Pricewatch

• Aer Lingus ticket debacle

  April 17, 2008 @ 11:32 am | by Conor

  Aer Lingus cancelled the bookings of over one hundred customers who booked business class return tickets to the US yesterday for nominal prices, saying that the low, low fares had been made available in error. The tickets for flights to New York and Boston were made available ranging in price from nothing at all to a fiver. The tickets normally sell for €1,775 one-way. The offer was withdrawn a couple of hours later after which passengers who thought they had made reservations received sheepish emails from Aer Lingus saying that “due to a technical error in our reservation system a small number of bookings were priced incorrectly” and that the booking was cancelled. We’ve a story on our breaking news site with more details. I’ve spoken to the airline today and it seems there is no chance at all it is going to honour the tickets.

  Except maybe it will be forced to. Seconds after I wrote that last sentence, I got a strong statement from the National Consumer Agency. “Blaming a technical error in their booking system in not good enough,” said the Chief Executive Ann FitzGerald. “Aer Lingus formed a contract with the consumer at the stated fare and cannot simply walk away from their obligations”. The National Consumer Agency has been in contact with Aer Lingus this morning and is seeking a meeting with senior management in the company with a view to reaching a fair deal for those customers affected.
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15 Comments »
1.
April 17, 2008
12:01 pm
“Technical Error” my h**e. How is some clown typing in the wrong prices a technical error?
It p**ses me off when these guys blame clerical incompetence on the underlying software.
Comment by Steve K
2.
April 17, 2008
12:19 pm
Not the only problem they’ve got with their software either, as Mulley found recently: http://www.mulley.net/2008/03/23/aer-lingus-site-privacy-screw-up-giving-up-your-personal-account-details/
Comment by Catherine
3.
April 17, 2008
1:55 pm
Perhaps this could be argued by them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat
However, given the fact that they have in the past (and will again) offer bargain basement flight prices, trying to suggest people knew this was a screw up is a weak argument. All they have to do it say “it was a screw up, sorry, look have a voucher for 100 quid or book a flight and we’ll upgrade you. We don’t have to honour this but we want to make amends still. Giving those flights away for that amount would impact on our bottom-line which would mean we couldn’t offer as cheap flights to everyone else on the flight”
Comment by Damien Mulley
4.
April 17, 2008
3:57 pm
Aer Lingus is plain wrong.
It has entered into a valid contract with its customers to provide seats at €5. Any backtracking is a breach of contract. The airline cannot argue it made a mistake as the following statement is emblazoned on its website during the booking procedure: “Availability or price is not guaranteed until you receive a booking confirmation.”
Passengers, if you had a booking confirmation then your booking should be legally enforceable.
The offer has been made for a seat at €5, you have accepted it at an agreed price of €5 and have paid €5. It’s that simple. If the website had corrected itself during booking and refused the €5 then Aer Lingus might have a case but not after issuing a booking confirmation.
That’s the legal opinion I’ve had.
Comment by Paul
5.
April 17, 2008
5:12 pm
I’m not well up on contract law in this circumstance but I really don’t see how Aer Lingus can reasonably be expected to honour such blatantly incorrect ticket prices, other than as a PR goodwill gesture. Fairness doesn’t come in to it overmuch given that anyone who booked these flights probably came across them fortuitously. Cancelling the bookings won’t disadvantage anybody in any real sense.
Comment by Tom Ennis
6.
April 17, 2008
5:25 pm
As of now, the company seems intent on not hounouring the tickets. The NCA is however threatening to initiate legal proceedings so the story could run and run. Whatever the outcome, Aer Lingus have made a complete pig’s ear of the thing. As Damian says, the smart thing to do would have been to admit the mistake and offer everyone involved a couple of hundred quid in vouchers and that would probably have been the end of it. The story is all over the web, the Guardian, the BBC PA and Forbes have all picked up on it.
Comment by Conor
7.
April 17, 2008
5:56 pm
What Damien suggests at 3 above is what we think and hope every company who has messed up like this would do. Indeed, it happens elsewhere time and time again - just look at the Customers Right sections in various UK newspapers to see companies bending over backwards to appease customers.
But one thing I’ve noticed from reading Pricewatch over the last while is that Irish companies never back down. Correct me here if I’m wrong Conor, but most of them try to brazen their way out of the mess they’re in and do not offer compensation of any kind to the wronged and aggrevied customer. It is, as the phrase goes, very Irish
Comment by Jim Carroll
8.
April 17, 2008
7:27 pm
Got an email from Aer Lingus recentl offering flghts from Berlin to Cork starting at €39. Aer Lingus is cheap. And not just when it comes to prices. Just fly with them to/from any destination in Europe and you will see how tawdry this outfit is. Filthy planes, staff incapaable of speaking any language apart from broken English… Those who booked those €5 deals should fight Aer Lingus all the way through the courts and force the company to honour their contracts. It may teach Aer Lingus that cheap comes with a price tag.
Comment by Eamonn Fitzgerald
9.
April 17, 2008
8:56 pm
I’m with Aer Lingus on this one. It was clearly an error. The NCA would be better advised to address more important issues than attempting to defend the indefensible.
Comment by John in Cork
10.
April 17, 2008
11:48 pm
Christ, I wouldn’t fancy having forked out over €1,700 for a flight and end up sitting beside some riff-raff from Tallafornia going over to buy a year’s worth of last season Tommy Hilfiger in some grotty out-of-town outlet.
Comment by europhile
11.
April 18, 2008
8:33 am
Jim, I reckon less than five per cent of the queries and compplaints I look into from readers of The Irish Times and listeners to the Ray Darcy show end with what I call the Esther Rantzan moment - when the company in question holds its hand up, admits it was wrong and offers some level of compensation to the wronged customer. Most prefer issuing mealy-mouthed regrets and promises that it (whatever it might be) will never happen again.
Comment by Conor
12.
April 18, 2008
11:01 am
Less than 5 percent?? That low? Jesus, that’s appalling. I think they’re all trying to be like Michael O’Leary - brazen it out because the customer is always wrong.
Comment by Jim Carroll
13.
April 18, 2008
4:00 pm
They made, as you say, a pigs ear of the situation and have now compromised somewhat but I still don’t see why anyone who booked a flight was/is aggrieved. They held their hands up, said it was a mistake and were in my opinion correct to initially refuse the bookings. Negative publicity has forced their hand, not making up for any real offence on their part. I’m no fan of Aer Lingus, usually fly ryanair but think they are being poorly treated here
Comment by Tom Ennis
14.
May 10, 2008
9:03 am
I JUST BOOKED 3 TICKETS TO LOS ANGELES THRU’TRAVEPSUPERMARKET AND FLIGHTLINE ON AER LINGUS FOR £9 TRAVELLING 26TH JULY FOR 4 WEEKS
Comment by PATRICK MCCANN
15.
May 10, 2008
10:10 am
10-05-08 I JUST BOOKED 3 TICKETS TO LOS ANGELES THRU’TRAVEPSUPERMARKET AND FLIGHTLINE ON AER LINGUS FOR £9 TRAVELLING 26TH JULY FOR 4 WEEKS
Comment by PATRICK MCCANN

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