Mr. John xxxxxxx of Air Canada at the Ottawa Airport are noted and transmitted to the concerned party at Air Canada for their information.
We have received confirmation from Air Canada’s Refunds that a credit for a total of $2314.90 ($1157.45 X 2) was processed to the credit card ending by xxxx today, December 12, 2008. This settlement is transmitted to you in good faith and with no admission of liability whatsoever.
Thank you, Mr. Dacombe, for allowing Air Canada Vacations to look into this matter. We trust your future travel experience will be a success.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx
____________________
Chef de service – Relations clients – Manager – Customer Relations