Ngozi Ogedengbe, a Lagos State-based travel consultant, has narrated how the British Airways continued to hold on to a client’s N584,183 after she was unable to board the airline’s plane from Lagos to Chicago due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Ogedengbe told FIJ that a round-trip ticket was booked on behalf of the client when cases of Covid-19 were first discovered around March 2020.

“The booking coincided with the period the entire world had to contend with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, because several governments around the world were still thinking of ways of tackling the issue, there were no immediate travel restrictions and people were still able to travel to their destinations,” said Ogedengbe.

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“The booking cost us N584,183. Unfortunately, by the time my client was ready to travel, which was March 20, 2020, the US government had already placed a restriction on all travels.

“At that time, citizens and other residents that were qualified to enter the US were the only persons allowed entry. As a result of the restriction, my client said she would travel later, when restrictions were lifted.”

Ogedengbe said she contacted Vecta Travels, her parent travel agency, in early 2021, to help request for a refund from British Airways.

“Since we requested for the refund, British Airways has been saying the refund request is with their finance team,” said Ogedengbe.

“Now, the client wants to travel and because we have requested for a refund, the ticket we initially booked with British Airways has become invalid.”

Ogedengbe said all the efforts made in getting British Airways to refund the ticket fee had produced nothing.

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“At a point, when I contacted British Airways, they told me that the agency that carried out the booking was the only entity they could make the refund to,” said Ogedengbe.

“The truth is, the agency has contacted the airline on several occasions as well, but the money is yet to be paid back into their position.”

VECTA TRAVELS

When FIJ spoke with Chioma Atueyi, an agency manager at Vecta Travels, she said the travel company had done all that was required to get a refund.

“We as a company have done our own bit. The way refund is done is that we apply for it through a certain platform, where requests and correspondences are exchanged with airlines,” Atueyi said.

“For this particular request, because it happened during the pandemic, there is a special way of going about it. You have to request an authorisation from the airline before you can go ahead with the refund.

“We have done what is expected of us, but the airline said it operated on the day the passenger said she could not travel.

“They said it wasn’t their fault that the passenger did not fly on the scheduled date. However, the passenger was not able to fly because the destination she was travelling to was not allowing tourist visa holders’ entry.

“Looking at it technically, it was not the airlines’ fault that the passenger could not fly; it was just that destination country chose to deny passengers with tourist visa entry.”

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Atueyi said that everything required to get a refund had been done but the airline had not paid the money back to her company yet.

“We have completed the application for refund process for over six months now, but our position is yet to be credited by British Airways,” Atueyi said.

BRITISH AIRWAYS YET TO MAKE A REFUND DESPITE STATING THAT CHARGES WOULD BE TAKEN

Ogedengbe further said that the airline’s plan to deduct charges instead of making a full refund was not fair.

“I don’t even think it is right for British Airways to say they would deduct charges from the ticket fund before making the refund. I don’t think it is right,” Ogedengbe said.

“As much as it was not their fault that the passenger could not travel, it was not also the passenger’s fault that she could not travel.

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“The most surprising part is that despite the charges they said they would take from the initial money paid, they have still not made the refund available. The ticket was booked in 2020. We are in 2023 and a refund is yet to be made. I don’t think it is right.

FIJ sent a mail to British Airways for comments on the matter on Friday, but it had not been responded to at press time.