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He fought for $5,200 after a travel agency spent his airline vouchers — on other clients
Surinderpal Gill trusted the travel agency where he bought tickets for a family trip to India two years ago.
But then he found himself out more than $5,200 and his trust broken.
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Last June, Air Canada sent All Link Travel, based in Toronto, three vouchers to compensate Gill for return flights that were cancelled as aviation ground to a halt amid the pandemic.
But instead of telling him, Gill says the travel agency repeatedly said there was no sign of the valuable travel documents. It then used those vouchers to pay for trips for other people.
"I feel like I have been betrayed," he told Go Public, shaking his head in disbelief in his Brampton, Ont., home. "How can somebody use my money without my consent?"
Gill is one of thousands of Canadians who've battled for months over travel vouchers issued amid the pandemic. Many say the very travel agencies they used are compounding their problems getting vouchers or refunds from airlines.
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"The bane of our existence ... the infamous travel voucher," said Richard Smart, CEO and registrar of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), which regulates travel agencies. "Complaints have gone through the roof over the last two and a half years."
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) says it, too, has received thousands of such complaints — almost 9,000 since the pandemic was officially declared in March 2020.
After Go Public got involved, the agency repaid Gill. Read the full story here.
With summer on the horizon, Canada's 40 or so remaining drive-in theatres are lifting the curtain on another season. Many enjoyed a resurgence in the last few years when restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced entertainment outdoors. Now, indoor theatres have reopened, but Canada's drive-ins still have plenty of stories to share, and not just the ones you can see onscreen. Drive-in infrastructure and marketing often harkens back to the 1950s, although new ones, both pop-up and permanent, have appeared in the last few years. Read more here.
The Edmonton Oilers grabbed a 2-1 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff series with in-province rivals the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Evander Kane scored a natural hat trick in six minutes, while Leon Draisaitl had four assists and Connor McDavid had three helpers, as the Oiler beat the Flames 4-1. Zach Hyman opened the scoring for Edmonton before Kane potted his trio. Oliver Kylington had Calgary's lone goal. Game 4 in the first Battle of Alberta playoff series since 1991 will go Tuesday night in Edmonton. Read more from Game 3 here.