Fehlkosten durch gesetzlich erzwungene Rückerstattungen bei Parkschließungen und größeren Leistungsänderungen

Definition

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), if an event is cancelled or there is a major change, consumers are entitled to a refund, repair, replacement or re‑supply, and businesses cannot simply declare tickets ‘non‑refundable’. The ACCC states that where an organiser cancels or makes a major change to an event, consumers are entitled to a refund.[7] State guidance for tourism businesses explains that clear cancellation policies are needed to handle crises and cancellations, and that businesses must provide remedies consistent with consumer guarantees.[8] Many Australian amusement providers publicly advertise very restrictive refund policies (e.g. “no refunds except as required under the Australian Consumer Law”[1][5][6]) or even “tickets cannot be refunded, transferred or resold”[2]. In practice, when rides are down, weather closes the park or public‑health orders restrict access, operators are forced into case‑by‑case negotiations, providing full refunds or generous rain checks even where only part of the experience is affected. Without automated rules and documentation, front‑line staff often approve full‑day refunds rather than ACL‑compliant partial remedies, and multiple staff rework the same claim. For a mid‑size park with 300,000 annual visitors at an average ticket of AUD 60 (revenue AUD 18m), even 1–2 unplanned closure or ‘major change’ days per year affecting 5,000 guests can trigger AUD 300,000 in gross refund exposure; if manual over‑compensation and errors add only 5–10% on top of the legally required amount, this is AUD 15,000–30,000 p.a. in avoidable leakage, plus labour. Additional admin time (reviewing claims, checking booking dates, processing refunds and rebookings) at 5–10 minutes per claim across 5,000–10,000 claims a year equals 400–1,700 staff‑hours, or roughly AUD 16,000–68,000 in wage cost at AUD 40/hour. Automation (rules engines that apply ACL logic, standardised rain‑check vouchers, and integrated refund workflows) can cut over‑refunds (5–10% of refund value) and labour time (30–50%) without breaching ACL.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Amusement and trampoline parks in Australia 🇦🇺 waste AUD 50,000–150,000 p.a. on avoidable over‑refunds and manual rain‑check handling. Automation of eligibility checks, pro‑rata compensation rules and batch refunds eliminates this risk.

Affected Stakeholders

Finance Manager, Revenue Manager, Guest Services Manager, Contact Centre Team Leader, On‑site Ticketing Supervisor, Legal/Compliance Manager

Related Business Risks