Musician Relief Fund

Hello,

My name is Max (Lawrence Maxwell), a musician from P.E.I. Canada and I am sickened by my experience last week with Air Canada and how they treated me.

The short version is that I am out over $17,000 from my own pocket for something that was not my fault. To be treated in such a way is a helpless and sickening feeling when you work so hard to make a living.

Here’s what happened:

I had booked five roundtrip tickets through Air Canada for myself and the band to go perform at the Tønder Festival in Denmark. The festival was wonderful and I hope to share more about that experience, but I need to deal with this first.

We departed Halifax on August 23rd and flew into Frankfurt, Germany where we were supposed to catch a connecting flight to Billund, Denmark. We showed our boarding pass to a security agent because we had to catch our next flight and we asked if there might be a line for us that would get us through quicker. He brushed us off and said “everyone has to wait.” He didn’t even look at our pass, he just signalled for us to remain in the long security line. We then noticed the priority line where we should have been since we were on a connecting flight, but at that point it was too late and we had missed our flight. We were dismissed and told to wait in the wrong line.

I reported to the ticket counter and spoke to the partner airline service representative, and I was hoping she would help us rebook for the next available flight to Denmark. She told me that it was not their fault and she would not rebook our flights. Instead, she told us we would have to pay for new flights. I spent an extra $3,027.56 CAD for five flights to Denmark out of pocket. I spoke to the airport information desk and she said it would be hard to prove the security agent said that to us but that we should “get a lawyer and write a letter to the airport authority.”

Here’s where it gets insane.

After the festival, we arrive back at Billund Airport to check in for our return flights. It was at this time we were notified that our tickets were not in the system. I was instructed to call Air Canada Customer Service. The representative on the phone informed me that because we missed our connecting flight on the way, ALL of our return flights had been cancelled. Even though I reported to the partner airline ticket counter, the message was not passed on to whoever cancels people’s flights without notifying them. The rep said I would need to book new one-way flights and that it would be “very expensive.” She put me on hold for over an hour as we watched our plane leave.

She said that they don’t normally do this, but they would give us “coupons.” When I asked what that actually meant for reimbursement, she said they wouldn’t actually be valid because they couldn’t get us a flight out on the same day. More gaslighting. More empty, dismissive and meaningless tactics. We were forced to book through another airline so that my band members could make it back home to honour their upcoming shows and EARN A LIVING. The new tickets cost me $14,042.18. Air Canada did not put us in a hotel that night, instead I called the Tønder Festival director who very generously arranged for us to have a place to sleep that night.

I have spent $24,189.09 on tickets when I expected to spend $7119.35. I am out a lot of money for something that I can’t understand is my fault, though the airlines keep gaslighting me. This is not right. Air Canada cancelled our flights without telling me, charged me full price and SOLD OUR SEATS AGAIN. They did not offer to reimburse us or provide any good faith AT ALL. I have had to cancel my show in Toronto due to this madness.

We were dismissed, misguided and spoken to rudely by (some) airport and airline staff. We have had three cancelled flights, slept on the airport floor, spent an extra three days travelling and incurring expenses. I have maxed my credit card so that we could all just get home, meanwhile, Air Canada has made a profit off of re-selling our tickets and not reimbursing me. THIS IS NOT RIGHT.

We are gutted, tired, and feel helpless… Air Canada, shame on you for treating customers like scum and treating our pockets as your own personal bank account.

I am in the process of submitting a claim online and I will update you all with the status of that. But in the meantime, I am creating a GoFundMe page to help recoup some of this money. I am not looking to make a profit. I am simply looking to make my money back. Any amount is greatly appreciated.

In the event that Air Canada reimburses me or I raise beyond what I’m out, I will donate any extra money to Music PEI to create a fund to support any artist that finds themselves in a similar situation, God forbid.

I am available for all media requests. Please share if you can.

Thank you.