A recent ruling by the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal ordered Air Canada to reimburse a man after the airline’s chatbot provided him with inaccurate information regarding bereavement fares. The tribunal found in favor of Jake Moffatt, stating that the airline did not ensure its chatbot was accurate.
Moffatt had used Air Canada’s chatbot on their website to find flights to attend his grandmother’s funeral. The chatbot erroneously suggested that he could apply for bereavement fares retroactively by completing a refund application within 90 days of the ticket’s issue date. Moffatt, despite being denied by the airline, persisted in his efforts to receive partial reimbursement for more than two months.
Subsequently, Moffatt filed a claim with the tribunal, asserting that Air Canada should provide him with a partial refund due to his reliance on the chatbot’s advice. The airline, however, argued that it could not be held liable for the chatbot’s error, stating that it was a separate legal entity responsible for its own actions.
In the tribunal’s decision, member Christopher Rivers ordered Air Canada to pay damages of $650.88 plus interest and court fees. He criticized the airline’s assertion that Moffatt could find correct information on another part of the website, emphasizing that it should be obvious to the company that it is responsible for all the information on its website, regardless of the source. Despite Air Canada’s statement that it would comply with the ruling, it insisted that the matter was closed and had no additional information to provide.