[KBrothers]

I'd booked a full-price seat on a domestic flight from Charlottetown PEI to Ottawa and confirmed the flight with Air Canada about a week before the flight. I arrived at the airport 50 minutes before departure (20 minutes before ‘cut-off time’).

Then I was informed by the rep Alan that I would likely not be given a seat, since Jazz had oversold its seat allocation.

I expressed surprise, pointed out that I had confirmed the seat and had a full-price ticket, and said it would be difficult for me to deal with the financial and other repercussions of taking another flight. At this point Alan (he refused to give me his full name, saying "that's enough information for YOU") became extremely rude and rather obstructive, and, much to my embarrassment, offensive to one of my elderly relatives.

Other customers witnessed the exchange, advised me to complain, and confirmed that this was not the normal level of customer service I could expect in Canada (I'm from Britain). I received the same advice from family and friends who live on the island, some of whom knew the employee and said he was often unpleasant. A Canadian passenger with the same ticket situation was similarly puzzled and upset with the service.

I am a Director of Communications for an overseas organisation with several hundred employees, and I have journeyed almost constantly for the last 20 years, but I have never encountered this kind of ticketing situation, especially given that I have a full-price, confirmed ticket, booked through Air Canada. I certainly do not expect this kind of customer service, in addition. Outrageous. Obviously Air Canada must be putting staff in a difficult position with this ticketing nonsense, and they're not handling it at all well.