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There were so many things that we could have done to mitigate this, but Air Canada just left us in the dark

On the phone for almost three hours intermittently, Panasiuk said she was treated badly by the agent, who told her severe weather had grounded the flight in Toronto, but couldn’t confirm if the shipment would reach Alberta that day.

“There were so many things that we could have done to mitigate this, but Air Canada just left us in the dark,” Panasiuk said of the agent’s refusal to move the cargo onto another carrier.

In an email to Postmedia, Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said the company cannot transfer shipments to another airline unless it is pre-approved and pre-booked, which “has to be done in advance and cannot be a last minute solution.”

Air Canada also determined cargo agents “did their very best to assist them in getting their shipment as soon as possible” by reviewing phone recordings, Arthur said.

The shipment was grounded in Toronto because of “very bad weather” and was sent on the first available flight the next day, said Arthur adding that a “complex itinerary such as this with connections and subsequent changes makes it challenging to provide real-time tracking information for technical and operational reasons.”

Around 10 a.m. the next day, the seafood arrived in Grande Prairie. The lobsters were quickly cooked up, frozen and distributed to any remaining guests for free.

After adding up the costs, Warrick says she spent more than $3,000 out of pocket and was in the process of refunding ticket money from event.

The sisters submitted a damages claim Wednesday to Air Canada, hoping to at least have their costs reimbursed.

Arthur said it takes up to a week to handle claims and that the company does “regret not having been able to meet” the sisters’ expectations.

Although last year’s event went off without a hitch, Warrick said she will not be organizing another lobster fest.

“It was stressful all night trying to deal with it,” she said. “I know a lot of the community people will miss it.”