₦airaland Forum

Lets hope these recovered loot is not re-distributed to yet other kleptocrats.
Dont blame me, I have been a Nigerian for many years. I struggle to believe the motives when a new regime tries to get brownie points off a previous regime.

Lexusgs430:
All you owe them is £200.00
NB: Does the small print stipulate a timeframe on notification for cancellation?

As far as I can see, nowhere does the T&C list time frames as earlier posted by someone early in the thread.

Lexusgs430:
One final question for you, was/were the ticket(s) booked for one individual travelling or two or more persons?
In reference to the above, was/were the ticket(s) booked together or separately?

One ticket booked in one transaction for "to" and "back" from Nigeria.
For only me.

Good work.
This is how they buy all the Jeeps and Benz - by stealing other people's dreams.

obailala:
Paris to Lagos trip; flight computers failed just as plane plane was about to take off (lucky to still be on the ground); we taxi back to the dock; they call in engineers to fix the plane; about 3 hours later, we are still locked inside the grounded plane with engineers battling to fix it (luckily the A/C was ON unlike some Arik cases ); agitations increases for them to let us out of the plane or give us some food; they say the only food they have was reserved for airborne sharing; captain of the plane who had since been silent finally speaks up but adds salt to injury by threatening those agitating to go back to their seats or face disciplinary action This misguided outburst leads to increased agitations; eventually the door opens and we step out on the tarmac; Lo and behold, the tarmac was lined with heavily armed anti-riot police; many saw it as an insult that they brought policemen for us because we were black Nigerians; the shouting match continued (this time even with the quiet policemen that were even minding their business); I stepped back into the lounge and sat there another 5 hours before they managed to replace the flight. In all, my flight was delayed by almost 10 hours, we landed Lagos after 1am as against 4pm when we were meant to land.

I missed my appointments, there was no option of compensation (even though the shouting match continued by some people who were insistent they must be compensated). I didn't bother myself about the delay, or a compensation, cos in the typical African manner, I was more grateful to be alive than to be angry about the delays.

At the end, I re-learnt a lesson which I already knew before, "if AirFrance with a fleet size of 235 air crafts could delay me by 10 hours without an explanation or compensation even at their HQ (Charles de Gaulle), then I would be pushing my luck too far if I don't expect worse from Arik with a fleet size of 24.

Sorry, but I felt this was an unnecessary trial at justifying an obviously shambolic service - especially the highlighted section in your post. This reaction is exactly why the Airlines do what they do. They know we dont want wahala and that we will always walk away.

Be it Air France or Arik, it does not matter. Knowingly putting people's lives at risk or treating them like animals, surely, should breach some aviation rules and regulation or at least Consumer/ service provider agreement. Its about time the Nigeria Aviation Authority (or whoever oversees the aviation industry) did something about these unsavory issues.

Put it the other way round, if you missed your flight or cancelled, will the airline let you off without charges?

You probably will ask what I would do in your place right?

a) Write to the Consumer Protection agency
b) Make as much noise as possible on social media about it (nairaland, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter) (believe me, it works these days - especially if it goes viral. Only a stupid company will ignore social media these days)
c) Write a complaint to the airline (better than doing nothing)
d) write to all government agencies remotely connected to the industry concerned.

Have I had to do any of the above and did it work! O Yes!

I just had a second look: Arik Air did send me 2 pdfs when I booked the ticket.

1) the ticket itself
2) the T&C

The T&C clearly states £200 as refund/cancellation fees!
So where did the Analyst get £598.8 from

Attached below is the section that clearly states the refund charge is £200 as confirmed by the Customer Service staff.

Lexusgs430:
That's your route, provided the tickets originated from a UK address.
NB: Ensure you copy Arik in all communications sent out.
Was the ticket paid for by debit or credit card?

Paid by Debit
Originated from UK Address

Lexusgs430:
They want you to discuss refunds with their Nigerian office, simply because they want to get away with ripping people off.
If ticket was bought with a uk address and paid with a credit card, contact ATOL and if paid by credit card, make a complaint to your credit card company.
With each correspondence you send, reference and copy Arik.
They would change their stance!!!

Thanks Man! I forgot ATOL or even the UK Consumer Protection Agency.

Lexusgs430:
Where was this ticket purchased from (what country), simply because you quoted £ in your earlier post?

Ticket was bought in the UK via : www.arikair.com/uk
BUT
to discuss Refunds, Arik requires you to talk with Customer Service in Nigeria.

Lexusgs430:
The issue in this context is, what is reasonable to them, is not reasonable to you. Its best to request the % they have used and where such percentages are highlighted in their terms of trade.
If % terms are not stated figuratively, their T & C is vague and not tenable.

Exactly!
Their T&C around Refunds simply gives them power to punish people like me who dare kick up a fuss.

I have responded to them (twice) asking to be enlightened on what "arcane" mathematical model they have used to determine I should loose nearly 50% of my money - after all the inconvenience.
Hopefully this week I will get a response.

I have also made copies of the current T&C - just in case it changes overnight Though that is the least of my worries. There are many tools on the internet to look at pages retrospectively.

I respect him more for this. Eventually he is making and will make reasonable living in the English league anyway. He is talented.

Lexusgs430:
Should you or any member of your party be forced to cancel your holiday, we must be notified , in writing , by the person who made the booking and who is therefore responsible for the payment of the cancellation charges. Cancellation charges are calculated from the date we receive the written cancellation. Amount of cancellation charge {shown as a % total holiday cost] More than 42 days ............................... Deposit 29-42 days ................................. 50% 15-28 days .................................................70% 8-14 days ..................................90% 1-7 days .......................... 100% This is their cancellation policy.

Thanks for this but I did not book my flight from the website you highlighted above.
I booked my flight directly from the main Arik Air website: www.arikair.com/uk

Item 10 on their T&C, about Refunds (also linked from the e-ticket) says, among others:

10.3 Voluntary refunds
If you are entitled to a refund of your Ticket for reasons other than those set out in Article 10.2, the amount of the refund shall be:
10.3.1 If no portion of the Ticket has been used, an amount equal to the fare paid, less any reasonable administration charges or cancellation fees
10.3.2 If a portion of the Ticket has been used and there is no restriction on the Ticket, an amount equal to the difference between the fare paid and the applicable fare for travel between the points for which the Ticket has been used, less any reasonable service charges or cancellation fees.

The issues here are:

a) How reasonable is the nearly 50% of the ticket Arik wants to take from me?
b) Why am I being told two different figures? £200 from the Customer Service and £500+ by the Analyst?

Lexusgs430:
Simply send a copy of thier refund policy to them, stating parallels relating to your case.
And requesting how they arrived at their own breakdown of charges.
They would conform!!!

There are no specific amounts or percentage reduction rates stated on the website. However, I did confirm, on 2 occasions when I was lucky to talk to a staff, that the charge is £200 for refunds.

Latest update on my Arik Air refund saga:

After applying the techniques I got from Nailarand, I got a response from Arik Air at last.
It seems the permutation of email addresses suggested in that post finally got to someone in authority.

BUT I now have a new problem.

Instead of the £200 I was told by the Customer Service staff, Arik wants to charge me £598.8 for refund admin. Meaning I will be getting back just £721.86 out of the £1,320.66 I paid for my ticket.
Nearly 50% of the original fees paid.

There was no apology for the inconveniences I suffered for over 40 days trying to reach them.
There was no apology for all the snubbing - both on email and phone.
There was no apology for all the lost opportunities dues to them holding on to my money for longer than necessary.

Here is the email I got minus person details:

Dear xxxxx xxxx,

Your refundable amount will be GBP721.86 while the refund charges is GBP 598.8.
Kindly let us know whether to go ahead or not.

Best regards,

xxxx xxxx
Refund Analyst
Revenue Management & Pricing | Commercial
ARIK AIR LTD
Arik Air Aviation Centre
Murtala Muhammed Airport (Domestic Wing)
P.O. Box 10468, Ikeja
Lagos, Nigeria

and that is it.
Just 2 lines telling me I will loose nearly half of my money for daring to use Arik Air.

I have since replied to them to explain the discrepancy between the £200 refund fee Customer Service told me versus the new £598.8 the refund analyst is proposing.

The same organisation with different refund policies?

I am still waiting for a response.

This phenomenon is present along the Bonny Island to Port Harcourt boat route. Close to Bonny Island you occasionally will notice where the Bonny coastal river system interacts with turbulent Atlantic waves. The color separation is plain to see on some days just as in the picture.

Just to keep you guys informed, I found a nairaland post on the same issue and followed the instructions therein.

1) I have since emailed "The Nigerian Consumer Protection Council". I copied in all the email addresses on my previous post plus a bunch of individuals with "[at]arik.com" email addresses as suggested.

2) I have emailed the official complaints department at Arik Air (talktous[at]arikair.com).

I got an automated reply from the above address which I have posted below:

Thank you for contacting our Customer Care Unit.

This is an automated response.

If you are contacting Arik Air in regards to a refund, please redirect your request to arik.refunds@arikair.com.

We are in receipt of your feedback which has now been forwarded and assigned to a Customer Care Representative for logging, investigation, resolution and follow-up. Where required, we will always attempt to resolve matters within seven (7) business days.

The Customer Care Unit operates Monday to Friday between the hours of 0800 and 1700 Central African Time (GMT +2).

For enquiries relating to our flight schedule, ticketing, pricing or to make a reservation please visit our website at www.arikair.com, use our mobile application or call our 24-hour Central Reservations Service on +234 (0) 279 9999.

On behalf of Arik Air, we thank you for contacting us. We will revert to you as may be required in the near future.

Sincerely,

Customer Care Unit
ARIK AIR LTD
Arik Air Aviation Centre
Murtala Muhammed Airport (Domestic Wing)
P.O. Box 10468, Ikeja
Lagos, Nigeria

As you will note, I am being sent around in circles. The above wants me to contact the Refunds dept again.
The same Refunds department that I have been trying to get results from in over 40 days.

Can someone please tell me what else I need to do to get Arik Air refund my money? Its been more than 40 days since I first requested for refunds after I duly wrote to the refunds department as I was instructed. Ever since then, all calls to them result in any of the following:

a) The phone rings indefinitely - sometimes up to 15 to 20 minutes
b) On some days, after a long time, someone picks and immediately drops the call.
c) The phone is engaged indefinitely
d) On the 2 occasions I got through to them in the last one month, I had to use a different number. Its like they are bent on holding out on my money as long as possible..

I have been calling the following numbers (which I got from either the email response I got initially or from the only times I got through or from their website.)

08077791655 - Call Center Supervisor
08077791310 - Refunds
08077791683 - Refunds
+234 (0) 1279 9999 - Customer Care Centre

I have written to the following email addresses to no avail. :
- arik.refunds [at] arikair.com (got a response once to acknowledge me and thats it.)
- customerrelationsdesk[at]arikair.com
- Callcentre.Supervisor[at]ArikAir.com


I paid a lot of money to Arik for my ticket, especially, as I bought the ticket last minute before Christmas. I could have gone to another air line but in the spirit of a patriotic Nigerian, I decided to go with our own thing. I still believe I made the right choice and this is but an administrative oversight.

Has anyone else had this experience and how did you eventually get your cash back. What more or who else should I contact?

Yes.

Glad to say I have found a couple of good writers but am still looking for more.

Fix the power supply issues and watch the IT sector grow. Simple.

I am still looking for interested people.
This is a part time job that could generate a steady income if you are good enough.

I now have one potential candidate. More needed...

I need at least 3 very good freelance writers on an ongoing basis. Remuneration is negotiable but will be based on work done. Do more get more.

BUT ...

a) You have to be really good with your writing skill. Please do not apply if not.
b) You should have good analytical skill (to dissect, digest and summarise an article)
c) Have good grammatical skill. I do not want to be correcting your work.
d) You must have access to a computer (very important). I've had people in the past who could not deliver because they worked from a phone.

Remuneration
You will be paid per each "approved" submission you make.

Test.
As a test, if you think you have all the above requirements, write and send the following article in not less than 200 words to: ibexy2005@yahoo.com

"Why I should be hired for this role"

I am looking for Statistics/ Maths/ Market research students for a new project. Respond with a brief summary about your experience. Have you ever conducted or were involved in a market research project? Respond to ibx1976@yahoo.com

I need a project topic focused on the database design of a system. Any help?

So Lagos is this safe?

A website is looking for article writers (content creators).
Payment is per each article.
Additional/Possible bonuses/ prizes for best content creators.
If you have a flair of citizen jornalism, this is for you.
For more information, mail: admin@technuzu.com

All the people condoning this dastardly act should listen to this Sonny Okosun song and ask themselves the question therein.
What sort of country are we building for our children?

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRryNzHOks?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315"[/flash]

Are you imaginative? Can you create trivia type questions from: Music, TV, News & Current Affairs, Movies, etc.

I am currently looking for 5 content creators for a new project. Pay is good and it could be a continuos deal if you are really good.

Essentially you will be required to create content based on articles you will be given or from your own source.

The role requires good communication skill and an imaginative mind set to come up with ideas.

If you think you can do this, drop an email at ibexy2005@yahoo.com so we can discuss further.

Am looking for at least 5 people. Its urgent.

This is still going on people.
I already got 1 very good person but need more.
I need at least 3 dedicated people who are experts at creating trivia quiz from any subject.
Reach me on ibexy2005@yahoo.com