Passenger Sues Airline Because His 'Champagne' Was Really Sparkling Wine
When you make the decision to fly a budget airline, you do it with the full realization that you won't be drinking Dom Perignon and noshing on Beluga caviar in a sumptuous lie-flat seat. At least, most of us do. But, as Fortune reports, Quebecer Daniel Macduff had a very different vision in mind of what his Sunwing Airlines flight to Cuba would be like when he was promised "Champagne service" as part of his on-board adventure.
While Macduff did get a glassy of bubbly, it arrived in a plastic cup and was just plain old sparkling wine. On his flight back, he got nothing — the horror! — so now he's suing the airline.
Sunwing issued a statement calling the lawsuit "frivolous and without merit." According to Fortune, "They claimed the terms 'Champagne service' and 'Champagne vacations' used in their advertising described the level of service rather than the type of drink served."
But Sébastien Paquette, Macduff's lawyer, says his client's suit is not about the vintage of the vino in question, it's about truth in advertising.
"What's important is you're trying to lure consumers by marketing something and you're not giving them that something. It's a dishonest practice," Paquette said in a statement.
Listen, they don't call them low-cost airlines for nothing.
Macduff is reportedly seeking compensation for the difference in price between the hooch that he was served and a glass of authentic Champagne. (Okay, so about $12?) He's also seeking punitive damages. But whether Macduff will actually get to make his case in a courtroom is another question; the Canadian courts have not yet certified the lawsuit.
H/T: Fortune