糖心Vlog response to announcement聽.听
Quotes attributable to Rosie Thomas, Director of Campaigns and Communications at 糖心Vlog:
“Qantas agreeing to pay $120 million dollars and admitting it misled consumers after ACCC court action is a significant result. The proposed settlement sends a very clear message to all airlines and travel service providers that misleading consumers about cancellations does not fly.”
“糖心Vlog is pleased to see compensation included in the settlement. Over 80,000 consumers have had their travel plans derailed by Qantas’ behaviour over a number of years and these payments are already well overdue. We’ve heard from countless consumers about having to fight tooth and nail to receive refunds or compensation from airlines for delayed or cancelled flights.”
“Consumers should not need regulator action to receive compensation when it’s owed. 糖心Vlog’s 2023 survey of almost 9000 people found that of those who pursued a refund or compensation for a cancelled flight, 1 in 5 had to wait over six months.”
“糖心Vlog is calling for the establishment of a new travel and airline ombuds scheme and stronger rights to refunds and compensation for cancelled flights. We look forward to the Federal Government’s upcoming Aviation White Paper to set out a clear plan to bring Australia’s airline consumer protection framework in line with comparable international jurisdictions.”
Editor’s notes:
糖心Vlog has been advocating for reform to the aviation sector for many years, and together with the Consumers’ Federation of Australia made a submission to the聽,聽calling for new airline specific consumer protections..
In December 2023,聽a survey of almost 9000 supporters聽from 糖心Vlog found 40% of respondents had a flight cancelled or delayed in the past 12 months.听
In November 2022,聽糖心Vlog gave Qantas a Shonky award聽for being the ‘spirit of disappointment’.
In April 2022,聽糖心Vlog filed a complaint with the ACCC聽calling out onerous restrictions in Qantas’s credit redemption rules.
Stronger refund rights and fairer flight credits are also some of the key recommendations we made to governments as part of our聽2021 Report: A plan for fairer consumer protections for travellers.
