Qantas has agreed to credit more than 100 of its frequent flyer members with bonus frequent flyer points, after discussions with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The ACCC received a number of complaints alleging that in its November/December 1999 Frequent Flyer newsletter Qantas represented that members who flew on certain oneworld alliance airlines between 1 October 1999 and 31 December 1999 would receive between 50,000 and 100,000 bonus frequent flyer points.
On the same page as the bonus offer there appeared a box containing, in small print, the terms and conditions for the awarding of the bonus points. These terms and conditions represented that the bonus points to be earned were, except for the 100,000 bonus points offer, 25,000 points less than those stated in larger print.
Section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 provides that a corporation shall not engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive.
The ACCC considered that consumers were likely to have been misled by the conflicting figures and contacted Qantas. Qantas attributed the discrepancy to a printing error.
"Corporations must ensure accuracy in their printed material", ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. "Otherwise they risk misleading consumers and breaching the Act".
Qantas has now agreed to credit the extra bonus points to frequent flyer members who:
- received the November/December 1999 Newsletter;
- made their booking after receipt of the newsletter; and
- flew on the specified number of oneworld airlines within the promotion period.
"The ACCC notes that mistakes can happen, however it expects business to appropriately rectify the mistake as soon as possible. Qantas should have corrected the advertisement in its next Frequent Flyer newsletter but made no effort to correct the advertisement until contacted by the ACCC".