Course-action lawsuit certified from WestJet about travel credits challenge

A choose has licensed a course-action lawsuit in opposition to WestJet for its operation of a plan that specials with these types of things as credits for cancelled flights.

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The airline argued that it was

Tiana Sharifi, the consultant plaintiff in the circumstance, booked flights with WestJet and later on cancelled them.

She acquired $993.26 in credit score for the cancellations and was able to use $571.46 for a subsequent booking, but due to the fact WestJet’s credits expire just after one calendar year and she did not use the remaining $421.80 inside of that calendar year, she lost the remaining revenue.

Sharifi is saying that WestJet’s vacation lender application — which provides out “hard” credit history for these types of points as a cancellation or alter to a reservation and “soft” credits for such factors as misplaced luggage and client dissatisfaction — amounts to prepaid buy playing cards or gift playing cards.

Her attorneys mentioned that shopper safety regulations in a lot of provinces in Canada ban expiry dates on prepaid acquire and reward cards and argued that the legislation ought to ban WestJet from imposing the a single-12 months expiry date for the travel financial institution credits.

The company’s hard credits can be prolonged for an further year for a rate of $20, although the tender credits can not be extended.

The plaintiff believed that there had been tens of countless numbers of men and women in Canada who, like Sharifi, experienced experienced their WestJet credits expire.

In her ruling on the situation, B.C. Supreme Court docket Justice Amy Francis noted that the certification examination did not entail a consideration of the merits of the assert and only dealt with irrespective of whether the lawsuit was effectively introduced as a class-action continuing.

That assessment concerned figuring out a amount of points, together with irrespective of whether the pleadings disclosed a cause of motion, no matter whether there was an identifiable course of two or extra individuals, and whether or not the declare raised prevalent challenges.

The airline, which opposed the certification, argued that it was “plain and obvious” that its credits had been neither a reward card nor a prepaid buy card.

The firm claimed that the tricky credits were a return coverage and goodwill purchaser assistance gesture akin to the keep credit rating for a retail invest in whereby a retailer can grant retail outlet credit history for exchanged merchandise and this sort of credit rating may be time-restricted.

The choose mentioned she could not discover that the assert disclosed no acceptable induce of motion.

Francis mentioned that even though WestJet could be successful in its arguments at a widespread difficulties demo, the plaintiff’s claims have been not bound to are unsuccessful. She licensed the situation as a class-motion continuing.

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