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Air Canada's chatbot invented a retroactive bereavement refund
Tribunal decision date; the chat took place in November 2022.
What the AI said
Moffatt could buy full-fare tickets now and apply for the bereavement fare afterward, 'within 90 days of the date your ticket was issued'.
What was actually true
Air Canada's bereavement policy did not allow retroactive claims. The airline admitted the bot had used 'misleading words'.
Cost or impact
BC Civil Resolution Tribunal ordered Air Canada to pay C$812.02: C$650.88 damages, C$36.14 pre-judgment interest, C$125 in fees. Moffatt had paid C$1,630.36 for full-fare tickets. The tribunal rejected Air Canada's argument that the chatbot was 'a separate legal entity'.
Who caught it
Air Canada, when Moffatt applied for the refund. Moffatt then took the screenshot to the tribunal.
Check that would have caught it Our analysis
source citation. A policy answer should quote the policy page it comes from. A paraphrase with no quote is how 'retroactive' slipped in.
This is our judgment, not something the sources say. How we assign it.
Sources
- decisions.civilresolutionbc.cahttps://decisions.civilresolutionbc.ca/crt/crtd/en/525448/1/document.do
- cbc.cahttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/air-canada-chatbot-lawsuit-1.7116416
- theguardian.comhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/16/air-canada-chatbot-lawsuit
Links last checked Oct 24, 2026. If something here is wrong, send a correction.