Qantas is currently facing a class action lawsuit in regards to its refund policy for flights that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic in 2020.
As per The Guardian Echo Law announced on Monday that it had lodged a class action lawsuit against Qantas in the federal court “on behalf of hundreds of thousands” of pandemic-affected travellers.
Echo Law is accusing Qantas of engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct in the way it communicated with travellers about their rights for flights that could not go ahead due to COVID restrictions in early 2020.
The firm is claiming that Qantas should have immediately issued cash refunds to customers instead of providing them with travel credits that had strict conditions and were difficult to use.
Andrew Paull, who is a partner at Echo Law, said while airlines suffered major disruptions from cancellations caused by COVID, “that is no excuse for Qantas to take advantage of its own customers and effectively treat them as providers of over $1 billion in interest-free loans.”
“Qantas is currently one of the world’s most profitable airlines and [we will allege] that profit has been built, in part, on funds it unlawfully retained from its customers,” he told The Guardian.
“Qantas held on to its customers’ money and pushed out travel credits with strict conditions, which we allege it was not entitled to do. It now needs to be held accountable and refund that money with interest.”
He also made mention of his criticisms around the flight credit scheme saying that some travellers have been forced to pay more than their original bookings and that travellers felt pressured by the airline to use the credits on a new fare or lose the value of their flight credits entirely.
He reiterated that any talk from Qantas about refunding flight credits that travellers hadn’t used was “both too little and too late.”
“That money ought to have been automatically returned to customers, in most cases more than three years ago, and we are seeking both refunds of all remaining credits as well as compensation for the time customers have been out of pocket,” Paull said.
The Echo Law class action is being backed CASL — a well known class action funder — and the firm has called for any affected customers, even those that have already used their flight credits, to register to join the lawsuit.
Qantas also released a statement on Monday rejecting the claims made by Echo Law.
“We have already processed well in excess of $1 billion in refunds from COVID credits for customers who were impacted by lockdowns and border closures,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
The airline also said that “the majority of customers” with COVID-19 credits are eligible for a refund.
“Qantas has one of the most flexible COVID credit policies of any airline, including among our global peers, and we’ve extended the expiry dates three times,” the airline added.
The aviation company also stated that it had improved its credit system over the past three years to make it easier for Qantas customers to access a refund or travel credits.
The airline said that it has always made it very clear to customers that they were entitled to a refund if they went through the relevant processes.
“Thousands of customers have already done just that,” Qantas said.
If you’ve been sitting on some post-COVID Qantas credits, maybe now would be a good time to get your bag instead.
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