LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2024-02-14
A tribunal held Air Canada liable after its website chatbot wrongly told a customer he could claim a bereavement fare refund retroactively
Customer service representativeoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2024-02-14
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Deciding an exception
Choosing to refund, waive or override policy for a specific customer.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
British Columbia, Canada. The small-claims tribunal found that Air Canada's chatbot suggested the customer could apply for bereavement fares retroactively, that the airline's employees later said it did not permit retroactive applications, that the airline is responsible for all the information on its website whether it comes from a static page or a chatbot, that it did not take reasonable care to ensure its chatbot was accurate, and ordered it to pay the difference. One small-claims decision without precedential force; it does not require a person to decide exceptions, only makes the company answer for what its bot says.
What this means
When a bot grants or misstates an exception, the company is bound by it, which is why exceptions stay with accountable people.
What it does not yet show
One small-claims decision; it creates no rule that a person must decide exceptions.
What you can check
Open Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149 and find "did not take reasonable care to ensure its chatbot was accurate".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal — Moffatt v. Air Canada, 2024 BCCRT 149 (Date Issued: February 14, 2024) · verified 2026-10-09 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-10-09 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.