Lawal Adeniyi, a Lagos State-based civil engineer, has detailed how Arik Air withheld his N298,000 after he bought two pairs of Lagos-to-Yola flight tickets.

Adeniyi told FIJ that he made the flight bookings with the airline when he and his business partner needed to travel to Yola, Adamawa State, for a project in April 2022.

“I made both flight bookings in April 2022. The first flight tickets I booked were for myself and my business partner,” Lawal told FIJ.

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“The plan was to book the tickets once. However, while trying the first time, I clicked on the e-receipt after paying N149,000, but the platform was just rolling. In the end, the booking was not successful.

“I then tried the second time and it was successful.”

Lawal said he received an alert for the first payment he had thought was unsuccessful three days after.

“When I received the debit alert, I quickly reported the incident at their stand in MM2, Ikeja,” Lawal said.

“The official I spoke with, however, told me to report the matter to First Bank. I actually made the payment using my First Bank account.

“When I got to First Bank, they checked from their end and told me that the transaction was successful. They also made me understand that Arik Air’s account had been credited.

“Since then, I have visited Arik Air offices, including their head office, six times, but they have refused to refund my money.”

Lawal said he and his partner were also unable to use the second pair of tickets because Arik brought the departure time forward without duly notifying them.

“The funniest part is that we still were unable to fly with the second flight tickets we successfully bought. Arik Air brought the departure time forward and we were not duly notified,” Lawal said.

“Not a single notification was sent to us. When we got to the airport, they then told us that the flight had already departed for Yola.

READ ALSO: Arik Air Cancelled Customer’s Flight 2 Months Ago. He’s Still ‘Begging’ for a Refund

“When we complained to them that we were not duly notified, they said they would keep our tickets open so we could still fly with them.

“We, however, insisted on getting a refund. They then said they would work on refunding the money. Just like the fist booking, the second tickets also cost another N149,000.

“As I speak, Arik Air has kept my N298,000 for close to a year. Please, I want my refund.”

FIJ sent an email to Arik Air’s refund desk on Wednesday, but it had not been responded to at press time.