Federal Court Orders Qantas to Pay $100m in Penalties for Misleading Consumers

thydzik on 08/10/2024 - 17:04
Last edited 08/10/2024 - 18:19 by 1 other user

Federal Court orders Qantas to pay $100m in penalties for misleading consumers

chatgpt summary:

Qantas, Australia’s largest airline, has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $100 million in penalties for selling tickets on flights it had already decided to cancel and failing to notify customers promptly. The penalty comes after a case was brought by the ACCC, and Qantas admitted to breaching the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

From May 2022 to May 2024, Qantas misled customers by continuing to sell tickets and displaying flight details for flights that were already canceled, impacting over 880,000 consumers. In some cases, tickets were sold up to 62 days after the decision to cancel the flights. On average, it took Qantas 11 days to notify customers of the cancellations, causing stress and additional costs for travelers.

In addition to the $100 million fine, Qantas has agreed to pay around $20 million to affected consumers as part of a remediation program. Consumers who booked canceled flights or were re-accommodated are eligible for payments of $225 (domestic) or $450 (international). Eligible customers have until 6 May 2025 to submit claims.

Qantas has since made changes to its systems and has agreed to improve its compliance programs. Further information on how to claim can be found on Qantas' official website.

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• 

  CyberMurning on 08/10/2024 - 17:12

  +2

  and at the same time…. someone is laughing (even after the cut).
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-08/what-alan-joyce-was-o…

• 

  Cluster on 08/10/2024 - 17:17

  The fine needs to be large enough to dissuade Qantas from trying a similar trick again. At 880k customers and a $100M fine, that's $113 per customer. How much did Qantas gain by locking in customers, preventing them buying a ticket with a competitor, and benefitting by investing the money until it was time to issue refund vouchers? If the fine is too small then Qantas may just see this as a cost to do business.

  The latter part of directly compensating customers is welcome, although at only $20M I bet they're counting on most people to not bother submitting a claim.

• 

  caulfieldguy on 08/10/2024 - 17:23

  -2

  $100m? Price of doing business.

  We are being rimmed rogered and shafted by the corporate filth. Man the barricades, kids.

  Another woolworths just opened near me, and one more, a km or so down the road, is opening next year. Enough. :)

  • 

    eccaz on 08/10/2024 - 22:33

    Look on the bright side of life.

• 

  Bruceflix on 08/10/2024 - 17:23

  In other breaking news, QANTAS given another tax-payer handout to fully cover Federal Court fines…

  • 

    ThithLord on 08/10/2024 - 17:49

    +3

    That was the Morrison Government who gave tax-payer money during COVID to businesses that certainly did not need it.

    Labor are the Federal Government who took QANTAS to the High Court of Australia to fight for compensation to the 1700 illegally sacked ground workers and ensure it never happens again, thanks to the Same Job, Same Pay legislation.

• 

  Oztack on 08/10/2024 - 17:31

  +2

  Sigh…. And how do we know if we are eligible? I mean almost all my flights with Qantas get changed by them at some point!!

  • 

    koplik8 on 08/10/2024 - 18:15

    Then they refused to send me on direct flights from Darwin to Adelaide. I was flying all over the country on Jetstar

• 

  SBOB on 08/10/2024 - 17:56

  sounds like a cost of business/rounding error compared to their last years operating profit margin, and prior years 'handouts' profit margin.

• 

  Drakesy on 08/10/2024 - 18:00

  +1

  Fcuk
  Them
  Up

  Oh and make them pay back their jobkeeper that they effectively gave away as profits to shareholders whilst underpaying their own staff, effectively using jobkeeper as a 100% labour subsidy.

  Bring in eurozone penaltiessssssssssssss

• 

  tsunamisurfer on 08/10/2024 - 18:03

  I am not impacted thankfully.

  But I agree that the fines need to be higher as this is merely a slap on the wrist.

  I have no problem with Qantas profits or CEO remuneration, but you are lying to customers and causing a inconvenience during their travels.

  The fine and remediation amounts should be at least triple this to give customers confidence again.

• 

  koplik8 on 08/10/2024 - 18:17

  Qantas Customer Remediation Program
  Qantas has launched a customer remediation program in connection with the resolution of a legal action commenced by the ACCC.

  For flights scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 and 10 May 2024, more than 86,000 customers who made a booking on a flight departing Australia two or more days after the cancellation decision had been made will be compensated as part of this program. Those impacted customers will receive $225 for domestic/trans-Tasman flights and $450 for international flights. This is on top of any refund or alternative flight already offered to these customers.
  Payments will be available through a dedicated online portal facilitated by professional services firm, Deloitte, and will be independently audited. Qantas will be notifying impacted customers via email from June 2024 with details about how they can lodge a claim.

  Eligible customers were contacted from 30 June through the first week of July via email and/or SMS from Qantas and Deloitte. These communications contained instructions on how to claim their payment through the Remediation Portal.  You are required to register on the portal by 7 May 2025 to receive your remediation payment.

  If you did not receive an email or SMS, you may still be an eligible customer, and you are able to sign up to the Remediation Portal to check whether you are eligible. Once you have signed up to the Remediation Portal, please complete the Web Form to provide Deloitte with information to enable them to verify whether you are eligible.

  If you have any questions about the Program, click below to be taken to the Deloitte Remediation Portal.

  You can also contact Deloitte’s dedicated support team for assistance. Simply send a message via the Remediation Portal page or contact Deloitte at 1800 958 524 if you have questions or are having difficulties accessing the Remediation Portal. Deloitte’s operators are online between 9am and 5pm (AEST) Monday to Friday excluding Victorian Public Holidays. 

  https://www.qantas.com/au/en/book-a-trip/flights/qantas-cust…

  • 

    Cheapskate Paul on 08/10/2024 - 23:07

    +1

    Deloitte will probably make more than $20 million to run the remediation program.