timriley12

I have an unusual situation where AC has delivered a checked bag to my home - tagged with an old baggage file locator (from July!) with my name/address, but it's not mine and I am not missing any bags! I've deleted/blurred the identifying info and PNR from the photos for privacy reasons:

Details:
I received a voicemail last week from some company called Wheresmysuitcase about a delayed checked bag from AirCanada they wanted to deliver to our address in Halifax. I assumed it was a spam robocall and ignored it as I am not missing any bags. They then sent me an email and confirmed delivery to our front door of a suitcase on Dec30th (I was out of the country and did not return back home until yesterday to see the suitcase).

There is indeed a bag (not belonging to me) here now, with no identifying owner's nametag but tagged with an AC redirect file# with my name and address (this is an old file# from a delayed bag I had in July 2022 that someone appears to have used to tag this poor person's bag). However I can see other stickers on the bag which seem to indicate that the bag in fact belongs to a BEC/R (full name and PNR withheld) that appears to have been on DL 0151 (LIM-ATL), then DL 2206 (ATL-DCA) in mid-December, then the bag seems to have been ?found and re-routed from DCA-YYZ on AC8783 then YYZ-YHZ on AC610. I havn't personally travelled to LIM ever or ATL/DCA in decades.

I've attached a couple photos. The suitcase has not been opened (it is TSA-locked) and so I am unable to see if there is any other personal indentifying info for the owner plus I would not be comfortable opening this bag anyways.

AC Baggage services hasn't been able to offer any help (appears to be out of their hands since it's delivered with an old baggage locator #). I emailed AC Concierge yesterday for non-urgent advice on who I should contact or redirect this to but havn't heard back yet. I'm not sure who/what else I should do now, except that if my shoes were reversed I'd be hoping the other person would also be trying to get my bag back to me as quickly as possible. Feel bad for whoever is missing this bag right now. Posting here hoping maybe the owner might be surfing Flyertalk. I will be flying back out next week and could bring this to the airport myself as a last resort, but there must be something else AC/baggage can do sooner I would hope...

TechnoTourist

Can you pull up the booking with the PNR and last name? Perhaps it's still open and there is some contact info.

timriley12

Yup, I've tried it (I'm assuming PNR is same thing as a booking reference / booking confirmation #) on both Delta Airlines and AC websites, including using variations of the first name (required on Delta website) but no-go... I suspect someone with more advanced PNR access might be able to pull the info up though...

I also tried using the baggage tracing # on the tag on AC's Worldtracer link but it says the baggage tracing# is expired/outdated (it was from a July delayed bag I had filed 6months ago on arrival in SAN from YHZ/YYZ and so I have no idea how it ended up on this person's bag!)

zappy312

Maybe Delta's customer service is more helpful than Air Canada's? Could try Tweeting them and see if they can help.

cmill007

You have their full name right? Facebook? Linkedin? Google? Instagram? Odds are they have some online presence.

if they were also flying Delta I�d try Delta, failing that.

timriley12

Thanks!! I will try that... I should have thought about contacting DL...

Yup I tried google and facebook searching - a lot of individuals with the same name came up including some famous actors (funny if it belongs to one of them)... I'll give DL a try!

guv1976

If you do not hear back promptly from the AC Concierge, I would take the bag back to AC Baggage Services at YHZ before your next flight, and let them deal with it. (If the true owner has already been compensated for a lost bag, then AC owns the bag now, anyway.) If you take the bag with you to YHZ on the date of your next flight, and AC refuses to accept it, what are you going to do with the bag?

If AC refuses to take the bag back, drop it at your local police department as lost property.

rambling man

isn't that smiley face tag an ID tag?

Twickenham

Call the CBC. Not only will a news outlet like them have a greater reach in trying to find the owner, they can investigate the utter incompetence and stupidity that lead to this situation in the first place.

malbik

If the airline won't help, open the bag to look for identifying information.

If none then keep for a decent interval and then discard.

Surely you're not suggesting OP make a special trip to the airport??

We (all of us) owe only a modest amount of time and effort correcting other's mistakes.

guv1976

Yes, I'm suggesting that the OP do that, or drop it with the police. (I suppose that the OP could also attempt to contact the delivery company, and request that they retrieve the bag.)

I would not want to hold on to some strange piece of luggage -- whose contents I do not know -- for any longer than necessary.

I do not know what the laws are in Nova Scotia, but in some places, one who acquires lost property has an obligation to make reasonable efforts to reunite the property with the its rightful owner. That obligation can be satisfied by turning the property in to the police, who can make additional efforts (if they are so inclined) to track down the owner.

timriley12

I just got an email reply from AC concierge who is going to forward my email "to the appropriate channel to have this situation rectified" and so I'll wait to hear from them. You're right, if I end up at the airport with this luggage and they don't take it I'm not sure what I'd do... I can't imagine they wouldn't accept it since it's still fully tagged with their redirection tags...

Yup, but sadly the owner left the ID slot behind it blank without any personal info.

Will definitely consider this route if I've exhausted every other route! (just thinking that it'd be embarassing to go on the air only to have the reporter ask if I had tried 'xx' route and go 'um... oops no..'

canadiancow

Dropping a locked suitcase off at the airport with no knowledge of the contents... I'm not sure I'd do that without written permission from the airline first.

guv1976

That's a fair point -- which is also why I'd want to get it out of my house ASAP.

I do wonder whether the company which delivered the bag to the OP would retrieve it, if requested to do so.

Centurion

Open the freaking bag already. A TSA lock takes less than 5 seconds. Google is your friend. Then look for clues. If none wait to hear and if not donate the bag and items.