DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Passenger Susan Karpik was the lead plaintiff in the case against British-American cruise operator Carnival and its subsidiary Princess Cruises, the ship's owner. Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart ruled that Carnival had been negligent as defined by Australian consumer law by allowing the cruise to depart in the early months of the pandemic. He said Carnival had a duty to take reasonable care of her health and safety in regard to COVID-19. “It’s been a long time coming and a very comprehensive victory for the passengers on the Ruby Princess,” Antzoulatos said. “The pandemic was a difficult time in Australia’s history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected,” Carnival said.

Persons: Susan Karpik, Justice Angus Stewart, “, ” Stewart, Princess, Carnival, Ruby, —, ”, Vicky Antzoulatos, Susan Karpik's, Henry Karpik, ” Antzoulatos, “ It’s Organizations: British, Princess Cruises, Federal, Justice, Princess, Carnival Australia Locations: CANBERRA, Australia, Sydney, New Zealand, American, California, Japan

☆ Australian regulator seeks 'hundreds of millions' in fines for Qantas
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The maximum penalty Qantas faces is 10% of annual turnover, which was A$19.8 billion in the year to June, according to Australian consumer laws. Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC would seek a fine for Qantas that was "significantly more than" the record A$125 million ($81 million) automaker Volkswagen was fined in 2019 for breaching Australian consumer laws. "We consider these penalties have been too low, we think the penalty should be in hundreds of millions, not tens of millions", she added. The regulator has said that Qantas kept selling tickets for an average of 16 days after it had cancelled flights for reasons often within its control. ($1 = 1.5420 Australian dollars)Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; editing by Miral FahmyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Gina Cass, Gottlieb, Cass, Renju Jose, Miral Organizations: Qantas, Sydney Airport, REUTERS, Rights Companies Qantas Airways Ltd, Qantas Airways, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, Australia, ABC Radio, Volkswagen, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney, Francisco

☆ ‘We’re paying twice for the same experience’: Plus-size travelers hit out at ‘discriminatory’ airline seat policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Policies around plus-size travelers tend to vary from airline to airline. However, the rule only applies to domestic flights, which means that plus-size travelers still need to buy an extra seat when going on an international flight. Constant challenges“The stereotypes that surround plus-size travelers, and the hostility towards us when we’re traveling by plane is honestly horrendous,” she adds. “This [shrinking seats] has had such a negative impact on plus-size travelers,” says Leanne. “The agency is reviewing the thousands of comments it received on whether current seat size and spacing affect passenger evacuation,” the FAA said in a statement.

Persons: Chaney, Jae'lynn Chaney, Jae’lynn Chaney, ” Chaney, Charles Leocha, ”, Juan Silva, couldn’t, hadn’t, we’re, Robert Alexander, Gabor Lukacs, ” Lukacs, “, she’s, isn’t, Kirsty Leanne, Leanne, Lukacs, “ I’m, Jake Organizations: CNN, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Federal Aviation Administration, CNN Travel, “, Travelers United, Australian Consumer Law, Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Canadian Transportation Agency, ”, ” United Airlines, American Airlines, Fort Worth International, Getty, World Obesity Federation, FAA, Flyers, Samoa Air, Polynesian Airlines, Air New Zealand Locations: Kona , Hawaii, Canada, ” United, Dallas, Samoa, New Zealand

☆ Australia regulator to probe social media influencers for false endorsements
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday it would check whether influencers on social media platforms had failed to disclose their affiliation with the brands they were promoting. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would look at more than 100 influencers after several consumers informed the regulator about some endorsements and testimonials which they said were misleading. The probe will target influencers in fashion, cosmetics, food and beverage, travel, fitness, parenting, gaming and technology. It will also check if advertisers, marketers, brands and social media platforms are facilitating any misconduct. The ACCC has been conducting a series of investigations as part of a broader Digital Platform Services Inquiry, focused on the provision of social media services, including sponsored posts and influencer advertising on social media platforms.

☆ Australia fines Uber $14 mln for misleading on fares and cancellation fees
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Dec 7 (Reuters) - An Australian court fined Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) A$21 million ($14 million) on Wednesday for threatening cancellation fees it never charged and overstating fare estimates on some rides. The evidence supplied suggested less than 0.5% of Uber customers had gone ahead with a trip due to concern about cancellation fees. The UberTaxi algorithm overshot the fare estimate 89% of the time, but less than 1% of total Uber rides used that service, the judge said. The judge had made clear that the lower penalty "should not be understood as any reduction in the court's resolve to impose penalties appropriate to ... deterring contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law", Cass-Gottlieb added. ($1 = 1.4945 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Bradley Perrett, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fitbit sued in Australia for misleading consumers on faulty devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator has begun court proceedings against Fitbit LLC for allegedly making false or misleading claims to consumers about their guarantee rights on faulty devices, it said on Monday. "All consumers have... automatic consumer guarantee rights that cannot be excluded, restricted or modified. The consumer guarantee rights exist in addition to any warranties offered by manufacturers," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Additionally, Fitbit told consumers that once they received a replacement device for an originally faulty product, they were not entitled to a second replacement if Fitbit's two-year 'limited warranty period' for the original device had expired, ACCC alleged. The ACCC, which is seeking penalties and injunctions, said their case includes 58 examples of consumers who were allegedly misled by Fitbit when they complained about faulty devices.

Search resuls for: "Australian Consumer Law"

6 mentions found