Six months ago we flew with Air Canada. Although we arrived our luggage did not. We reported this and were given a claim number, but despite writing to both their UK and Quebec offices by recorded delivery we’ve had no response. Both suitcases eventually turned up but we were put to considerable inconvenience. Without a response from Air Canada we cannot even claim on our insurance.
As far as I’m aware this is unusual. You should have a file reference number made up of five letters and five numbers. As long as you submitted the required documentation such as your baggage tags and boarding passes you would expect to receive a small sum for “interim expenses”. You could try the “Chat Now” function on the airline’s website if you’re on the internet. However it’s not an amount to take legal action over.