By Colin Adamson, Associate Solicitor, Palmers Solicitors
The summer holidays are almost at an end, but the travel season is far from over. September is a hugely popular time for taking to the skies, particularly among those with adult children or those without children.
However, with flight and hotel bookings comes the inevitable cancellations that unfortunately face a small minority of customers. From a consumer rights perspective, this is certainly an interesting time of year.
A case of mistaken pricing
We’ve recently seen two fairly high-profile cases of travel arrangements being cancelled which have raised questions around the rights of consumers and brands.
The first, in which a small number of Qantas customers were briefly able to book first class tickets for a fraction of the normal cost, saw consumers downgraded (based on the tickets they held) to business class – which was worth considerably more than the price of their tickets.
Qantas said that this was due to a computer error and that it would honour bookings made, in business class instead of first, or offer a full refund.
This seems fair on the face of it, but let’s dig deeper. The airline terms and conditions state it is entitled to cancel a booking and offer a refund when it is ‘reasonably obvious’ that an error in pricing has been made.
What does the airline define as reasonable? The dynamic nature of airline pricing coupled with the absence of a set numerical definition of reasonable means that consumers who have planned a trip or booked accommodation around their flight lack protection and the recourse to argue that they made the booking in the belief that the price was genuine.
This also shifts the onus of realising the mistake onto consumers, although this is both allowable and a prudent move commercially.
Securing accommodation
Hotel chains in Manchester have also been recently criticised for supposed cancellations of existing bookings in order to raise prices on the dates that Oasis will play the city.
Some consumers have faced the disappearance of their bookings, more commonly, cancellations due to overbooking.
While frustrating, there is little in the way of protection for consumers for overbooking – as not cancelling the booking could result in unsafe overcrowding.
As long as a refund is offered, consumers can sadly do little to recoup the logistical losses that a cancellation could entail.
Recourse for consumers
When consumers are faced with cancellations or disruption to their plans, what is available to them to prevent losses?
Generally, when a cancellation of accommodation or transport is due to provider error or unavailability on the part of the provider, consumers are entitled to a full refund, as the service has not been provided.
The issue with both of the cases highlighted here is not, in fact, the financials of it all. Rather, these consumers are facing inconvenience and disruption that does not necessarily hold a financial value.
Additionally, then, providers may be able to offer a suitable alternative in place of a refund where a refund would not solve the issue of the service not being provided.
This is generally allowable for most services, on the basic principle that appropriate funds have been exchanged for a suitable service or product.
When travelling and booking transport and accommodation, consumers should be particularly careful to note cancellation policies and the rights of the provider, to avoid situations where they are left high and dry.
For further advice on consumers rights, please contact our team today.