Not an isolated case: Austrian Airlines are taking a court decision over a trifle before they finally pay. Appreciation from customers looks different.

It was supposed to go to Stuttgart in spring 2022, but Austrian canceled the flight. Since we didn't like the alternative offered, we wanted to rebook on another OS flight on the same day. With my ticket (business) that was no problem. My wife had an Eco Flex with an upgrade, so rebooking was also possible, but the original upgrade was not recognized and, according to the information on the phone, had to be bought again. After a short time, a voucher came for the old upgrade, which I archived. Some time later we wanted to travel to Bologna and use the voucher. Unfortunately, it turned out that the voucher was issued incorrectly - something crucial was missing: the code!

We booked without a voucher and complained in writing to customer service - no reaction. A registered letter setting a deadline also went unanswered. So the matter came to my attorney. They added a bit more for my effort, plus their expenses, fees, the usual court fees and default interest (a total of €283,30 plus interest).

Complaint successful – initially no reaction

The lawsuit was successful in March 2023, Austrian did not lodge an objection. However, no payment was made. The amount for the upgrade, according to the verdict, "would still be within the sphere of the defendant, without this payment being offset by an equivalent payment by the defendant." The plaintiff was "thus entitled to a payment of EUR 100."

The next step would be an execution, which of course would involve further costs and interest for the defendant. The outstanding amount could easily have increased up to €500.

Eventually payment

But it didn't come to that. The lawyer received the outstanding payment in early May, well before the request for an execution was filed. In addition, Austrian Airlines issued a statement and a written apology, stating: “Vouchers without a corresponding code should not be sent. We would like to formally apologize for this oversight.” Austrian explained the matter with the lack of a case number (NB: according to my records it was there) and went on to say “that your experience in no way corresponds to our standard.” Case would flow into the improvement of the processes.

So far so good. However, this procedure is unfortunately typical of the industry: customer funds are often taken months in advance when bookings, and legitimate claims are often not responded to. Many aggrieved parties do not get involved in lawsuits and forget the matter. In the case of delay compensation, however, the payment usually works better.

Consumer protection organizations should nevertheless continue to put pressure on at least reducing the unspeakable advance payments, because the money is often not in good hands with airlines! Many airlines are not serious partners in financial matters, which lawyers can only confirm. While the flight product at Austrian Airlines is okay compared to the industry, the customer service could be significantly better.

This post was written by: Mag.Wolfgang Ludwig (geographer and journalist).