A chatbot invented a bereavement-fare policy — and a tribunal made the airline honor it
Air Canada · 2022–2024
What they did
Air Canada's website chatbot told a customer, Jake Moffatt, that he could apply for a bereavement discount retroactively within 90 days of travel. That wasn't the airline's actual policy, which requires the discount request before booking.
What happened
When Moffatt applied after flying, Air Canada refused and offered a $200 coupon instead, arguing in the tribunal that it wasn't liable for what its own chatbot said. Canada's Civil Resolution Tribunal disagreed: in Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149, it ordered the airline to pay $812.02 in refund, interest, and fees, ruling a company is responsible for all information on its website — there's no reason a customer should know which part of the page to trust.
The so-what
"The chatbot said it, not us" is not a legal defense, and it shouldn't be a product assumption either — anything a support bot states as fact is a company statement the moment a customer relies on it.