Webjet has been ordered to pay A$9 million in the Federal Court after advertising misleading or false flight prices and booking confirmations.
In the case brought on by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) the flight booking site admitted to making false or misleading statements regarding airfares that excluded compulsory fees between 2018 and 2023.
The company also admitted to making false or misleading booking confirmations for 118 consumers for flight bookings that weren’t actually confirmed between 2019 and 2024. Webjet later asked for additional payments of up to A$2,210 from consumers to complete the booking before refunding them.
The case was brought to the ACCC’s attention after a consumer complained that airfares advertised as “from $18” turned out to be triple the price once compulsory fees were added on.
“We took this case because we considered that Webjet used misleading pricing by excluding or not adequately disclosing compulsory fees in its ads,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don’t tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law.”
The compulsory fees consisted of "Webjet servicing fees” and “book price guarantee” which ranged from A$39.90 to $54.90 per booking, depending on the flight.
According to the ACCC, the Webjet website, app, and most emails contained information about extra fees, despite it often being in fine print. However, in social media posts, Webjet didn’t disclose any extra fees.
“Retailers must ensure their advertised prices are accurate. They should clearly disclose additional fees and charges,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
The additional Webjet fees represented 36% of the company’s total revenue from 1 November 2018 to 13 November 2023.
Webject has cooperated with the ACCC and admitted liability.
In an ASX statement, Webjet agreed to:
- Pay a total penalty of $9 million;
- Publish a corrective notice in the form agreed with the ACCC for a period of 60 days;
- Review, maintain and continue to implement an Australian Consumer Law compliance program in an agreed form; and
- Pay a $100,000 contribution to the ACCC's costs.
The company has also announced that it will implement improvements to its fee disclosures.
