The incident occured on Friday May 26. The Mode Men Magazine publisher explains exactly what happened
My Nightmare With Arik Air - Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Everyday we are taken for granted and ill treated in various places where we should receive good customer care. An invitation to Gombe necessitated my having to go fly with ARIK as they are the only other airline that go there. My friend (Jim Iyke), myself and his assistant arrived early at the Lagos airport for the flight scheduled for 8.30.
The duty manager was nice and helpful. Due to bad weather (it was raining) we didnt leave Lagos till about 10am. We were told we would disembark the flight, board another and head to Gombe. On getting to Abuja, we were told to go and get new boarding passes which I felt was wrong.
We got the boarding passes and the wait began. We kept going to the desk to make enquiries, we were told the delay was for an hour, then two. At one point the manager told us the flight that just left for Benin would return to take us to Gombe, this was about 4pm. I asked the staff if the were sure as we could still charter a taxi and get to Gombe for the dinner we were heading for. At 6.30pm, a staff informed us the plane was on ground, they were fueling it. Only for them to announce at 7pm that the flight was cancelled. We (all the passengers) went to the airline office to make enquiries. the staff had a non-challant attitude. We asked the manager to make calls and ensure we leave to Gombe, at a point he said " You can do your worse", a call was apparently made to the MD by a fellow passenger who said the MD said we could do whatever with the manager. The demand for action continued for over an hour. During all this I took names of as many passengers as I could with the intent of bringing a suit against the airline. A certain passenger slapped the duty manager, which we all condemned his action At about 9pm the manager and a Mr.lawal realised we were not backing down on our stand and it was around this time that a gentleman who claimed not to be an Arik staff starting shouting at me and the pushed me outside where the Mr.lawal then attacked me, other Arik staff joined him and before I knew it I had been hit severally and my clothes torn, glasses watch lost. Jim's assistant struggled to get me out of thier grip and outside, We then went to the police station to make a formal report.. I ask you all stand with me on this cause. Its not just about me but everyone that has been or will be abused by airline staffs.
15 comments:
gbagaun there
I am totally appalled by such craziness..This is absolutely ridicolous.. Arik Air should understand that they have a standard to up-hold..
ABU take them to the cleaners trust me.. thaey live to regret thier actions towards you.
Chubaba
Linda, I think there is something wrong with this ATB's story.... If this is how he presented his case, then there is something missing and fishy.... The full gist never come out
How can someone be beaten up for patronising the person's business? Somethg is wrong here! Its either he's making it up or those people are totally crazy!
i doubt a guy like abubakar will make up a story like this i have been a victim of arik before lagos to portharcourt and the flight was cancelled after 6 hours no explainations and the very rude staff. if they cant curtail their staff then they should shut down
If you are an air traveller in nigeria and Arik have not maltreated you like this then you have not began. Abukar cant br far from the truth.Ther have been worst case scenerios than this. Arik is a shame to airline business and to the reputation of Nigeria. Arik may think they are big and can never go dowm but time will tell. Oloshi arik.
What baffles me the most is why people insist of flying this terrible airline in SPITE all all the negativity that surrounds it. I have personally experienced the gross ineptitude of their staff and was once delivered by the Lord from a faulty air borne plane of theirs. It is time Nigerians rose up and BOYCOTTED this airline until they begion to take passenger safety and customer interest seriously
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN AIRLINE DELAYS STAFF SALARIES FOR MONTHS SO THE MD CAN USE THE MONEY FOR POLITICS. NOT THAT IT IS AN EXCUSE FOR THEIR HORRIBLE CUSTOMER CARE BUT JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THESE AIRLINE STAFF SUFFER TO AND NOW TAKE OUT THEIR FRUSTRATION ON CUSTOMERS. PLEASE I WOULD SUPPORT ANY LAW SUIT AGAINST THE AIRLINE. WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO TREAT CUSTOMERS IN THIS COUNTRY. THIS CAN NEVER HAPPEN IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
Arik again but what is this for goodness sake? What is the aviation minster doing about this airline they are supposed to be banned from flying in 9ja as their attitude is getting worst. I hope people would learn from this and leave them and fly another airline for crying out loud!!!
ARIK AIR IS A USELESS AIRLINE. THIS ISN'T A MADE UP STORY. IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY WITH ARIK. PEOPLE SHOULD JUST BOYCOTT THE RUBBISH AIRLINE JARE.
BTW, Associated Airlines flies to Gombe from Lagos and Abuja. Shame about what happened but Abu is a lawyer anyway so they should be able to sue.
tht is why it is good to gym... when u grab, no one will try u.. ya digggg!!! sorry doe
i totally agree wit dis guy cos i ve experienced it myself wit dis same Arik travelling to Jos from lagos.We were delayed for 5hrs without apology to and fro.It is really high time they pay for their unruly behavior.
Have had a teribble experience flying with Arik Air, so terrible. I wonder if Nigeria can't create a body to handle such issues
ARIK AIR IS USELESS. ON SATURDAY I WAS TRAVELLING FROM PORT HARCOURT TO LAGOS. I MET A FRIEND AT THE AIRPORT, HER FLIGHT FROM PH TO ABUJA WAS FOR 08.30AM WITH ARIK, MY FLIGHT WAS FOR 13:05 WITH AERO. WE BOARDED AT 13:15PM AND SHE WAS STILL AT THE AIRPORT. I CALLED HER WHEN I ARRIVED LAGOS. AS AT 3PM HER FLIGHT WAS STILL DELAYED. AS FAR AS AM CONCERENCED ARIK AIR IS USELESS, WHY WASTE UR TIME AND MONEY WITH THEM
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