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 ...Originally Posted by pietpetoors
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
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