Horrible Check-in Staff At Yvr
 

Incredibly rude, patronizing check in staff at Vancouver International Airport scolded and patronized me for not purchasing an onward ticket that I did not need. I was forced to purchase this onward ticket at significant expense to myself. I wished to file a complaint and the abusive check-in woman would not provide me with her name or any kind of employee number. the supervisor and manager subsequently refused to do so. a horrible experience and I will never fly with Air Canada again. I was flying to Hong Kong and that is a route where Air Canada has a lot of competition. Air Canada can not compete with any other airline that flies this route in terms of service. Air Canada is a horrible airline staffed with matronly middle-aged women who like to treat the passengers like children and address them in course, rude, patronizing tones. the staff at the boarding gate and tourists had the same attitude as the check-in woman. Absolutely horrible experience. The Air Canada staff are in a union and know that they can not be fired or disciplined effectively for their behavior. They behave in a manner which will provoke you to anger and know that you won't want to make a scene in the airport. they represent the lowest standard of service in any industry. They should be sent to the Burger King at YVR for training in customer service. They suck. I will fly China Airlines next time or Cathay Pacific. Air Canada SUCKS! NEVER FLY WITH AIR CANADA!

so your saying the burger king in YVR has better customer service skills than Air Canada's? I think we should send some of our US Burger King people up there for some training as well. But aside from the rudeness you encountered, some countries won't allow you in their country unless you either have a return ticket or an itinerary showing your going to another destination. It happened to a friend of mine going to Panama, he thought he could go on a one-way ticket and buy the return on the way back. No dice. He ended up paying 1000 plus just to get the return. The sad fact is we as passengers don't know this stuff until we get there. Really its not the airline's job to tell us what we need when we go to another country (such as needing Visas, yellow fever shots, etc), so best tip for most is plan ahead and use the powers of the internets to guide you through.

but..
 

Thing is when i arrived in HKG i was not asked for anything. As a Canadian citizen i receive 90 days stay on entry. You think everyone buys their tickets three months in advance? Been there half a dozen times over land and by air and never asked for anything. The ticket is not the issue here, as I'm sure they have rules they need to follow, but the behavior of this thing working for Air Canada was off the wall. I was patronized and even called a "kid" which is funny cause i'm a married man with my own kids. She was waving her finger at me and wouldn't hand me my boarding pass til she was finished lecturing me. The supervisor on site was worthless and provided me with a card to file a complaint which had a 1-800 number on it. Called the number. turned out to be a telix with no humans on the other line. This was during business hours. Couldn't file a complaint because nobody would provide me with a name or employee number for her. The other check-in staff even left their posts to join in chiding me. absolutely unreal. Bitter, unfriendly, gruff, horrible staff who don't give a **** about customer satisfaction one iota because they have absolute job security. Horrible Horrible Horrible. See cause the way i see it, if it's their regulation that you need to buy an outbound ticket you say something like this "Sorry sir, you need to buy an outbound ticket." not grimacing and scolding their customers and shaking their fingers at them and calling them all kinds of pejoratives and patronizing them. Their horrible service earns my boycott for life. So yeah, I AM saying that bk YVR has better service, and food, than Air Canada. Air Canada represents the LOWEST quality of service I have ever encountered in any industry, in any country, period. No question.

Hong Kong entry rules:
 

I passed by this post and I remembered delta's website had a part where you could enter your citizenship and destination and it tells you documents requirements to enter:



National Canada (CA)
Destination Hong Kong (SAR China) (HK)

http://www.timaticweb.com/logos/DL/DELTAB2C/vi_de.gif
Hong Kong (SAR China) (HK)


http://www.timaticweb.com/logos/DL/D...C/in_on_no.gif
Passport required.
- Passport and/or passport replacing travel documents must be
valid for at least one month after the period of the
intended stay.

Visa required, except for A stay of max. 3 months to nationals
of Canada.
Visa required, except for Those entitled to travel under the
Hong Kong (SAR China) Travel Pass Scheme.(SEE NOTE 23278)
NOTE 23278: The Hong Kong (SAR China) Travel Pass Scheme
is meant for frequent business travellers
For details, click here
Visa required, except for Holders of an APEC Business Travel
Card. The back of the card must state that it is valid for
travel to Hong Kong (SAR China):
Additional Information:

- Admission and/or transit will be refused to any national
holding a passport issued by Kiribati and endorsed
N-Kiribati or Investor .

- In connection with the BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES and
PARALYMPIC GAMES, members of the Olympic Family and
Paralympic Family For details, click here

- All visitors must hold:
- onward or return tickets, except when in transit to either
mainland China (People's Rep.) or Macao (SAR China);
- all documents required for next destination and sufficient
funds to cover their stay in Hong Kong.

Warning:
- Passengers arriving without the required documents or with
incomplete or expired documents, may be refused entry and a
fine of HKD 10,000.- will be imposed on the transporting
carrier. The carrier will be responsible for returning
passenger to point of embarkation or place of origin.




---
The attitude and treatment was wrong and unfair, but however many times you may have traveled to and from Hong Kong the airlines can not take a chance sending you into a country that has rules requiring return/onward documents.

Suga said exactly what I want to say
visa rules and onward return tix info are just too big of a risk for airlines to take
is your responsibility to read all the info before traveling

Despite the travel document mix up there is no reason for the behavior. Staff is assigned to each Gate and position - you don't need names or ID numbers to complain since records are kept. Simply indicate the flight number and date you travelled to our Customer Relations department and they can research from there.

http://help-aircanada.com/aircanada-...ue.do?lang=ENU

This should get you there. If not go to:
http://www.aircanada.com/en/customercare/index.html

Section 4: Past travel issues and send an email.