Updated February 18th, 2024 at 15:06 IST
The airline was ordered to compensate a man who was misled into paying in full for a ticket by the airline’s chatbot.
Air Canada | Image:Wikipedia
Airline vs chatbot: Terming its chatbot a ‘separate legal entity,’ Air Canada has distanced itself from a probe into misleading a customer.
Brushing off responsibility from a case of bereavement rates for a passenger in the airlines, Air Canada argued that the correct information on bereavement fares was available on its website.
The Case
Jake Moffatt in 2022 wanted to check with Canada’s largest airline if he qualified for bereavement fares after his grandmother’s demise.
A support chatbot on Air Canada’s website replied Moffatt could apply for the refund “within 90 days of the date your ticket was issued” by filling an online form.
Moffatt had checked in his query with the chatbot whether bereavement fares could be granted retroactively, to which the chatbot had said the refund window was applicable.
He subsequently booked tickets online to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Toronto.
Air Canada said bereavement rates would not be applicable on completed travel, when Moffatt followed suite to the chatbot’s response and applied for a refund between bereavement fare and normal fare.
On providing a screenshot of the conversation to the airline, Air Canada said the chatbot’s advice was misleading, and it would update the bot with correct information.
The Response
“While a chatbot has an interactive component, it is still just a part of Air Canada’s website. It should be obvious to Air Canada that it is responsible for all the information on its website,” Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) member Christopher Rivers said.
The Canadian flag carrier has been ordered to pay $650.88 to Moffatt, the fare difference he sued the airline for. Additionally, he was paid $36.14 in pre-judgment interest and $125 in fees.
Air Canada defended that the correct information on bereavement fares was available on its website. Rivers however said the airline did “not explain why the webpage titled ‘Bereavement Travel’ was inherently more trustworthy” than its chatbot.
