Planes, Trains, and Automobiles |
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On the table or via e-mail, I'm here to entertain. Hold on tight...
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You may recall that I exhibited at Essen this year. I may be counting wrong, but I'm fairly certain this was my 4th time exhibiting, so while I'm not a battle-scarred veteran, I'm no noob. Essen aside, I've been overseas more than my fair share of times. Herein lies the true tale of the worst overseas experience I've ever had.
If it could go wrong, it did.
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It all began on an ordinary day, when we arrived at
Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids MI, for what
should have been an ordinary flight into O'Hare in Chicago (ORD). Before long
we were alerted that due to weather in Chicago, our plane would be late
departing from GRR. It did not take me long to figure out that we would
miss our flight out of ORD to Paris.
Being the proactive guy that I am, I went
to the gate agent and asked what could be done. She took some time and rerouted
us on a SwissAir flight to Zurich, Switzerland, then on to Paris, our original final
destination. I dusted my hands off and it was all
smooth from there, right?
Hardly...it was only the beginning of chaos!
When we finally arrived at ORD, the flight to Zurich was already
boarded, and while the GRR gate agent had issued us...something - it was not a boarding pass. By this point it was late, and most of the foreign airlines didn't have anyone at their service counters. We got very lucky and managed to catch a SwissAir rep who confirmed that contrary to our belief, we had no place on the flight to Zurich, but she would connect us with Lufthansa.
Long story short, we were unable to board the flight from ORD to
Zurich, but guess what? Our bags made it! No worries, we'll just get on another
flight to Paris and meet our bags there.
We received new boarding passes, and we were off. Now we would be flying to Munich, Germany,
and then to Paris. Yes, we were now flying into Germany, only to fly out of Germany,
to then meet our bags in Paris and get on a train...to Germany (for Essen).
Aside from a legit confrontation over masking between a Lufthansa flight attendant
and a passenger, the flight was uneventful. Thank goodness, because we needed
uneventful at this point.
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We arrived in Paris early on Tue 12 Oct, deplaned and went to the
baggage area, only to find that our bags were nowhere to be found. 6 large suitcases...all gone. Lufthansa
had lost our bags. We filed a report at the service counter, then went about
figuring out how we would get to Essen.
You see, I had booked train tickets from Paris
to Essen already, but we missed that train as well, and now we needed a new plan. After
looking at the various options, we decided we would take a train to Brussels,
and then an overnight bus to Essen. But this was not just any bus...it was a Flixbus...and we thought it would be empty due to it's 1a departure time... We could not have been more wrong.
Imagine a packed double decker bus packed with all the grime that overnight European travel can conjure in your imagination. We settled on the upper level, ventilation was poor, and it topped at least 80 degrees. With our masks tightly secured to our faces, we survived the 5 hour ride to Essen.
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We were exhausted, dirty, and hungry, but the show was tomorrow
and we needed to set up. So once we arrived at Essen, we got on a train and
headed straight for the Messe convention center. The product arrived shortly
after we did, and we got about building our stand.
But where were our demo tables? Weeks ago I had ordered
demo tables and chairs directly from the convention center. So I went to the
service office to ask and was told that the service was behind, and they'd
be delivered overnight. Okay, no worries, we can deal with that. We called it
good and went to our Airbnb, confident we could show up in the morning and
finish set up.
We are now 2 days 2 countries away from our bags, but I've been calling the airline and letting them know, so our bags can be delivered when they are found.
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We wake up bright an early to get to the convention center to finish set up, only to find. - you guessed it - our tables had in fact not arrived overnight. The show begins in 90 minutes and we have no demo tables.
So we make our way to the service office and even though the service office is not officially open, the door is unlocked and there are people in a meeting, so we interrupt.
We're told that the people are working on it, and to return to our stand. Finally, about 30 minutes before showtime we get our tables. Phew!
I'd be lying if I did not say that we had an excellent Essen. Every day was great, but for the fact that I was trying to run a show and also find out where our bags are. After all, I have 6 people working their tails off who have no toiletries and very little clothing except for what we came in with.
So in between helping out attendees, there I am on the phone with Lufthansa customer service, asking over and over again for updates on our bags. Many times I was on hold for 2+ hours - demo'ing a game and making sales and having conversation.
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Oh glory day, our bags have been found! I manage to connect the airline to my Airbnb host to obtain our bags, and he delivers them to our Airbnb. We are all chomping at the bit, hoping that our stuff has arrived, not willing to believe until we see it with our own eyes.
We arrive back at our Airbnb to find 5 bags, only 4 of which belong to us. Yes, it's true, the airline has delivered us a 5th bag that belongs to a complete stranger. What the heck am I supposed to do with this?!?
So now every time I call the airline not only am I asking about the status of our 2 missing bags, but I am also asking what I'm supposed to do with this stranger's bag. Long story short, we never got an answer. We took it upon ourselves to bring the bag back from Essen to Paris, and left it with Lufthansa.
It's at this point you might say, "Hey Marc, now that you had your bag back, why did you continue to wear slippers?" Well, gentle gamer, the reason I continued to wear slippers is that due to weight restrictions, my sneakers - that I bought 2 days before we left - remained in one of the still-missing suitcases.
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The rest of the show passed pretty much uneventfully. We demo'd games, we sold games, and on Sunday night we packed up our stuff and got it shipped out without too much difficulty.
The next day - Mon 18 Oct - we left for Brussels, and spent 2 days in an absolutely spectacular Airbnb, despite the fact that 2 of us still didn't have our luggage. And yes, I continued to call every day.
On Wed afternoon, we left Brussels for Paris, excited to be in our final city and check into another amazing Airbnb. We got on the train and when we arrived, I checked my messages to find out that our Airbnb hosts claimed a plumbing problem would prevent us from checking in.
It's now 9p and we have no place to stay. I contact Airbnb, and fortunately our hosts we able to relocate us to another property, but at this point you can understand why we began to feel our trip was cursed.
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Despite our past woes and the fact that the 2 missing bags never showed up - and yes I continued to call the airline daily - we made our way to the airport in good spirits, giddy with the prospect of going home.
We arrived at the airport and checked in, and the service person says, "Wait a second, I think we have a bag for you. It was transferred to us 5 days ago." Do me a favor and read that again. Yes, the woman really told us that despite my calling every single day, the previous airline had transferred 1 of our missing bags to our departure airline 5 days previous. And as I called every day, not a single service representative bothered to mention it. One of my people could have had her belongings for 5 days, and was denied it due to laziness and stupidity (well... in my humble opinion!)
Our flight home was also blissfully uneventful. We landed back in Chicago, then again to Grand Rapids, and we were home. I've spent the past week doing my best to reinforce EST sleep, but it's been tough. I am finally there as of this past weekend.
Despite it all, it was a fantastic experience, and I look forward to what must be a less eventful Essen 2022. I hope to see you there!
Playfully,
Marc
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