It’s not uncommon for airlines to lose luggage – but what about carriers putting beer and clothing into suitcases?

It may seem far-fetched, but this is the situation photographer Nicole Squires found herself in after her recent WestJet flight from Edmonton to Kelowna. When she opened her suitcase at the hotel, she found everything she had packed – plus five cans of Coors Light and some dirty men’s clothing.

“I opened it and a beer fell out, so my initial reaction was I grabbed someone else’s luggage,” says Squires, who lives in Edmonton. “But then I continued to go through and saw a man’s outfit, jeans, one shoe, slippers, and five Coors Light!”

Squires Tweeted her discovery to West Jet, asking for an explanation – and West Jet Tweeted back “What happens in Vegas…”

 

 

 

“I didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry about their response. It was pretty inappropriate for sure,” says Squires. “I was pretty shocked.”

Squires responded to the airline’s Tweet, “Thank you for finally responding @WestJet - how appropriate.” That’s when the story went viral – and when WestJet sent out a second Tweet telling Squires to call them if she needed assistance.

 

 

 

She did – and was not impressed with the company’s initial reaction.

“WestJet didn’t really seem to care…they told me to file an online complaint,” Squires told CTV Vancouver.

A second call directly to the baggage line proved more fruitful. A “sincere and apologetic” costumer service rep said that in all of her years working at West Jet she had never heard of this happening.

WestJet began investigating the mysterious beer and clothing, trying to ascertain what exactly happened in the secure area of the Edmonton airport.

“The baggage staff noticed that a bag was open and right next to the bag was some clothing and some cans of beer,” says WestJet spokesperson Robert Palmer, noting that the airline will be apologizing for the “off the mark” Twitter humour. “The bag staff decided to put the items in the bag next to it that was open.”

But Squires isn’t sure she believes that story.

“I don’t see how that could happen. I put the bag on the carousel myself, and it wasn’t open, so I don’t know what happened there,” she says.

“I do think that they handled things really poorly, but I won’t not fly with West Jet because of that...I’ll for sure always lock my bags though!”

She also won’t be drinking the beer – or keeping the clothing. Squires will be leaving the unwanted items with the front desk of the hotel, and says the airline will pick them up.

Missing five cans of Coors Light and some men’s clothing? Call WestJet – they may have your items.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson