Air Canada, passenger 'ripped off' by chatbot will have to be refunded

Air Canada, the Canadian flag carrier, was forced by a court to compensate a customer who had received misleading information from a chatbot, a virtual assistant whose purpose is to answer questions from users accessing the company's website. 

The whole problem lies here: based on a response - misleading, in fact - received from the chatbot, the customer purchased an airline ticket at full price instead of discounted. 

Not everyone knows that several airlines offer the "bereavement rates", sometimes also called "compassionate rates": these are discounted airline tickets that some carriers (including Air Canada) offer to help passengers offset the cost of travel (often last minute) due to the death of a relative.

The above client, Jake Moffatt, was in precisely this situation: he contacted, therefore, the company to find out what documents were necessary to apply for the special rate and to understand when and how the discount. 

As mentioned, this information was given to him by the chatbot according to which Moffat would get the coveted discount if he filled out - Within 90 days from the date of issuance of the airline ticket - one online form with a request for refund.

"Well, it's done" thought the customer who then decided to purchase the Vancouver-Toronto round-trip ticket at full fare, convinced that he would then receive a refund. 

Here the problems begin. Once the refund request was made, in fact, an employee (this time real, not virtual) of Air Canada replied to the customer that he bereavement discounts must be requested at the time of booking and not after the trip has ended, citing the conditions listed in the appropriate section of the Canadian company's website. 

Not only that: Air Canada claimed that it was not responsible for the information provided by chatbots (since, according to the carrier, the virtual assistant was a separate legal entity) and had even offered the passenger a 200 Canadian dollars coupon To be used for a future flight. 

The customer, refused the coupon, tried and retried to obtain compensation from Air Canada. The efforts, however, proved futile. At that point Moffat, who had retained the conversation with the chatbot, decided to file a lawsuit against the carrier To obtain a refund of the difference between the rates.

Eventually the Court for Civil Resolutions of the Canadian province of British Columbia agreed with the passenger: The courts ruled that the carrier is responsible for all information found on the site, including that provided by the virtual assistant. 

Air Canada, therefore, will have to issue a partial refund of 650 Canadian dollars on the original rate of 1640 Canadian dollars, plus court costs. 

And meanwhile on the Canadian company's website is Mysteriously disappeared chatbot...

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