This is going to be long and detailed but all for a purpose...

I normally have a way of buying data on my Airtel line; transfer the airtime equivalence from my bank account to my phone and dial the *141# to choose my package. Why I do this is because the new Airtel data pricing is not updated on the GTBank app.

On the 10th of April, I downloaded 'My Airtel' app to purchase data from it. Of course, that meant I no longer have to transfer the equivalence of the Airtime from my account but just pay with my ATM card and that's it. I mean, what could possibly go wrong, right? Big mistake!

Data Purchase and Airtel Customer Care Representative

So I bought the Airtel Mega bundle of N5,000, and immediately received receipts from both Flutterwave and Airtel, with Airtel sending an extra email that contained the status of my data purchase (pictures attached). All was good save there was no message notification after a new purchase is made. After waiting for about 30 minutes and nothing happened, I called Airtel's customer care number and explained the situation of things to the agent I spoke to. He claimed all he could see on his system based on the investigation he did on my account is that I bought an Airtime of N50! . However, he promised to investigate before COB and get in touch but he never did.

On the second day, I called again and luckily, the same agent attended to me and he apologized for not getting back as promised. He asked for several hours to fix things, which was okay by me. At past 11 AM the same day, he called true to his words and said the recovery team investigated my line and found out the transaction failed. How could the transaction fail when I Flutterwave and Airtel sent receipts testifying the transaction went through. Before dropping, the agent advised I talk to my bank that they will know where my money went. *Big sigh*.

Contacting GTBank...

I chatted with GTBank on WhatsApp and they ran a check and the representative I chatted with said she saw multiple transactions took place the same day and all were card transactions. However, she asked that I wait for a while for the transactions to be cleared as they were sitting in my book balance and that would enable them to know the status of the money. Before the conversation ended, she hinted that I will get a refund in three days time IF Airtel does not claim the money but otherwise if Airtel does. Immediately, I proceeded and bought the same data plan with MTN because I suspected the back and forth would take days.

Contacting Flutterwave

Day 3, I contacted Flutterwave support on Twitter and had a long chat. However, Flutterwave claimed the transaction was successful after checking the transaction ID I forwarded. FLWsupport then asked that I exercise some patience and that they would get in touch. Three days after, I messaged again and they said Airtel was yet to respond to them and that they'll contact me. I didn't bug them again until after a week. Turned out the support handle forgot to give me a feedback as promised.

Anyways, the handle confirmed Airtel received money, and even confirmed they'll make a refund but never did. I was asked to send a mail while they copy Airtel's customer service head or whoever. I sent the mail after some minutes and they indeed looped Airtel Customer Service Head in the mail.

Verdict

Today makes it 21 days since the 'failed' data purchase, roughly 7 days Airtel promised Flutterwave to refund for the failed transaction; 24 hours since Airtel was looped in the mail I sent to Flutterwave and my second data bundle subscription with MTN. Yet, Airtel has never responded nor did as they promised. I am not saying people shouldn't subscribe but my best guess right now is that Airtel is yet to perfect the functionalities of their app and it seems like a dead end. It is best to stay away from the app when it involves transactions.

Lalasticlala
Dominique

A little help, please.

Bros I don't know about you ooo, but if na me I fit spend 10k sef just to get that 5k back.


If you've not yet 'forgiven' them like the average Nigerian would do, I suggest you try escalating the issue to the NCC.

If not your money don follow water ooo.

I hope u didn't involve in that Airtel App cheat?

dandydrey:
I hope u didn't involve in that Airtel App cheat?

15GB of data monthly for 5k is a cheat? I am lost here.

DanseMacabre:
Bros I don't know about you ooo, but if na me I fit spend 10k sef just to get that 5k back.


If you've not yet 'forgiven' them like the average Nigerian would do, I suggest you try escalating the issue to the NCC.

If not your money don follow water ooo.

I have been trying to use the consumer complaint form on the NCC website but the link seems dead at my end.

Baba,you are not the 1st to be scammed and would never be the last

Get a good lawyer and sue airtel

to be sincere with you the only way you can get your money back is to contact NCC. Send them an email in details the way you just did here on Nairaland. Its either you contact NCC or drag airtel on twitter....i can assured you that your money will be refunded before 24 hours if you can follow this process.

If you truly can't forgo the money bro , call Airtel's customer care. Talk to whoever picks with a calm but strong voice. Tell them you've get NCC involved and they'd hear from NCC soon. Tell them you're a lawyer and you're willing to sue their asses . Watch how quickly they'd rectify the ish...
You're welcome ...

EzzyCarter:
If you truly can't forgo the money bro , call Airtel's customer care. Talk to whoever picks with a calm but strong voice. Tell them you've get NCC involved and they'd hear from NCC soon. Tell them you're a lawyer and you're willing to sue their asses . Watch how quickly they'd rectify the ish...
You're welcome ...

Those CCRs are contracted, outsourced staff with limited knowledge. They can only respond or assist if it falls within their jurisdiction. Other than access to their work tools, they still all answer to the Customer Service Head who has done a poor job in my case. At best, they'll log your request, even ask for your LG to complete their log and tell you to exercise some patience while they push your request to a higher desk or the department that will better handle your case. Those poor guys take the hit for nothing. You might yell at them and feel this temporal satisfaction over your money but it won't solve a thing.

The NCC website is inaccessible.

nifemi25:
to be sincere with you the only way you can get your money back is to contact NCC. Send them an email in details the way you just did here on Nairaland. Its either you contact NCC or drag airtel on twitter....i can assured you that your money will be refunded before 24 hours if you can follow this process.

The NCC site seems to be down. I have been trying for days to access it. I couldn't even find the NCC on Twitter.

Sanchez01:

Those CCRs are contracted, outsourced staff with limited knowledge. They can only respond or assist if it falls within their jurisdiction. Other than access to their work tools, they still all answer to the Customer Service Head who has done a poor job in my case. At best, they'll log your request, even ask for your LG to complete their log and tell you to exercise some patience while they push your request to a higher desk or the department that will better handle your case. Those poor guys take the hit for nothing. You might yell at them and feel this temporal satisfaction over your money but it won't solve a thing.

The NCC website is inaccessible.

Well, I had a similar issue with MTN a while ago and it worked for me. No need to yell. Be as calm as possible with the customer care agent. Sure they might be powerless in this case but trust me when I tell you the feedback they'd give their superiors would be massive. No one toys with a potential lawsuit...

Airtel ussd codes,my Airtel app and Airtel data plans have been having issues recently since the lockdown started.....

My candid advice, involve Twitter and tag the necessary firms....Am sure u will come up with something!!!

EzzyCarter:



Well, I had a similar issue with MTN a while ago and it worked for me. No need to yell. Be as calm as possible with the customer care agent. Sure they might be powerless in this case but trust me when I tell you the feedback they'd give their superiors would be massive. No one toys with a potential lawsuit...

I might explore this. Thanks.

Hahahahaha sorry bros, count me out when you talk about anything about online transactions with anything that concerns Nigeria, I prefer face me and I face you business, everything about Nigeria is a scam, even the man in Aso rock na scam.

Kingscee:
Hahahahaha sorry bros, count me out when you talk about anything about online transactions with anything that concerns Nigeria, I prefer face me and I face you business, everything about Nigeria is a scam, even the man in Aso rock na scam.

This is hilarious

Nigerian corporate bodies are realtime scammers.

I have stopped recharging my line from my UBA account. The have scammed me several times. For instance, i Recharge using their ussd and no my line was not credited but my account debited. I tried again immediately, the only credited my airtel line with half the amount my account was debited.

I tried the hell, call airtel they said I should channel my complaint to my bank.

Today, UBA has posted several billions as trade profit for Q1, 2020.

this reminds me of my experience with opay app while trying to subscribe for dstv via opay app...close to 2 mnths my15,800 was not refunded...pls call out every party involved on twitter don’t settle for inbox messages...call them out , let everyone one know what’s up

Sanchez01:
This is going to be long and detailed but all for a purpose...

I normally have a way of buying data on my Airtel line; transfer the airtime equivalence from my bank account to my phone and dial the *141# to choose my package. Why I do this is because the new Airtel data pricing is not updated on the GTBank app.

On the 10th of April, I downloaded 'My Airtel' app to purchase data from it. Of course, that meant I no longer have to transfer the equivalence of the Airtime from my account but just pay with my ATM card and that's it. I mean, what could possibly go wrong, right? Big mistake!

Data Purchase and Airtel Customer Care Representative

So I bought the Airtel Mega bundle of N5,000, and immediately received receipts from both Flutterwave and Airtel, with Airtel sending an extra email that contained the status of my data purchase (pictures attached). All was good save there was no message notification after a new purchase is made. After waiting for about 30 minutes and nothing happened, I called Airtel's customer care number and explained the situation of things to the agent I spoke to. He claimed all he could see on his system based on the investigation he did on my account is that I bought an Airtime of N50! . However, he promised to investigate before COB and get in touch but he never did.

On the second day, I called again and luckily, the same agent attended to me and he apologized for not getting back as promised. He asked for several hours to fix things, which was okay by me. At past 11 AM the same day, he called true to his words and said the recovery team investigated my line and found out the transaction failed. How could the transaction fail when I Flutterwave and Airtel sent receipts testifying the transaction went through. Before dropping, the agent advised I talk to my bank that they will know where my money went. *Big sigh*.

Contacting GTBank...

I chatted with GTBank on WhatsApp and they ran a check and the representative I chatted with said she saw multiple transactions took place the same day and all were card transactions. However, she asked that I wait for a while for the transactions to be cleared as they were sitting in my book balance and that would enable them to know the status of the money. Before the conversation ended, she hinted that I will get a refund in three days time IF Airtel does not claim the money but otherwise if Airtel does. Immediately, I proceeded and bought the same data plan with MTN because I suspected the back and forth would take days.

Contacting Flutterwave

Day 3, I contacted Flutterwave support on Twitter and had a long chat. However, Flutterwave claimed the transaction was successful after checking the transaction ID I forwarded. FLWsupport then asked that I exercise some patience and that they would get in touch. Three days after, I messaged again and they said Airtel was yet to respond to them and that they'll contact me. I didn't bug them again until after a week. Turned out the support handle forgot to give me a feedback as promised.

Anyways, the handle confirmed Airtel received money, and even confirmed they'll make a refund but never did. I was asked to send a mail while they copy Airtel's customer service head or whoever. I sent the mail after some minutes and they indeed looped Airtel Customer Service Head in the mail.

Verdict

Today makes it 21 days since the 'failed' data purchase, roughly 7 days Airtel promised Flutterwave to refund for the failed transaction; 24 hours since Airtel was looped in the mail I sent to Flutterwave and my second data bundle subscription with MTN. Yet, Airtel has never responded nor did as they promised. I am not saying people shouldn't subscribe but my best guess right now is that Airtel is yet to perfect the functionalities of their app and it seems like a dead end. It is best to stay away from the app when it involves transactions.

sue them to court if you have the means or someone who can help. They take us for granted in this country...

Sanchez01:

I have been trying to use the consumer complaint form on the NCC website but the link seems dead at my end.

NCC number. 622 it's toll free number.
Call and report your case
.

Emmbanny:
NCC number. 622 it's toll free number.
Call and report your case
.

Not sure they're working. I have been calling them for over 10 minutes now. I get a prerecorded message on DND for a while and the call drops.

Thanks though.

espn:
sue them to court if you have the means or someone who can help. They take us for granted in this country...

.

Sanchez01:

I might explore this. Thanks.

Just follow Airtel up on their Twitter handle and post screenshots of your transactions there as well.. It'll be effective...

That Airtel app is a poorly designed app...

Sanchez01:
This is going to be long and detailed but all for a purpose...

I want to start by saying, I am really sorry for what you are going through sir. Being cheated off one's money regardless of the means used is wrong.
If you are on twitter, please quote me @zesushv and attach your complaints here on twitter making it in threads. I will do the little I can to escalate the reach so you are assisted.
Ensure to tag the relevant companies involved.

Till date my 9k won at betking has not been paid, but even betking won't know what hit them when I come. The longer it takes, the more damage they will pay for.

espn:
sue them to court if you have the means or someone who can help. They take us for granted in this country...

Wetin dey even dey more annoying na how a lot of people don come accept this errors as normal thing... I don spend days chasing after my 200naira held by Etisalat then.... Even NCC know say person don vex.
Make I leave the remaining details out..

Theas guys have done the same thing to me too before..

Though it was for a lower amount 500 Naira for one GB.

I did the transaction on their app, paid with any card, didn't see the data I paid for.

I called them plenty of times, they kept repeating the same thing..

Bottom line, the 500Naira went like that