Webjet sued by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over claims of false, misleading airfare prices

Webjet is being sued by the consumer watchdog, which alleges the travel comparison site duped customers for five years by failing to include all costs when plugging the price of its cheapest airfares. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Thursday said it had launched legal action in the Federal Court alleging the company’s made false and misleading representations about flight prices and bookings between November 2018 and November 2023. The watchdog alleges Webjet breached the Australian Consumer Law when it made statements on its app, in marketing emails, on social media and its website about the minimum price of airfares which failed to note compulsory fees charged by Webjet. “The statements included ‘flights from $x’ when the price quoted excluded Webjet’s compulsory ‘Webjet servicing fee’ and ‘booking price guarantee’ fee, which ranged from $34.90 to $54.90 per booking, depending on whether the flights were domestic, NZ/Pacific flights or other international flights,” the ACCC said. It said Webjet’s fees were not disclosed in its social media posts. While its website, app and most promotional emails contained information about the fees, it was typically only accessible by scrolling towards the bottom of the relevant screen, was in fine print and not sufficiently clear or prominent. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said during a time of cost pressures, cash-conscious travellers should be able to trust that statement about the lowest price are a true minimum price, and not subject to further fees and charges. Listed Webjet is also alleged to have breached consumer law by displaying a confirmation page online and sending a confirmation email after taking payment for a booking when in fact — in 382 cases — it had not booked the flight with the airline. In these cases — between at least November 1, 2018 and June 25 this year — Webjet later allegedly sought additional payment from the consumers to complete the booking, or offered the consumer a refund for the flight, despite having earlier confirmed the booking. “We are very concerned about this alleged conduct by Webjet, which represented to consumers that their flight booking had been confirmed and left some consumers in the position of having to pay more to later complete the booking,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. “The ACCC is currently prioritising consumer and competition issues in the aviation sector as well as conduct in the digital economy. “We remind all businesses, whether they are online retailers or bricks and mortar stores, that they need to comply with the Australian Consumer Law by not misleading consumers and displaying prices clearly, including hidden fees and surcharges.” In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Webjet said it had undertaken steps to improve its pricing and fee disclosure practises. “Millions of customers have chosen to book through Webjet Marketing during the period in question and we have very rarely been contacted by customers complaining about our disclosure of fees,” it said. “Webjet Group is confident there is no widespread customer dissatisfaction with our offering, disclosure, service or pricing.” The court action comes just a day after Webjet Group — which was spun out of WEB Travel Group late last year — reported underlying profit of $9.2 million for the first half. Shares in the company soared 14 per cent after it unveiled a $150 million share buyback plan. The ACCC is seeking fines, compensation for customer and costs along with other orders.