Rum Ragged was on a layover in Toronto when they noticed one of their instruments had been damaged, and not for the first time
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
A band from Newfoundland says Air Canada broke one of their instruments and lost another on a flight from London to Toronto.
Rum Ragged, a Juno-nominated folk music group from St. John’s, took to social media to call out the airline after wrapping up a U.K. tour that included a visit to Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
The group was heading home but, during a layover in Toronto, discovered that their guitar had been damaged during the flight. Another stringed instrument, a bouzouki, was nowhere to be found.
They added: “On the advice of your company we always gate check our instruments for safety and security that they won’t be lost. Just 3 months ago you damaged our bouzouki (the same one you lost today) you advised us to go through your email and online system to fill out forms and make a claim and we still have not received any answers or compensation. We have seen how your system does not work so we will try this. We hope this gets your attention and maybe you can try to make this right somehow. Please do the right thing and take responsibility for your brutal handling of these instruments. Do better.”
Amid the sympathetic replies and anger directed at the airline — one user wrote: “WestJet let me carry on my guitar and carefully put it in a special compartment in the cabin once we boarded” — was a response from Air Canada on the Instagram post.
“We’re very sorry to hear of this,” it said. “Could you please send us your delayed bag reference and name that was used to open the claim? We’ll try to get an update for you.”
Fellow Canadian musician Dan Mangan suggested that a hard shell case might have afforded more protection for the instrument, to which the band responded: “We switched to the Mono M80 case after one of our custom hard shell cases was somehow punctured and crushed when our previous bouzouki was destroyed … by Air Canada (they didn’t provide any help with that one either.) These MONO cases are used by many touring folks we know and cross paths with constantly. We have taken countless flights using these cases.”
They added: “For this to happen it involves brutal and careless handling of an instrument, plain and simple.”
Air Canada added that it was in touch with Rum Ragged and would cover the cost of repairing the guitar. It said the bouzouki has since been located and will be returned.