Gabriel Okpanachi, a Yola-based accountant, has said that Arik Air denied him a refund of N51,500 after an unsuccessful flight reservation in March.

On March 25, Okpanachi scheduled a flight for April 2 on the airline’s website. He was in Abuja on a work assignment and the flight was destined for his city of residence in Adamawa State.

“The ticket was a joint ticket from Lagos. I arrived in Abuja from Lagos that day on Air Peace. I was supposed to continue my journey to Yola that same day with Arik until they disappointed me. The entire thing cost N51,000 and an extra N500,” Okpanachi explained.

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When Okpanachi got to the airport on schedule, he discovered that the airline made no reservations for him. The customer care representative told him that his reservation was not captured on their system. He presented proof of reservation and the Passenger Name Record (PNR) code that was assigned to him.

“It took us about an hour to clear things up. After the whole process, the customer care representative gave me a form to fill out and instructed me to come the following day. He assured me that I would be able to fly then,” Okpanachi explained to FIJ.

When Okpanachi returned the following day, however, the situation did not fare any better. The airline still had not made reservations for him.

“When I returned the following day, I was not able to fly again. When I lodged a complaint, they handed me a refund form and told me to fill it and I did. Out of urgency, I had to book another flight with N100,000 to return to Yola that day. It was August 3, and I had business to attend to,” he told FIJ.

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After Okpanachi waited several weeks without a refund, he visited his Guaranty Trust Bank branch. Okpanachi told FIJ that the bank informed him to contact the airline after he launched an inquiry into the issue.

“After visiting the bank several times, they told me they needed approval from the airline company before they could refund the money. The bank sent an official query to Arik Air. They however told me that the airline failed to respond. The bank had to close the case because there was nothing they could do without the airline,” Okpanachi explained.

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Okpanachi further told FIJ that he had sent multiple emails to the airline in his attempt to get to the bottom of the issue. However, he had not got any response from them.

Arik Air sent an automated response first and a contact phone number later, when FIJ contacted the airline through mail. However, all attempts at reaching this phone number proved futile. The phone remained either off or unreachable at press time.