CODAR Tech Africa, a tech institute, took N105,000 from Khairat Amoo, a data analyst, for a data course. The firm cancelled the course but has refused to process a refund.
Amoo told FIJ that she applied for a database management course with CODAR Tech in February. One of the institute’s sales agents told her that the classes would start in March, and as part of the preparations, she was handed a course outline.
The original amount for a database management course was N200,000 but Amoo registered at a time a 30% discount offer was available. She was expected to pay a N40,000 balance.
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After Amoo was handed the course outline, she was subsequently added to a group with two CODAR Tech staff members. One was the programme manager.
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Early into March, when the classes did not start as promised, Amoo asked the programme manager to tell her the reasons for the delay, but she was ignored. When she later contacted the previous sales representative, she was told that they needed a minimum of five applicants before the classes would start.
“I remember asking her if the class would still hold if they don’t get up to five applicants. She told me not to worry, that it would hold regardless,” Amoo said.
Two weeks later, the class did not hold.
With no end in sight, Amoo said she requested a refund but the sales representative told her that refunds were against CODAR Tech’s policy and the proof of payment they had earlier handed her clearly showed that.
“Before payment, I was not told that they needed a minimum of five applicants. She told told me to go for a data analysis course but I said I was not interested,” Amoo clarified.
After sending emails that CODAR’s administration ignored, Amoo decided to visit the institute at their Lagos office.
In Ikeja, Amoo said she met another sales agent who promised to help. A customer representative whom she had thought would help only echoed the same suggestion of applying for a new course, but Amoo again declined.
“A friend was able to get the contact details of one of their trainers, whom I explained the issue to. He said he was going to escalate it to the right authorities,” Amoo said.
In April, the operations manager later reached out to Amoo. He promised that the refund would be made between 14 and 21 days. Like other interventions, that promise yielded nothing.
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The operations manager again promised to make the refund by the end of May. When the time came, he told Amoo to liaise with their customer service agents. He claimed the money for refunds had been sent to them.
“I reached out to the customer service agent and she said money had not been sent to her. She said she could see that I am eligible for a refund but the money had not been sent to her. During this time, the sales agent had reached out to change my mind to register for another course but I said no,” Amoo told FIJ.
The customer care agent only kept repeating that she had not yet received Amoo’s refund in the last days of June. The operations manager stopped responding to Amoo’s questions altogether.
When FIJ called CODAR on July 29, a customer care agent requested the full details of Amoo’s registration. Before FIJ could do so, Amoo said a customer agent had contacted her to promise a refund in seven days. At press time, seven days later, CODAR Tech had not sent Amoo’s refund.
The post 5 Months After Cancelling Data Course, CODAR Tech Africa Refuses to Refund Analyst’s N105,000 appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.