Gloria Emmanuel, a caterer living in Rivers State, has narrated how Arik Air has refused to refund her N142,000 since July, 2023, when she filled a refund application.

Emmanuel told FIJ that she paid for a Lagos–Port Harcourt flight that was scheduled to travel on July 1.

She explained that the airline charged N71,000 for a ticket at the time of booking. Emmanuel then initiated a payment via her Guaranty Trust Bank account, but the first payment returned unsuccessful.

READ ALSO: After FIJ’s Story, Arik Air Refunds Lagos Resident’s N121,336 Held for 7 Months

She immediately tried to pay again and the payment was successful. To her surprise, however, N71,000 was debited from her account for the first transaction which appeared to had failed.

“On June 27, I was trying to book a flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt. My first attempt to pay was not approved. So, I tried the second time and it was a success. I discovered later that my account was debited for the first attempt,” said Emmanuel.

Upon becoming conscious of the double debit situation, Emmanuel thought it was caused by poor network connectivity from her bank and she was hoping it would be reversed. After a few days, Emmanuel contacted her bank for an inquiry and the bank made her aware that the money had been lodged into the airline’s account.

Hopeful that the Arik Air would return the money, she began to count days till she went to the airport for the scheduled flight departure. On getting there, she realised that the flight scheduled to take off at 5:10 pm had departed earlier without any prior notification on change of time.

“The day I got to the airport, I was told that the flight had departed earlier and my flight had been rescheduled. All of this was done without informing me before hand either via an email or text message,” Emmanuel told FIJ.

The dejected Emmanuel decided to request a refund of the total sum vide a refund form made available to her by the airline. Included in the details she provided in the forms were her booking reference numbers 188CHU and 188BPY.

READ ALSO: ‘My Mum Was Admitted to the Hospital,’ Customer Cries Out Over Arik Air’s Refusal to Refund His N60,000

“Arik Air told me I should fill out two separate forms to request a payback and I did that on the spot. Since then, they have been holding on to my money. I have called their customer line several times without a response,” she said.

Our attempt to contact Arik Air via its refund unit’s phone line was not successful as it was not connecting on Friday.

FIJ subsequently sent an email to the airline on the same day but there had been no response at press time.