Overpayment amounts ranged from €1 to €64 and totalled €25,000Customers to be issued a full refund for the entire cost of booking – along with additional discount to use on their next car park booking Full refunds to all affected customers, not just the overcharge amount, will total approximately €350kAll affected customers will be contacted directly with a ‘full and unreserved apology’
The airport ran two promotional flash campaigns in March and May during which a flat €10 per day rate was applied to off-peak car park prices, which are supposed to be lower in price.
Customers overpaid amounts ranging from €1 to €64, with 90pc of them being overcharged by less than €12, according to daa.
“We want to sincerely apologise to a number of our car park customers who were mistakenly overcharged earlier this year due to a pricing system error linked to a special offer,” daa said in a statement.
“As soon as we became aware of the issue after it was brought to the attention of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) by customers, we launched a full investigation.
“We identified the cause of the error and took immediate steps to put things right.
“We are contacting all affected customers directly to offer a full and unreserved apology. We’re also issuing a full refund for the entire cost of their booking, along with an additional discount to use on their next car park booking with us.”
Daa said that it carried out an internal review into the error and will refund overcharged customers in full.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Wednesday, September 10
The statement added: “We understand that any overcharge is unacceptable, and we’re truly sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
CEO of daa, Kenny Jacobs, said: “We got this wrong, and I want to personally apologise to every customer who was overcharged. It shouldn’t have happened.”
He said that no forms will be required to be filled out to apply for a refund, and that new checks have been put in place to ensure the same thing does not happen again. They will contact all affected customers directly.
“We’re proud of the high satisfaction levels we’ve built up, and we’re determined to maintain that trust by doing the right thing, every time.”
The CCPC said that its intervention in the matter was prompted by complaints received from customers.
It said in a statement: “The flash sales advertised car parking at a promotional rate of €10 or €12 per day; however, in some cases, airport car parking was priced at lower rate in advance of and after the promotion.
“Consumers who bought promotional parking in these cases were charged more during the sales promotion. In total, consumers were overcharged by just over €25,000. The daa has informed CCPC that the overpayments were the result of an error on its part.”
CCPC chair, Brian McHugh said the commission took “swift action”.
“All calls to the CCPC helpline are screened for potential breaches of consumer protection law and drive our enforcement and compliance activities.
“The flash sales coincided with the addition of a new competitor in the airport carpark market. 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.”
This article was amended at 11am, on September 10 to clarify that the CCPC intervention was prompted by complaints received from public