Emirates immune to credit act

[pietpetoors]

On 14 July 2014 at about 07h33 I made a booking from China to SA. I saw the price as 8620 on the web site and booked the ticket. When I received the sms from FNB it showed R15,000.00. I as surprised and could not understand why.

Decided to call call centre after they open. Later when I checked ticket I sw price as CNY8620 and not ZAR. I called call centre and told them I made mistake and want to cancel. They said no problem but there is a cancellation fee of more than R3k that will apply. I told them no way, I saw the mistake and called them. They said they will see hat they can do.

I had to call them back each day for 4 days in a row and each day they gave me some bull story. I always thought Emirates were a professional airline but now I see they a bunch of crooks. After I purchased my ticket FNB's fraud line immediately called me so that I can confirm that I made the purchase. I can see why they are on FNB's fraud line list. Each time I phone you talk to another person, nether the same person.

Is Emirates immune to our new consumer act, is there no cooling off period for them?

[Houses4Rent]

No idea, but it seems you bought in China? How did you get the the Chinese Yen? I guess if you bought in China the CPA does not apply. Just guessing.

[pietpetoors]

That is exactly part of the problem. The previous evening I was sitting in my office and booked a ticket from SA to Beijing and paid in ZAR. The next morning I sat in the same office (in SA) with the same computer and same internet connection to book the other flight. That is why I nether bothered to check the currency. This time it was CNY and not ZAR. Only saw it when I received the sms from FNB

[Houses4Rent]

Hm, you picked up a bug it seems. They should pay you for discovering it.
Maybe the IT experts here can shed some more light on this.

[wynn]

And suddenly an opportunity arises!
Open an account in China for your business then invoice everything from there and you are immune from the CPA???

[BusFact]

Can't you cancel a credit card transaction?

[HR Solutions]

Can't you cancel a credit card transaction?

No once u have completed you cannot cancel.
I have never had a problem with Emirates, but yes you have to watch out for which currency you pay in.

[desA]

This is one of the reasons I prefer to use a good Travel Agent.

[Greig Whitton]

Is Emirates immune to our new consumer act, is there no cooling off period for them?

The Consumer Protection Act applies to any transaction occurring within South Africa (with some exceptions), irrespective of a supplier's location. That's the simple part. From here on, things get a little tricky ...

The cooling off period that you are referring to does not apply to transactions governed by Section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (since that section of the ECTA provides a cooling off period of its own). However, Section 44 of the ECTA does not apply to a number of different electronic transactions, including the provision of transport.

Since the ECTA's cooling off period does not apply, the CPA's cooling off period can apply. But the CPA's cooling off period only applies to transactions resulting from direct marketing. So unless you made your purchase as a result of Emirate's direct marketing, you won't be entitled to a cooling off period.

But we're not done just yet ...

Section 17 of the CPA entitles consumers to cancel any advance booking. Suppliers may charge a reasonable cancellation fee, unless the cancellation is due to the hospitalisation or death of the person for whom the booking was made. So, in your case, Emirates may charge a reasonable cancellation fee. Unfortunately, "reasonable" isn't quantified anywhere and (to the best of my knowledge) there haven't been any court cases that might otherwise provide legal precedent.

We're almost there ...

Section 23 of the CPA requires suppliers to display the Rand value of their prices. However, this does not apply to transactions governed by Section 43 of the ECTA. Section 43 of the ECTA does apply to your transaction, and requires suppliers to disclose (amongst other details) the full price of any goods or services (including any transportation costs, taxes, and other fees). So while Emirates wouldn't need to disclose their prices in Rand terms, they would need to display some sort of currency (otherwise it wouldn't be clear what the full price was, which would put them in breach of the ECTA).

So in summary ...

If Emirates did display a currency on their website when you made your purchase then, regardless of what currency they used, you are flat out of luck. However, if they didn't display a currency, then they are in breach of the ECTA. If they are in breach then, per Section 43 of the ECTA, you are entitled to cancel your purchase within 14 days and Emirates would have to refund you in full (less any direct costs for returning any goods - which, in your case, would be zero).

Phew

[HR Solutions]

Suppliers may charge a reasonable cancellation fee, unless the cancellation

And that is the problem.

As far as I remember - you have to state the country on the first page of emirates website ie country as in which currency to pay with

[Houses4Rent]

As far as I know one can dispute a credit card transaction. However, if the receiving party can proof that it was you who transacted that it will not be reversed. Of they fail to do that (e.g. fail to present the slip you signed of a normal transaction) then it will be reversed.

I normally pay TELKOM online with my credit card. A few months ago it was duplicated by Telkom and taken off twice. I filled out a dispute form and they said if I am proven wrong I have to pay a fee (R80 I think it was). Then later the bank also wanted a fee which they did not disclose before. Then they reversed both transactions and reprocessed the one. They just could have reversed the one to get same net effect. I never paid any fee after I told them that I refuse as it was not my fault at all. I already wasted my resources to have it corrected...

Not sure how it would apply in your case of an online transaction. You made the transaction in error. Website had some error with the currency unless you selected China as your home county. Tit for tat? I wonder what would have happened if the "wrong currency" was worth less. Then you would have gotten a very cheap flight I guess.