My gf was flying DTW-PEK-CAN a couple of days ago, and she just encountered an awfully strange problem. Bag was checked all the way to CAN, but it was stopped at PEK and it did not follow through the CZ flight to CAN. I understand that if there's no interline agreement between the partners, then the connecting partners will not pick up the baggage, but seriously, CZ? I understand that you will have to re-check the baggage at PVG, but I highly doubt if you have to do it in PEK for SkyTeam connections. I haven't tried it yet, so I wasn't sure. Turned out CZ claimed it would take five to seven days to retrieve the package, but my gf was there for only two weeks, so it's ridiculously unacceptable.

So the question is:

Who's fault is that? My gf double checked with DL to make sure it's tagged all the way to CAN, so there should be no way she has to re-check the bag. My guess was CZ who did not do their job at all and blamed my gf for not re-checking the bag. My gf will pick up the bag in a couple of hours, but guess what, I just checked the DL tag tracking status again 10 min ago, and it's still showed it's in PEK.

Is CZ really that not up to standard? I am planning to file a complaint against DL/CZ on behalf of my gf traveling on a BE international itinerary.

Any inputs will be appreciated.