Slater and Gordon class action against travel vouchers

[Mattg]

Slater and Gordon is apparently preparing a class action against airlines and travel companies that have unlawfully refused refunds, instead pushing customers to accept a travel voucher.

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

www.slatergordon.com.au

Investigations by Slater and Gordon have revealed tens’ of thousands of Australians are being shortchanged by major airlines, travel agents and tour companies after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their travel plans.
The leading class action law firm believes that major travel providers, including Qantas and Jetstar, may have breached their legal obligations by putting in place travel voucher schemes that significantly disadvantage their customers.

Practice Group Leader Andrew Paull said the affected customers may be able to participate in a class action against their travel providers.

Mr Paull said the firm has spoken with holidaymakers who have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket and holding vouchers that they may never be able to use.

Others felt they were forced to cancel ahead of airline announcements to get back a portion of their fares, only to be hit with hefty cancellation fees.

“We understand that everyone is doing it tough at present, including the major airlines and travel companies, but that doesn’t give them an excuse to take advantage of their customers. Nor is it acceptable for Qantas shareholders to treat the money it owes to ordinary Australians like its own,” Mr Paull said.

“We believe cash refunds should be returned to customers, who almost certainly need that money right now, rather than in bank accounts gathering interest for airline shareholders.
“We call on businesses like Qantas and Jetstar to do the right thing and honour their obligations to their customers. If they won’t do so, then it’s only reasonable for those customers to look at recovering their money through a class action.”

The media release singles out Qantas and Jetstar, but I think Virgin Australia's actions of refusing refunds even for flights the airline has itself cancelled could be unlawful under Australian Consumer Law. So, I think this class action would have some chance of success - although whether Virgin Australia is able to refund customers with travel banks, who would be unsecured creditors in the context of the voluntary administration, is another matter.

Is anyone signing up for this? Apparently there is no cost to register your interest.

Registration page is here: Travel Vouchers

 

[serfty]

I may if I can't sort it out with the carriers (refund) or AMEX (charge back).

Ex Oz, I have two August bookings, one with VA, one with QF totalling $1700.

 

[jakeseven7]

Gosh someone should page all those poor people with thousands and thousands in VA travel banks

 

[Isochronous]

Slater and Gordon is apparently preparing a class action against airlines and travel companies that have unlawfully refused refunds, instead pushing customers to accept a travel voucher.

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

www.slatergordon.com.au

The media release singles out Qantas and Jetstar, but I think Virgin Australia's actions of refusing refunds even for flights the airline has itself cancelled could be unlawful under Australian Consumer Law. So, I think this class action would have some chance of success - although whether Virgin Australia is able to refund customers with travel banks, who would be unsecured creditors in the context of the voluntary administration, is another matter.

Is anyone signing up for this? Apparently there is no cost to register your interest.

Registration page is here: Travel Vouchers

Most likely the reason for not going after VA is that the administration process imposes restrictions on the ability of anyone to commence legal proceedings against them.

 

[burmans]

Everyone's experience is their own but I got a refund when I asked (redemption booking). There are a number of parts to this claim and am not sure all will succeed.

Refusing a refund is against the law (as I understand it) but offering a refund as their preferred option is probably not. And customer cancelling IS different to the company cancelling which is why I advised many people to wait to see if airline cancelled.

Selling tickets they 'know' they can't deliver on is probably the one circumstance I think there is a strong claim which has a high chance of success.

 

[RooFlyer]

I wonder of there is a 'litigation funder' involved? They wear the costs of the action (pay S+G) and so lose if the class action is lost, but if the action wins, they take a substantial portion of the funds won. 'Small' claimants may still get next to nothing.

 

[jakeseven7]

Great so VA2 emerges from the ashes and is smacked with a class action.

I hate these American style bottom feeder lawyers.

 

[oz_mark]

I wonder of there is a 'litigation funder' involved? They wear the costs of the action (pay S+G) and so lose if the class action is lost, but if the action wins, they take a substantial portion of the funds won. 'Small' claimants may still get next to nothing.

Not yet - It's all just an investigation into it at the moment.

 

[Major]

I have about $300 travel credits with VA. It's just not worth it.
I will just wait and see what happens after the dust settles

 

[LHT]

I have $2K with American airlines for internal flights in the US which they will not refund and I need to use the credit by Dec 2021. Not sure if we will want to fly to the US by then and it was for a business conference anyway.

 

[travel_bug]

Great so VA2 emerges from the ashes and is smacked with a class action.

I hate these American style bottom feeder lawyers.

Not necessarily, the reason why VA hasn't been mentioned is as per Isochronous above, under voluntary administration, there is essentially a moratorium on creditors taking action against the organisation so that everyone can get their slice of the pie equally and in order of standing.

Post voluntary administration, unless S&G try to class the customers differently, they'll likely be seen as unsecured creditors and would be bound by the DOCA that will exist at the end of the voluntary administration process (whether that ending is a sale as a going concern or liquidation).

That's also why if S&G act now, they can get their clients' claims in as a current action should FCA or any other TA on shaky ground go into voluntary administration in the near future.

Though a bit dated, this document from Allens (pre linklaters) outlines it really well (paras 3.4 and 3.5 in particular). https://data.allens.com.au/pubs/pdf/insol/pap6apr05.pdf

 

[Lynnelanne]

I sent them the information I have about my experiences because I hope they succeed and it may be useful to them. I am only out of pocket about $600 and will probably use the voucher so I don't care for myself, but I didn't like the way the agent (luxury escapes) dealt with me, and I would like to punish them more than simply taking my business elsewhere.

 

[Flashback]

I wonder of there is a 'litigation funder' involved? They wear the costs of the action (pay S+G) and so lose if the class action is lost, but if the action wins, they take a substantial portion of the funds won. 'Small' claimants may still get next to nothing.

Dark Waters is a good example of that and a recently relevant situation on good old Teflon.

 

[Kate59]

Slater and Gordon is apparently preparing a class action against airlines and travel companies that have unlawfully refused refunds, instead pushing customers to accept a travel voucher.

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

Travel vouchers shouldn’t fly; Slater and Gordon prepares class actions for take off

www.slatergordon.com.au

The media release singles out Qantas and Jetstar, but I think Virgin Australia's actions of refusing refunds even for flights the airline has itself cancelled could be unlawful under Australian Consumer Law. So, I think this class action would have some chance of success - although whether Virgin Australia is able to refund customers with travel banks, who would be unsecured creditors in the context of the voluntary administration, is another matter.

Is anyone signing up for this? Apparently there is no cost to register your interest.

Registration page is here: Travel Vouchers

Interesting, I wonder if they will get on to the Travel Insurance Companies who refuse to do anything about annual travel insurance purchased just before all this happened. I am about to try to battle an insurance company.

 

[Mattg]

Does anyone know if anything came of this?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Does anyone know if anything came of this?

I just checked their website and the potential class action is listed as 'current' and still inviting people to register: Travel Vouchers

They say they still haven't worked out the funding arrangement.

I wonder if the class action is somewhat redundant given most airlines and travel companies seem to have now come to the party in offering refunds?