Don’t hold your breath for those Mango ticket refunds

There will be no quick help for consumers who want Mango ticket refunds.

Thousands of angry passengers are claiming their money back after their flights were cancelled, and it seems that the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) will be of no help to them.

Although the CPA provides for refunds due to flight cancellations in section 47, that regulates over-selling and over-booking,  it does not make provision for circumstances where the supplier cannot render a service due to being placed under business rescue.

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What does Section 47 say?

According to section 47, a supplier must not accept payment for any goods or services if he has no intention to supply the goods or provide the services, or intends to supply goods or services that are materially different from the goods.

If a supplier makes a commitment or accepts a reservation to supply goods or services on a specified date or at a specified time and fails to deliver due to insufficient stock or capacity, and cannot arrange for similar goods or services, he must refund the consumer and compensate the consumer for costs directly linked to his breach of the contract.

However, if the supplier arranged for other goods and services and the consumer refuses to accept it, the supplier can use this as a defence, unless the shortage of stock or capacity is due to circumstances beyond the supplier’s control.

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Chances of getting money back

Consumers will obviously have a better chance of getting their money back if Mango goes into business rescue instead of liquidation.

If the airline is placed in business rescue, the rescue plan must indicate if consumers will be refunded for cancelled flights.

If Mango is liquidated, the liquidator will pay the creditors based on a prescribed list, with consumers being last on the list.

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National Consumer Commission

According to the National Consumer Commission, it has not received any complaints against Mango airlines regarding refunds for cancelled flights. Usually consumers can complain to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombuds (CGSO) for mediation.

Should this mediation fail, they will be referred to the commission for an investigation. However, in this case, Mango has filed for business rescue or liquidation, and therefore consumers will have to wait for the appointment of the liquidator or business rescue practitioner before communicating with them first.

The only thing consumers can do now is to communicate with the business rescue practitioner or liquidators appointed by the court and submit their claims.