The National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon), of the Ministry of Justice, opened an administrative process to investigate possible irregularities committed by the company Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España S/A. The reason is the cancellation of tickets sold on December 28 of last year, with promotional values.
The doctor in diffuse and collective rights Roberta Densa says that the consumer has some options not to be at a loss. According to her, the consumer can file a lawsuit in court, demand compliance with the offer and the contract under the terms that was entered on the ticketing website and can also ask for compensation for moral damages. “If, eventually, this passenger has purchased another ticket, at a higher value, it is also possible to request reimbursement of the values related to the difference in ticket values”, she explains.
The travel tickets purchased went from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, with a stopover in Madrid. The round trip cost, together, US$ 118. Passengers even received confirmation of purchase, including the reservation locator code. But days later, Iberia unilaterally canceled hundreds of tickets.
According to specialist Roberta Densa, in these situations, the company cannot claim that the ticket was cheap because of an error. “The supplier has the obligation to comply. The supplier could eventually claim that there was an error in issuing this offer and that the price would be far below the market value. However, the prices of airline tickets fluctuate a lot. alleging that there was bad faith on the part of the consumer to buy tickets for a lower price.”
This is not Senacon’s first action in this case. In January, the secretariat notified the company, which should justify the reasons for the cancellations. But that didn’t happen. Now, the administrative process will determine whether Iberia’s practices were abusive by placing consumers at an exaggerated disadvantage, without adequate and accurate information.
In a note, Senacon reported that “the right to information and the principle of publicity reflect the imposition of transparency and good faith in sales made”. The secretariat added that “the supplier cannot withdraw after making public the announcement of a promotional rate”.
Lawyer Diego Armando Nunes Santos adds that, even with headquarters outside the country, the company has the obligation to comply with our Consumer Code. “The consumer must seek the Judiciary with evidence, whether the tickets are issued and subsequently cancelled, as the fact that the airline is a foreigner does not make it difficult for Brazilian consumers to access justice”.
The airline Iberia has 20 days to present explanations. If you have committed irregularities, the company can be fined up to R$ 12 million.
Our production tried to contact them, but Iberia does not have a channel for serving the press in Brazil.
