MONTREAL - Aeroplan customer reward members want their points back and will be asking a judge to order the customer loyalty reward points company to reverse a policy that would sees their points wiped out if unused over time.
Quebec Superior Court has granted customers the right to launch a class-action suit against a policy change that makes reward points expire after seven years.
Aeroplan has about four million Canadian members who collect points that they can exchange for free flights.
The court allowed a class action lawsuit to proceed and Pat Donvito is one of those hoping that the expiry date on accumulated points gets the boot.
"It's like a squirrel putting away little nuts for the winter and then when you suddenly want them or need them for a family tragedy or something you want to celebrate, to find that they had been reduced," he said.
The suit comes on the heels of a similar class action suit granted in British Columbia, organized by Owen Falquero.
"It's very clear from feedback we've gotten that many thousands of members of Aeroplan never ever saw those notices," said Falquero of the small-print message that cardholders would have to make at least one purchase every 12 months in order to keep their reward points and that all points expire if unused after seven years.
Aeroplan has vowed to fight the suit but either way the company comes out a loser, according to one business expert.
"It's very easy to change an attitude from positive to negative," said McGill Professor Stuart Soroka. "But the reverse is very difficult, very expensive. My feeling is that this brand is irreparably harmed."
The suit seeks that points be reinstated, each customer receive $50 and that Aeroplan be forced to pay other damages, which remains unspecified.
