Nigerian Woman Seeks N1.6 Million Refund From Ethiopian Airlines After Failed Flight Booking
A Nigerian woman, Mary Emelieze Udeh, has raised concerns over Ethiopian Airlines’ refusal to refund N1,691,736, which she paid for a failed Lagos-Toronto flight booking.
Udeh, who made the payment on August 8 for her husband’s niece’s trip to Canada, has been left without a refund despite weeks of complaints and reminders to the airline.
In an interview with FIJ, Udeh explained that her husband’s niece had secured admission to a Canadian university and was scheduled to begin classes on August 22.
To facilitate her journey, Udeh made a payment via her GTBank account for an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Lagos to Toronto.
Although the transaction was successful on her end, the booking failed to reflect, and her brother-in-law informed her that no reservation had been confirmed.
“My husband and I waited all night for confirmation from Ethiopian Airlines, but none came,” Udeh recounted.
On August 9, Udeh’s husband visited the Ethiopian Airlines office at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja to lodge a complaint.
However, instead of resolving the issue, the airline’s staff provided him with an email address for further correspondence.
“We emailed the airline that night, but it wasn’t until August 12 that we received a response from a staff member named Pascal,” Udeh said.
In his reply, Pascal assured Udeh that the refund would be processed within 21 working days.
However, when the deadline passed without any payment, Udeh sent reminders to the airline, which were also ignored.
Despite repeated emails, Ethiopian Airlines has yet to issue the refund. Meanwhile, Udeh’s husband was forced to pay for another ticket so that their niece could travel to Canada, leaving the family struggling with the financial burden.
“My husband’s niece is already in Canada, but I haven’t received a refund. I also have two children in secondary school, and the money would have been used to pay for their upcoming academic session,” Udeh lamented.
Daily African Times reached out to Ethiopian Airlines on its X handle for a response, but the airline did not reply as of the time of reporting.
