[Abigail_Healy]

We flew Air Canada from London to San Jose (Costa Rica) via Toronto - but arrive on 14th December (flight AC1806) with only 3 out of our 4 bags - we are a family of five. We had to wait at the airport for an hour to fill in a claim form (SJOAC11420) before being able to head to our hotel. We were given details to contact the Baggage Head and Coordinator in San Jose - Bryan Mendez and Esteban Ramirez. They, the hotel, the travel company said - don't worry it's bound to be on the next flight you just have to manage for 24 hours - I wish ! The bag contained all my husbands clothes, half my daughters clothes, all our toiletries, shoes, raincoats etc it was our biggest bag. We bought emergency tooth paste on our first day, shampoo on our second day and shorts for my husband who had only the clothes he stood up in. Then we were leaving for Arenal, then Monteverde, then the beach and home. It is now the 7th January - we have no bag and no information about our bag. The Worldwide Tracer website for Air Canada has contained the same information since 14th December - it is not tracking anything or supplying any updates. Our original two contacts fail to answer endless telephone calls or emails. We have been contacted by Air Canada or their reps for lost baggage a total of 2 times in 23 days. We made contact ourselves twice by staying on hold to 1-888 BAGS number for at least one hour. We have incurred hotel telephone bills trying to resolve throughout our holiday, additional costs to buy toiletries and clothes and we still have a missing bag containing a video camera, speaker, trainers, clothes etc. laundry bills trying to manage my husband and daughters lack of clothes. The customer service of Air Canada has been a real shock to us. The worst thing is not the items themselves - it's the lack of advice, communication and information from the airline which gave us unnecessary stress throughout our holiday. Imagine booking the holiday of a lifetime and having your video camera in your lost luggage - we'll never make that mistake again. Since returning on 31st December (now 7th January) we have had one call which was at 9pm on a Friday night. The poor guy on the phone was useless and unable to give us any information - beyond fill in the claim forms which have to be posted and faxed. Does anyone have a fax any more ? I would be ashamed if I worked for Air Canada and if by any chance anyone from the airline does read these forums - please please listen to your unhappy customers and do something ! I can only pray that our claim is fulfilled and we can buy all our belongings again - but I have no faith that this bit is going to go any better than the last 3 weeks of incompetence.