Adetola Adesina (not real name), an Abuja resident, has expressed frustration over Arik airline’s refusal to refund the N110,005 he paid for his mother’s flight in June, despite cancelling the flight.
Adesina, who had booked the flight for his mother at the Arik Air office in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, told FIJ that he made the payment with his debit card in May.
Payment slip issued to Adesina by Arik Air
The flight was scheduled for the morning of June 3, from Abuja to Lagos, but was cancelled due to a strike action by the National Labour Congress (NLC) on the said day.
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“We discovered that all the operations at the airport had been shut down and the entrance to the airport was locked due to the NLC strike. The airport was shut down, and all the operations were cancelled, so we had to return home,” he recounted.
Adesina approached Arik Air’s office at Transcorp Hilton, where he had originally booked the ticket, in July to process a refund.
Refund form issued to Adesina by Arik Air
“I went to the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, where I booked the flight to claim my refund. At the office, I was told to fill a form and provide my account number,” Adesina said.
Despite visiting the airlines office, Adesina faced an uphill battle in the bid to get his money back. He told FIJ that regardless of what he tried, the airline did not budge. He said he decided to put more pressure when, two months after the flight was cancelled, no refund was made.
“Since July, 2024, I didn’t hear from Arik Air. Despite several attempts to follow up, the airline has consistently failed to meet its promise.I have called their customer care service several times; all they will tell me is that they are still working on it,” Adesina said.
In September 2024, Adesina took further steps by emailing Arik Air to demand his refund. But even that did not yield any result for him:
“I sent them an email, but they keep giving me different excuses for not refunding me. They keep telling me they are working on it, but it’s been months, and nothing has happened”
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FIJ wrote to Ola Adebanji, Arik Air’s spokesperson, and Arik’s refund department on Monday and got an automated response stating that the request had been lodged and would be attended to within seven days.
FIJ has reported several other cases where Arik Air failed to refund a customer after a cancelled flight. In September for instance, FIJ reported how Arik Air held on to an Abuja resident’s N63,000 after he paid twice to reroute his flight.
In August, FIJ reported how the airline held on to a Lagos resident’s N201,000 after cancelling his flight in June due to the same reason as Adesina’s.
The post Arik Air Holds On to Abuja Customer’s N110,000 Refund 4 Months After Strike Stopped Flight appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.