After concerns that Jetstar, Tigerair, Qantas and Virgin Australia had each made false or misleading representations on their websites, the four airlines have committed to ensuring their refund policies and practices comply with their consumer guarantee obligations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was concerned that each airline had made false or misleading representations on their websites that misled consumers about their rights to refunds and resupply in the event of significant flight delays or cancellations.
The ACCC has accepted court-enforceable undertakings from all four airlines, in which each has committed to reviewing their refund policies, compliance programs, websites and booking systems to address the ACCC’s concerns. As a result of the ACCC’s engagement with the industry, the airlines have already made improvements to their websites, policies and procedures to address the ACCC’s concerns.
Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia will also review consumer complaints made in a specified time period, and offer refunds or other remedies to consumers who were entitled to these remedies originally but did not receive them.
Affected passengers will be contacted by these airlines and offered a remedy in accordance with their rights under the ACL.
All four airlines will also create Australian Consumer Law page on their websites to provide a clear and concise statement of passengers’ consumer guarantee rights and the steps they can take to seek a remedy where the airline’s flights are significantly delayed or cancelled.
“Jetstar, Tigerair, Qantas and Virgin Australia have provided substantial undertakings to the ACCC and in doing so have committed to doing the right thing by their passengers in relation to refunds and other remedies under the consumer guarantees,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said.
Services such as flights come with automatic consumer guarantees, and these rights cannot be excluded, restricted or modified.
“Airlines cannot make blanket statements that flights are non-refundable or charge consumers a fee to get a refund when they are entitled to one free of charge under the ACL,” Sims said.
If a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, passengers may be entitled to a refund under the consumer guarantees, which give consumers a right to a remedy if services are not supplied within a reasonable time.
“Passengers will now be offered refunds or other remedies by these airlines when there has been a failure to supply the service within a reasonable time,” Mr Sims said.
Jetstar
Jetstar has admitted that it made representations on its website that some fares were not refundable, and that consumers could only get a refund if they purchased a more expensive fare.
Jetstar has also admitted that its terms and conditions contained representations that consumer guarantees under the ACL did not apply to its flight services, and that Jetstar’s liability in providing remedies to consumers was very limited.
Jetstar will review consumer complaints made between 10 April 2017 to 13 March 2018 following a flight delay or cancellation, and will offer refunds or other remedies to consumers that were entitled to these remedies.
Passengers should contact Jetstar via 13 15 38.
Jetstar’s undertaking can be accessed here: Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd
In addition to accepting a court-enforceable undertaking from Jetstar, the ACCC has also instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Jetstar to reflect the seriousness of its conduct.
Tigerair
Tigerair has acknowledged the ACCC’s concerns that it could have made representations to consumers that refunds would only be provided if consumers paid a “refund admin fee”, and that consumers could only receive a credit that was only valid for six months as a remedy.
Passengers should contact Tigerair via 1300 174 266 or the Tigerair Customer Support Portal: https://tigerair.com.au/customer-support-portal
Tigerair’s undertaking can be accessed here: Tiger Airways Australia Pty Limited
Qantas
Qantas has acknowledged the ACCC’s concerns that it may have misled consumers into thinking that refunds were not available for its ‘Red e-deal’ fares, and that flights supplied by Qantas were not subject to any statutory guarantees, including those in the Australian Consumer Law.
Qantas will review consumer complaints made between 18 April 2017 to 12 March 2018 following a flight delay or cancellation, and will offer refunds to consumers that should have been entitled to one.
Passengers should contact Qantas via 13 13 13.
Qantas’ undertaking can be accessed here: Qantas Airways Limited
Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia has acknowledged the ACCC’s concerns that it could have made representations to consumers that refunds were not available at any time for its ‘Domestic Getaway’ and ‘International Short-Haul’ fares, and that consumers were limited to receiving a credit that was valid only for 12 months as a remedy.
Virgin Australia will review certain consumer complaints made between 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2018 following a flight delay or cancellation, and will offer refunds to consumers that should have been entitled to one.
Passengers should contact Virgin Australia via 13 67 89
Virgin Australia’s undertaking can be accessed here: Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd
Edited by Peter Needham
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