The Flight Centre offered a non-existent deal to customers.
An Australian flight company has been found in breach of the Fair Trading Act after offering deals to customers that did not exist.
The Flight Centre advertised this offer between May and September 2009: “We will beat any airline, web or competitor’s airfare quote or fly you for free.” Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? That’s because it was.
When the Commerce Commission investigated complaints it found that the small print changed the terms and conditions of the deal, effectively making the deal non-existent.
The small print states that the company would only beat quotes available to the general public for the same class of flight on the same dates and of the same travel product. Any cheaper quotes would have to be submitted to the Flight Centre in writing in order to be considered.
Commerce Commission director of fair trading Adrian Sparrow said of the deal: “In the commission’s view, the small print terms and conditions fundamentally change the meaning of Flight Centre’s headline offer. Businesses need to make sure that headline statements accurately reflect what is being offered.”
The Commission also found that advertised cut-price deals were either wrong or included hidden extra charges. Like the deal offered to one customer who bought a package tour to Thailand, but found themselves being charged an extra $854 on arrival in Thailand which doubled their costs.
The Flight Centre got away lightly with a public warning this time round, however Mr Sparrow confirmed that the commission would continue to monitor the company and would prosecute if the company flouted the warning. If taken to court and found guilty of a breach of the Fair Trading Act, the Flight Centre would be fined up to $200,000.
A spokeswoman for Flight Centre said: “We acknowledge the Commerce Commission’s recommendations, and will continue to adapt the tag line to ensure it is really clear for all consumers. Our main aim is to say ‘We won’t be beaten on price’.”
A small victory for the consumer then who are mightily fed up of hidden charges and deals that really are too good to be true.
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