Upheld: Section 75 claim handling and breach of contract liability complaint against American Express Services Europe Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G purchased non-refundable airline tickets for £4,130.84 using his Amex credit card. When the airline notified him of a flight time change, it presented the information using multiple time zones, making it appear the arrival time had changed by over 6 hours (04.45am to 11.00am) when it had actually changed by only 15 minutes (10.45am to 11.00am local time). Relying on this misleading information, Mr G cancelled his booking expecting a full refund but only received £589.24 for taxes. Amex declined both his chargeback and Section 75 claims. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding the airline had breached the Consumer Rights Act's implied term requiring reasonable care and skill through its unclear presentation of information, making Amex jointly liable under Section 75 to refund the difference of £3,541.60 plus interest.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while the tickets were non-refundable under the airline's terms, the airline breached the implied term of the Consumer Rights Act requiring service to be carried out with reasonable care and skill. The airline's use of multiple time zones in presenting the flight change information was unclear and misleading, causing Mr G to reasonably believe the flight had changed by over 6 hours when it had actually changed by only 15 minutes. This breach of contract made Amex jointly liable under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The ombudsman rejected Amex's suggestion that Mr G should have contacted the airline to verify, finding it reasonable for Mr G to rely on information presented through the airline's app and website. The ombudsman also found that the airline did not clearly show Mr G the refund amount before he completed the cancellation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website