Lisa and Dave Parsons were in Jamaica for their son’s destination wedding, a week-long dream vacation that was picture perfect — until they unpacked their bags.
Travelling with 40 wedding guests from Ocho Rios, Jamaica to Lindsay, Ont., on Monday, the couple says that nearly half the group had expensive gadgets, fragrances and clothing stolen from their suitcases, and that the lining of their baggage was left in tatters.
“We normally would leave our valuables at home, but it was a wedding, so we were dressing up,” Lisa told CBC News in an interview.
The entire trip was booked through Sunwing Airlines, a discount carrier headquartered in Toronto and owned by WestJet. Now, the couple — and their guests — want the airline to take responsibility.
“It was not about the money,” Lisa said. “It’s more about the fact that now there’s this dark cloud when we all were on a high note.”
WATCH | How these Sunwing passengers tracked down stolen valuables:
Sunwing passengers say valuables were stolen from checked bags
20 hours ago
Duration 2:02
A group of Sunwing passengers allege thousands of dollars worth of electronics, watches and perfumes were stolen from their checked baggage in Jamaica and they want the airline to take responsibility.
On the final day of their trip, the group gathered in the lobby of the Hotel Riu Ocho Rios, loaded their bags onto a bus and drove two hours to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. Once they arrived, they stood with their baggage in the Sunwing line for a while before they checked it, still with three and a half hours until takeoff.
They went through security, boarded their flight and flew back to Toronto, where they were bused to the main terminal without incident. They grabbed their luggage at the carousel and arrived home at about 11 p.m.
But some of the travellers had a nasty surprise waiting for them the next morning: A text from a member of the group who found several watches missing from his bag as he unpacked.
The rest of the group quickly took inventory.
“We have a big group chat that we had going while we were on the trip,” said Bryan Williams, a close friend of the groom who had a $200 cologne bottle, some dress shirts and pants stolen. “And everybody was like, yeah, I’m missing this, missing that. We realized that there was more than just one or two of us were missing some things.”
The Parsons were missing a $550 Belova watch, two sets of $300 airpods, and one cord for a Mac laptop valued at $120. Others were missing expensive perfume, cologne and clothing, and about half of the group had their luggage tampered with — the lining shredded and the locks cut.
Whose responsibility is it?
The Parsons were able to confirm that the theft hadn’t happened at Toronto Pearson Airport after using their phones to track the location of their stolen airbuds.
A screenshot shows Lisa Parson’s airpods tracked to a street in Montego Bay, Jamaica, almost 3,000 kilometres away from her home. (Submitted by Lisa Parsons)
“We were all brainstorming on what had gone on and realized that we were all compromised at the [Montego Bay] airport, because that’s the only time our luggage was unattended,” said Lisa.
While Dave’s airpods were found on another part of the island, “mine are on Providence Street in Montego Bay,” Lisa explained. “It shows you exactly where it is, and it’s 2,861 miles away. So they’re in Jamaica.”
A spokesperson for the Montego Bay Airport Authority told CBC News that the airline is responsible for stolen luggage items or missing baggage, and that theft does not occur frequently at the airport. The statement also noted that the baggage handlers at Sangster International Airport are employed by individual airlines.
“Sunwing is who we paid our money to, so I feel they’re the ones that need to step up to the plate,” said Lisa. The group filed a complaint with the airline, but didn’t hear back for several days.
CBC News reached out to a representative for Sunwing, who confirmed their receipt of the inquiry but did not provide a response.
One of the travellers later received a call from the Sunwing Corporate office. A representative said that the Montego Bay police had launched an investigation into the thefts. CBC News reached out to local law enforcement in Jamaica and did not receive a response.
Bags ‘at the mercy’ of whoever wants to access them
Dave and Lisa Parsons and other members of the wedding party want the airline to take responsibility for their stolen valuables. (CBC)
Dave Parsons said the group is waiting to see to what extent they’ll be compensated by Sunwing before filing a claim with their insurance company. The couple is sharing their experience as a warning to other travellers.
“Make sure that you keep your valuables close to you,” he said. “And your bags, your main bags are at the mercy of whoever wants to, I guess, access them.”
Kristine D’Arbelles, senior director of public affairs with CAA National, said the rules are quite clear about who is responsible for stolen luggage or valuables.
“Once you hand that bag over to the airline, it is in the airline’s care, so it needs to come back to you in one piece with everything in it,” she told CBC News. “So if it does come back damaged with items lost or stolen, [then] you make a claim with the airline.”
Travellers are pictured at Toronto Pearson International Airport. ‘Once you hand that bag over to the airline, it is in the airline’s care, so it needs to come back to you in one piece with everything in it,’ Kristine D’Arbelles, senior director of public affairs with CAA National, told CBC News. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
She said that travellers who’ve had items stolen are protected by the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) in two ways.
These passengers can claim up to $2,300 in compensation for delayed or damaged luggage, or they can claim items that were stolen from their luggage. Travellers have to make a claim directly through the airline.
“This is not the first time that someone is reporting on a lost or stolen or damaged bag,” D’Arbelles said. But there’s little public available data to indicate how often it happens, she added.
Only the Canadian Transportation Agency keeps track of complaints it receives, but many of those claims are a last resort. They are typically filed after travellers have exhausted previous options and weren’t happy with the result.
LISTEN | Can baggage-tracking features give passengers peace of mind?
Columnists from CBC Radio3:48Airlines are getting into the bag tracking game
There’s a reason so many people now try to bring everything in a carry-on when they fly. There are fees for checked bags, but also concerns that a bag might get lost. Airlines are now trying to give people more peace of mind on that front. CBC’s Jason Osler explores whether new baggage tracking features will help.
While travellers should avoid checking anything of value, that can’t always be avoided, D’Arbelles said. In that case, you can be prepared in other ways: make a list of items you’re travelling with, take photos of your valuables, and keep all receipts — from your luggage tag to your boarding pass.
“We’re still in the early days of these regulations. So not a lot of people know that it’s there,” she said of the APPR.
“And obviously, when these things happen, stress is high. You’re worried. Sometimes we don’t stop to think, ‘is there actually something that is protecting me?'”
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
