Dublin Airport will refund nearly 4,500 customers who were overcharged during sales earlier this year.
The sales took place in March and in May, and put a flat €10 a day rate on all eligible dates.
DAA says the sale unintentionally overrode lower off-peak prices, so the sales ended up charging more than certain periods would have cost before the promotions began.
It was flagged to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which notified the airport operator.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, it is against the law to provide incorrect or misleading information to consumers about price promotions.
The CCPC says consumers got in touch, including one during the March sale to say they'd priced parking for their trip at €83 before the sale, which rose to €110 when it began.
A commission spokesperson provided these figures, supplied by DAA:
- 14,854 transactions were made during the sales; 4,405 of these transactions resulted in an overpayment.
- The total amount overpaid in those transactions was €25,838 with the average overpayment of approximately €5.90.
- The maximum overpayment in respect of any one payment was €64.
DAA says around €350,000 - which is a full refund - will be returned to consumers within the next five to ten days.
Brian McHugh, the head of the CCPC has welcomed DAA's decision to refund customers.
“We welcome the swift action taken by daa following contact from the CCPC alerting it to potential breaches of consumer protection laws.
“The CCPC was able to take this action thanks to consumers who took the time to report concerns about misleading sales pricing. All calls to the CCPC helpline are screened for potential breaches of consumer protection law and drive our enforcement and compliance activities."
"We Got This Wrong."
DAA's also offering customers a 20% discount on future car parking bookings as a "goodwill gesture."
The airport operator is correcting its systems to stop this happening again.
CEO of DAA, Kenny Jacobs told Spin:
“We got this wrong, and I want to personally apologise to every customer who was overcharged. It shouldn’t have happened. We’ve moved quickly to fix the issue and are now reimbursing everyone affected, automatically and in full. No forms, no hassle. We’ve also put new checks in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again."
"Our customers expect better, and rightly so."
