DAA refunds car-park charges after error
The consumer-protection watchdog has welcomed a DAA decision to refund customers who were overcharged for parking at Dublin Airport earlier this year.
The airports body said that the overcharging was due to a pricing-system error that was linked to ‘flash’ sales in March and May.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said that it had stepped in after consumer complaints to its helpline about pricing during the sales.
“Under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, it is against the law to provide incorrect or misleading information to consumers about price promotions,” the CCPC stated.
Lower rate
The flash sales advertised car parking at a promotional rate of €10 or €12 a day.
In some cases, however, airport car parking was priced at a lower rate in advance of and after the promotion.
Consumers who bought promotional parking in these cases were charged more during the sales promotion.
DAA said that it was contacting all affected customers directly to offer a full and unreserved apology, as well as issuing a full refund.
The overcharges ranged from €1 to €64, with 90% of those impacted being overcharged by less than €12, according to DAA.
‘Real benefits’
The CCPC said that, while customers had been overcharged by a total of €25,000, DAA had voluntarily committed to refunding consumers the full cost of their booking, resulting in a total of €350,000 being returned to consumers.
CCPC chair Brian McHugh welcomed the airport authority’s “swift action”.
“The flash sales coincided with the addition of a new competitor in the airport car-park market,” he said.
“Active competition among businesses is vital to drive choice, better service and innovation; however, any promotions need to be grounded in real benefits to consumers,” McHugh concluded.