Tribunal vindicates AirAsia over 'wrong flights' case

Kota Kinabalu: A family of three who bought the wrong flights was forced to fork out more than RM600 on top of the RM800 they had already paid for their round trip tickets to Penang after the Consumer Claims Tribunal agreed with AirAsia.In appealing that AirAsia should simply change the ticket to the correct routes, Muhamad Azril Azaman said he could not afford to pay the penalty right now and is banking on the respondent's leniency so that he and his family can go home to Penang.

The tickets were bought in June via the AirAsia website by Muhamad Azril. He swore that he filled all the details accordingly when he wanted to buy the tickets that will take him and his family from Kota Kinabalu to Penang and then back again from Penang to Kota Kinabalu.

However, the tickets came out the other way around, from Penang to Kota Kinabalu to Penang.

"It could be a glitch in AirAsia's system. It is a computer system after all. It's man-made. It is not glitch-free. I am confident I booked the correct passage, Kota Kinabalu-Penang-Kota Kinabalu. And the flight will not be until next month.

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"So there is still time and opportunity for the respondent to resell those seats and give us the correct ones without charging us any extra fees," he said.

Unfortunately for the claimant, the respondent, represented by its legal representative Nadia Abdul Mumin said it is impossible to accommodate the claimant to such an extent as it would breach the company's procedures and lead to abuse if such incidents happen again.

She also presented a printed evidence from the company's Information Technology department on the details of the booking which clearly showed that the claimant had in fact booked the wrong flights.

"We cannot do away with the company's policy just to accommodate the claimant. I feel sorry that they have to go through this but it is printed clearly that in any occasion where changes need to be made, a certain amount of penalty will be enforced.

"The claimant had contacted me regarding this matter and in fact, the penalty imposed on them is very minimal.

That is all we can do. But they insisted on bringing the matter to the tribunal," she said.

The tickets were bought when the price was still low but the price had gone up since then.

By right, she said, the claimant would have been forced to pay the differences which would be more than RM600 in total.

The claimant argued that because the dates of the flights are still weeks away, the airline could simply swap the tickets with the correct routes and save them the trouble.

He also asked if it would be too inconvenient for the respondent to simply return the money and sell the seats.

"We are not rich people. I bought the tickets right after I received my salary. And now I am supposed to pay extra which I simply cannot afford," he said.

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President Lawrence Thien in making his decision said company procedures are there in order to avoid abuses and the tribunal simply could not direct any organisation or company to change its procedures out of pity.

"I simply do not have that kind of power and I do not think it is appropriate to do so either. I am afraid I have to dismiss this case and side with the respondent," he said.

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