We may have to cancel some/all shows this coming week. Here’s the story:
It’s Thursday August 4th. On Saturday July 30th, we were supposed to fly home from Frankfurt, Germany, through Madrid and Toronto to Philadelphia. We were not issued boarding passes for our second-leg flight because of an Air Canada computer problem, despite only having an hour to change planes in Madrid. The counter staff refused to check us in for the next flight, so we were stuck in Madrid.
With the excellent help of Marisa Caballero at the Swissport counter, we were rebooked for the next day, but not provided any accommodations or vouchers. Much worse, all 5 pieces of our equipment luggage were missing. We found one of those pieces (the bass, with some pedals and a transformer) in the Lufthansa baggage claim, but had to file a claim with Lufthansa (AC’s codeshare partner for the flight to Madrid) for the other four pieces.
The next morning, we checked-in our two duffels and the bass for our flights home. Again, Air Canada’s computers wouldn’t give us all our boarding passes. In Frankfurt, by pleading at a gate counter, we were issued boarding passes through to home. But then in Toronto, where we had to go through US customs, the one piece of gear we had found the day before had been lost in transit somewhere. We nearly missed our flight to Philadelphia, having to sprint to the gate to make it on at final boarding call.
Air Canada’s rep in Philadelphia told us that the bass had been delayed out of Frankfurt, and would arrive later on Sunday evening. The claim form was not filled out correctly, we were not given a file reference number, and no bag description was taken until we called on Tuesday. It’s now Thursday and no one has any idea where the case is.
By Monday, Lufthansa in Madrid had located the other four pieces of gear luggage, but there is no word on when they will arrive. However, even if those pieces arrive in the next day or so, they are useless to us since the bass case contains crucial parts of other gear (power transformer, pedals, cables, etc.).
Since we are currently missing Matt’s amp head, the guitar, the bass, ALL pedals, power supplies, all cables, all cymbals, and the snare drum, we can’t actually play any shows until we get it all back.
We are deeply sorry for the people affected/disappointed by this nightmare, but we’re doing the best we can. The majority of the gear is customized and not replaceable… we appreciate all the offers to lend us gear, but unfortunately it’s not quite that simple for us. We’ll keep everyone updated as this progresses.
Update, 8/6/2011: As a result of this post, Air Canada contacted us to help resolve our situation, and while progress has been very slow in tracking the bags, it does appear that we will get everything back. A few pieces have already been returned, we are still waiting on others.
