Arik Air 2nd Response To Mr Akaninyene Inyang’s Report On Sahara Reporters

It is unfortunate that you cannot spell your name. If you have followed the thread of this story like i have been, you will see you belong to the minority in your response.Either You definitely work for Arik to post such a comment or you are just trying to tell us indirectly that you believe in all the injustice that is occurring in our country Nigeria .
In the light of it all,from your cock and bull story, you even incriminated yourself by mentioning that Air France did provide accommodation after all during your ordeal.
What did Arik provide for their customers? Verbal insults and Lackadaisical attitudes......
If you believe that all is well with Arik, why don't you make them your permanent airline of choice. Or maybe relocate and teach them how to take care of their customers. Do not hide behind the screen and feed the internet with false information.starting with your name..

Arik Air might have responded positively to Mr Inyang's wailing but I am a little troubled by his entire account. He would not have accepted to pay the fine except if he had made himself a total asshole before his infant daughter. It is also mean spirited to resort to rubbishing the company's image as he did when he could sue them for millions of dollars for damages here in the US if he really had a solid case against them which I am convinced he knew he damn well didn't. I am also troubled the way all those de-routed Diaspora Nigerians joined him to trash the airline in the typical Nigerian 'Pull Him Down' that thrives at trashing anything good that might originate from the country. If those fools think that only European airlines are good, then I too have a story that they all ought to hear. The Air France plane that would have taken me to Lagos broke down and we had to wait for twelve hours at JFK for it to be fixed. In the meantime they had promised me to put me in the hotel in Paris for two days for the next connecting flight to Lagos. And I had no choice than to agree. As we exited the plane, their officials found me and assured me that they were familiar with my situation and would take care of it. However they would much later hide behind some technicalities and offer to dump me in some holding cell in the airport where they had Arab drug dealers. I was so upset but never got aggressive with them as Inyang was with Arik Air. Instead I reminded them that I live in the US of A and would certainly find an attorney who would put them out of business for what they did to me. Guess what, it worked! they conferred for thirty minutes and decided to lodge me in Hotel Ibis inside Paris. You think with that they were finished with 'the monkey from Africa'. No, not at all. At breakfast the next day, Hotel Ibis told me that Air France paid for only one night and I should either pay for the second night or spend the day and night at the hotel lobby. I pleaded with them in my excellent French but they refused to be impressed. Once again I had to use the dagger of the previous day of menacing to sue them to bankruptcy once I returned to the States. And it worked once again. It is sad that Nigerians can not even appreciate that in an era where such robust European airlines like SABENA, Swissair and ALITALIA have bitten the dust, there is an air carrier from their fatherland that is rubbing shoulders with the big leagers in Europe and USA. But they would rather trash it as if they were doing a gratuitous PR job for the lack luster European airlines that still fly from the US to Africa. Few months ago I traveled home by Virgin Atlantic and could not stand their shoddy service plus the fact that I had to do the journey in twenty-four hours instead of ten. Thank you so much for mercilessly trashing Arik Air because I must have to travel by them in my upcoming trip. How I so much look forward to flying another African airline again especially since my real favorite Air Afrique has gone belly up like some of those other European airlines. It is sad that true African sons and daughters will bash anything good from their continent with a glee at the least provocation as if their basic sin is originating from there and not from Europe and America. Yet I can tell all of you one thing. A few years ago a Canadian Professor of mine confessed to me that 'your country in just 50 years has made more progress than mine did in more than 200 years'. All of you who gloat at rubbishing your own country and its institutions that are trying to deal with difficult structural rigidity difficulties that are way beyond their control should realize that Rome was not built in a day.

Arik Air might have responded positively to Mr Inyang's wailing but I am a little troubled by his entire account. He would not have accepted to pay the fine except if he had made himself a total asshole before his infant daughter. It is also mean spirited to resort to rubbishing the company's image as he did when he could sue them for millions of dollars for damages here in the US if he really had a solid case against them which I am convinced he knew he damn well didn't. I am also troubled the way all those de-routed Diaspora Nigerians joined him to trash the airline in the typical Nigerian 'Pull Him Down' that thrives at trashing anything good that might originate from the country. If those fools think that only European airlines are good, then I too have a story that they all ought to hear. The Air France plane that would have taken me to Lagos broke down and we had to wait for twelve hours at JFK for it to be fixed. In the meantime they had promised me to put me in the hotel in Paris for two days for the next connecting flight to Lagos. And I had no choice than to agree. As we exited the plane, their officials found me and assured me that they were familiar with my situation and would take care of it. However they would much later hide behind some technicalities and offer to dump me in some holding cell in the airport where they had Arab drug dealers. I was so upset but never got aggressive with them as Inyang was with Arik Air. Instead I reminded them that I live in the US of A and would certainly find an attorney who would put them out of business for what they did to me. Guess what, it worked! they conferred for thirty minutes and decided to lodge me in Hotel Ibis inside Paris. You think with that they were finished with 'the monkey from Africa'. No, not at all. At breakfast the next day, Hotel Ibis told me that Air France paid for only one night and I should either pay for the second night or spend the day and night at the hotel lobby. I pleaded with them in my excellent French but they refused to be impressed. Once again I had to use the dagger of the previous day of menacing to sue them to bankruptcy once I returned to the States. And it worked once again. It is sad that Nigerians can not even appreciate that in an era where such robust European airlines like SABENA, Swissair and ALITALIA have bitten the dust, there is an air carrier from their fatherland that is rubbing shoulders with the big leagers in Europe and USA. But they would rather trash it as if they were doing a gratuitous PR job for the lack luster European airlines that still fly from the US to Africa. Few months ago I traveled home by Virgin Atlantic and could not stand their shoddy service plus the fact that I had to do the journey in twenty-four hours instead of ten. Thank you so much for mercilessly trashing Arik Air because I must have to travel by them in my upcoming trip. How I so much look forward to flying another African airline again especially since my real favorite Air Afrique has gone belly up like some of those other European airlines. It is sad that true African sons and daughters will bash anything good from their continent with a glee at the least provocation as if their basic sin is originating from there and not from Europe and America. Yet I can tell all of you one thing. A few years ago a Canadian Professor of mine confessed to me that 'your country in just 50 years has made more progress than mine did in more than 200 years'. All of you who gloat at rubbishing your own country and its institutions that are trying to deal with difficult structural rigidity difficulties that are way beyond their control should realize that Rome was not built in a day.

This is the reason why all Nigerians especially the ones at home should not settle for mediocrity, and should always demand for more in situations like this ARIK AIR DEBACLE, and to be honest, THIS IS ONE HELL OF A DEBACLE ON THE PART OF ARIK AIR MANAGEMENT.

When I read Arik Air first response, I was dumbfounded that the management took the position that was expressed in that response, and if it hadn’t been for the comments and outcry of the citizens, this issue would have been swept under the carpet just like everything else in Nigeria.

The fact that the Arik Air employee took the passengers passport and luggage under false pretence, amounts to kidnapping and extortion, and the last time I checked, that was a criminal act, for which she should have been fired, not just because of the likelihood of a lawsuit in waiting, but because she also used her position of power and authority to engage in a criminal act, for which if Nigeria is a functioning country, the law enforcement authority should actually be investigating her at this point.

Arik Air 360 degree turnaround in the handling of this issue at this point, honestly just confirms what I have known all along that customer service in Nigeria is a joke. The management has now realized they screwed up big time, hence they are trying to make a mend by soft peddling the whole issue.

This is what citizenry outcry is all about, and it should not only be limited to private organizations, but also including all arms of the government.

YOU CAN ONLY GET RESULTS WHEN EVERYBODY PUT THEIR FOOT DOWN AND DEMAND FOR A BETTER TREATMENT.

Arik, besides apologizing and making restitution to this customer for his return ticket back to the States, including the out of pocket expenses that was incurred with his daughter, you need to ‘FIRE THIS EMPLOYEE AND HAND HER OVER FOR PROSECUTION’, hence making an example out of her, then invest in ‘SERIOUS CUSTOMERS SERVICE TRAINING’ for all your employees including the one that wrote your first response, and maybe then you will start getting back the buck-load of customers this debacle has caused your brand.

if any of these ever happens to me i will make sure u n ur families are detained till i return from my trip. vermin

Dear, Mr. Brunner

Hello, my name is Diana Torres, I'm writing too you regarding one of your reservations agent by the name of Claudia. I call yesterday to obtain some information on going from New york to lagos on Dec 10 and return Feb 7, 2010. She pick up the phone and didn't state here name, nor any type of acknowledgment that she was a agent. I proceeded to give her my flight information and she started to suck her teetlh in the beginning of the call, she didn't even speak any proper English and most of all she was very rude to me on the phone. Such type of rude behavior from the agent is sure going to hurt the feeling of the customer and leave a bad mark about your business and employee in the mind of the customer. Seeing the undesirable behavior of the agent Claudia, as a customer I will lodge a complaint in your office or mail you a letter informing about my bad experience in your business outlet and treatment meted out by the agent. To assuage the feeling of the customer, it is necessary to mail an Apology Letter for her nasty response.

It is also wise for the businessman or company to understand this, the retention of customer is most important for the business and its reputation. Getting customers takes days & months but, loosing them needs just one undesirable incidence and they switch over to another

I spoke to your supervisor Dele, this gentleman was very nice and kind. He handle my travel plans in a good manner. Please let him know I appreciate his hard work!!!!!!!!!!

Arik's statement has no basis or reasoning... just blabing

I have no intention of even listenoing to Arik...cos i@ve personallu experienced some of wat mr inyang had to go thru at the same hand of Arik air..... so nonsense, i.e. both first n second response...i'd be more appeased if they offered an apology, that'd be a gud start... there's no way mr inyang dreamt up all those details in his report, i'm only convinced cos i've suffered twice at their hands.. 1.) has anyone eva tried gettin a refund for a ticket u didnt use.....i had to resort to blockin their office gate in ikeja wit my car to get some attention...2.) they got my luggage delayed an hr post landing in owerri all cos the security person to 'do the release' had to go check pple on-board...wat did the release entail...checking my boarding pass n confirming with the luggage tag...simple thing, that needed no genius took an hr, i ended up cursing evryone there... they're absolutely crazy, stupid, ill-mannered....n d list goes on...pls dont try responding again so u'll stop agitating more pple.....*hisssssssssssssssssssssss*

The lady at the desk should be terminated and refund make to Mr. Inyang with immediate effect. Anything short of this may be suicidal to Arik business.

ARIK GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER YOUR GROUND STAFF DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I HAVE ALMOST BEEN REFUSED THE PRIVILEGE OF BOARDING A FLIGHT ON ARIK FOR INSISTING THAT A WOMAN DO MY SECURITY BODY CHECK.

Hello Ihave reviewed all your responces to the allegation of maltreatment against your airlines but I am not yet satisfy with your defence.I think the only solution is to apologise to the man
The treatment is unfortunate expecially when I am thinking of shifting over from KLM Airline to Arik. I was about to book for Christmas when I read about the incident in Shara reporter from London to Lagos.When Mr INYANG is not paranoid,He could not started damaging your property without any provocation.You have already expressed to the young lady who was with his DAD the terrible society she belongs to.Society with people without conscience. The officer involves should be punished for tanishing the image of your airline. As far as I am concerned non of friends and family here in England would be encouraged to travel with Airliine that lacks customer care until Mr Inyang accept your apology.

I for one am very disappointed at ARIK. I have only made local flights on ARIK but from the sound of things, I don't plan on making any foreign flights with ARIK now or in the future.

ARIK, believe me, you are tooo much for this kind of hanky panky business. I believe you should have, in private, found a way to pacify Mr. Inyang, and then, Mr Inyang would have been the ideal person to clean up your so badly dented image.

The more you make these your public comments, the more you make a mess of things.
To my mind, the lady at the desk, has no business retaining her job, PERIOD.

She made a COMPLETE MESS of an already bad situation that could very easily have been salvaged under those circumstances.

For Goodness sakes, this is an era where competition has further buttressed the saying 'customer is king'. Relieve her of her duties OR find her another job where she has only document or equipment to deal with and certainly not people.

Thank you very much.

What else can we add to this debacle....ARIK redeem your image and provide better services.

ARIK WHERE IS THE BAG I CHECKED IN AND FLEW ON YOUR FLIGHT FROM SOUTH AFRICA 5DAYS AGO??????.Till now the bag has not been returned to me despite my prompt report of the matter neither is there any staff who has any information on status of the bag.Even when l called to find out the position of the Bag your staff in MM Airport office dropped the phone on my ears.
So WHERE IS YOUR CLAIMS OF TAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE SERIOUS?????????.
Please stop making wrong claims and let me have my bag.You are amongs the worst l have ever used.

U right dear!

I can not agree more with you. You have totally hit the nail on the head. There most blames and there must be reprimands. In any incident, a proper investigation is carried (indenpendently/directly), a full report is issued and findings of the report implemented. take the BP scenerio where the CEO had to be relieved of his job to re-instill the confidence of the public towards BP's dented public caused the rig blow out! Other cases abound where CEO's are relived of their position not because they are the direct cuases but to show to the public and stakeholders that thhey need to chart a new course. Pleeeeeese relieve of her position. I and my family and I suppose many wil boycot Arik if we do not here/see from my Inyang of all the measures done by arik to compensate him and his daughter appropriatly.

What is expected of Arik Air to gain the confident of customers is to right thier wrong.Public apology to Mr Inyang and refund of all his expenses is demanded than all these crude defense that plung the airline into further state of disregard.Reorientation of staff also is important and the management should learn from other standard airline on how to deal with situation that has to do with customer.I used other air line in the past like British caledonia air ways,but since 16years ago,i have been a regular customer of KLM and AIR France and i know what i am talking about

I totally agree with this commentator. It is rather unfortunate that Arik air is so adamant and has failed in its duty to deliver the customer service experience they seem to be promoting. I have had my own share of travel experience with Arik air en-route London-Lagos and London-Abuja. It is a journey that I will never make again, even on a free ticket.

It is indeed the worst travel experience that anyone can imagine. They have totally lost it! I am sure the management and the owners have no clue or knowledge or better still what "CUSTOMER SERVICE" means. It is indeed a shame, that generally, when businesses like this takes-off with the wrong vision, it is doomed to fail. I travelled Arik 3 times just to give them the benefit of a doubt, but each time the experience was worse than the previous!!!

What I could not understand also is the virtually empty aircraft that is usually flown across the atlantic, polluting air. Surely, this should be a sign that they are not attracting the prospective customers!!!

As for me, they have lost my business, and rest assured that both my family and friends will not be flying their international i.e. London, US etc route.

I had similar experience of not getting correct information about their movement of shuttle bus for connecting flight and staff being arrogant to their passengers, However, since it is our airline though private we can help them to grow over time. Rome was not built in a day.

Air Arik,

A few days ago, I presented an outline suggesting the steps that Arik Air should take in order to resolve this crisis. For me, i feel this second respond is worst than the first.

See, this is a business-- and not some government entity where you have to protect the name of the politician who made an unwise political statement.

First, this message is philosophical, and its a good philosophy that should be attached to your mission statement.

Secondly, the message lacks specifics. In the private sector, specificity is a big plus while doubts and uncertainty is what business hates and tries to avoid with good management.

Arik Air, you have to do what I asked before and they have to be visible. People don't want to leave in a fantasy. Check the mission statement of Shell, BP and even the United Nations.

Do you hold the multinational companies for not "lighting" up your home because its in their mission statement or do u blame the United Nations for failing to stop an a family feud somewhere in a local village because they have violated a mission of ...promoting peace among peoples and nations..?

I believe we can all answer the questions in the negative. Therefore, the same goes with your statement--Its unbelievable.

(establishing contact with Mr. Iyang is a good idea, but do not forget.. you are now dealing with a problem bigger than Iyang and you must address it at such)

You must aid that statement you made with the following;

1. The Station Manager (Ms.Adaobi Obialo-Molokwu) must be relieved from her duties as station manager (She may keep her current pay in a different assignment but must not be tagged as "station manager", the idea is to remove her from contact with the public in her current capacity )

2. Arik must make a formal open apology to the Passenger and his family.

3. Arik must reimburse the passenger's Flight fair aboard Delta Airlines.

4. Passenger should be encouraged to fly next time with Arik by offering a free premium class ticket to him and his immediate family.

5. Arik must organize a photo-up with the passenger that can be visible to customers who are grossly disappointed (rightly or wrongly) with the airline's conduct as applied to the passengers story.

6.Arik must commence a 6 months re-branding scheme that centers its mission statement on the welfare, wellbeing, and total comfort and safety of the potential passenger (future passengers).

Arik must retrain its Nigerian Staffs on American Business Principles where the Customer "comes first" or the Nigerian "root principles" of utmost respect, and provision of good treatment to strangers.

If Arik does need more advise on customer relations, human resources, personnel management, operations. contact me at myfrank2010@yahoo.com

=======================Previous Letter============

Arik Air,

I am surprised and disappointed at Arik's defense. Number one rule of business "The Customer is always right"

I do understand the need to repudiate the passenger's claim but you cannot do it at the expense of the business.

In the private sector,there is what you call "Profit" and anything that stands against it must be removed. In order to obtain profit,in this case (an airline), good customer relation, reduced delays, safety and comfort should be the norm.

Also, in business there are people we call "scapegoats" (for lack of better words). These people may be right but as long as their actions have created an atmosphere that hinder the profitability or longterm reputation of the company , their services become useless to the mission of the company.

Therefore, I propose the following solution to this crisis.

1. The Station Manager (Ms.Adaobi Obialo-Molokwu) must be relieved from her duties as station manager (She may keep current pay in a different job but must not be tagged as "station manager", the idea is to remove her from contact with the public in her current capacity )

2. Arik must make a formal open apology to the Passenger and his family.

3. Arik must reimburse the passenger's Flight fair aboard Delta Airlines.

4. Passenger should be encouraged to fly next time with Arik by offering a free premium class ticket to him and his immediate family.

5. Arik must organize a photo-up with the passenger that can be visible to customers who are grossly disappointed (rightly or wrongly) with the airline's conduct as applied to the passengers story.

6.Arik must commence a 6 months re-branding scheme that centers its mission statement on the welfare, wellbeing, and total comfort and safety of the potential passenger (future passengers).

Arik must retrain its Nigerian Staffs on American Business Principles where the Customer "comes first" or the Nigerian "root principles" of utmost respect, and provision of good treatment to strangers.

-----------------
Who ever wrote on Ariks behalf surely has not attended a good business school or is ill advised. I am not a business student but I do have an MPA and even though I specialize in the American Public sector, I do understand that the founding principle of any business is to create profit while providing services for the people. I am also aware that unlike the Public sector, there are no tax payer funds and bad publicity spells doom for the business.

if my recommendations are not heeded, I assure Arik that it will not need auditors to check its books by the end of the year. The losses will be enormously visible and since there are no productive bankruptcy laws in Nigeria, Senior staffs will have to meet with the shareholders. ( A meeting you will not enjoy).

=========================================
If Arik does need more advise on customer relations, human resources, personnel management, operations. contact me at myfrank2010@yahoo.com

I hope that mrs molokwu has been sent to the labor market for her to struggle again and value her next job? until that is done, other arik staff will not sit up. I actually was almost booking a flight from NY to Lag when i read this dirty story and without any waste of time, i booked same day with Delta. I had bragged about Arik to my freinds but could not take them through any degrading service. Delta is still better no matter what they do compared to Arik.

This is very typical of Arik airline staff...only 2weeks ago.a friend who flew in from London on Arik complained of the insensitive attitude of Arik ground staff in London...causing her untold stress, only for her to get stuck with the same Arik at Nnamdi Azikiwe International terminal where no information was made available to her and we had to shuttle between the local wing and international wing. I witnessed the scenario and it is noteworthy that all the while not a single word of apology or regret was uttered by the Arik staff..were it to be in a saner clime...litigation wolud be the next resort but she merely made her point and stormed out to wait for the flight since she had no choice. Apparently Arik is only concerned about: Making money and not customer service at their point of sales,..this is regrettable as many would-be return customers would weigh the option of getting a flight conveniently or going through psychological trauma before flying!..the choice is obvious for those who are rational!..Arik needs a total overhaul of its P.R mechanism.

Well, Arik Air's Corporate Communications Office. From complaints that have been coming from this one airline it seems youre failing WOEFULLY at the core purposes which you stated that youre committed to build.
First of all, notify the public that you will not tolerate such agressiveness from a member of staff(Molokwu) and you have fired her. and that you are reorganising training for all your staff because your current reading for Customers service seems to be at 0. Only a sensible airline will ask itself, " How come we are getting so many negative feedback compared to positive feedback". that should be your guage to know when youre doing a good job in the area of customer's service.
Una dey eff up badly.

they ve been showing nollywood movies in their international flights without paying royalties and all efforts to make them pay proved abortive..they played a movie titled my idol on 31st march 2010..flight details-arik air flight no.W3102 from london to lagos..We the producers of the movie ve contacted them to stop playing our movies and also to pay compensation but they ignored us.so we want to use this medium to let the public know.

Arik Airline from its second response has demonstrated maturity and the realization that we are now in a modern world. Whoever that wrote the first response should be fired.

It is glaringly clear that it will never be business as usual, and am glad Arik Air is coming to the understanding. Arik from its first response tried to depict the arrogance that has been the trademark of most Nigerian businesses and individuals. It is no more business as usual.

i dont live in nigeria,and i'm not gonna shut up, you're part of the problem because you just dont get it like the whole organization of "ARIK" its not how many planes they (arik) have.Those planes dont worth shit without the customers.Let arik bosses/owners get of thier fat asses and be hands on like Steve Jobs of APPLE or Branson of VIRGIN GROUP,Thats the difference.

I could not believe what you wrote in your comment especially the first incident you talked about. You mean because your flight was cancelled, you would not let the next flight take off, and you blocked the tarmac?, thats so barbaric to say the least, it can only happen in Naija, and you are proud to blog about it, see you complaining of Arik and you cannot even be civil when things do not go your way!! ( pot calling kettle blac), its a shame, and that goes to the root of the problem in Naija-indiscipling-both Arik and you. You said you made a video of your animalistic behaviour? please do not let civilized people see it.You are a typical Naija-proud and clueless.

This is the correct response. Thanks Arik for finally doing the right thing. Please sack the writer of the first response. He/she knows nothing about Customer Service or Public Relations. The type of persons giving Arik a bad name. This second response, if it had come first, would have put this whole issue to rest without any further ado.

Secondly, please do not stop by writing. Actually contact Mr Inyang and compensate him for the loss and abuse he suffered in the hands of one of your untrained and untamed workers - the so-called Mrs Molokwu.

It's quite unfortunate for Arik management to release a second bruhaahaah that does not go far enough. What the management refuse to understand is that, "it's not what you say but how you say it." They seem to be hidding under the curtain thinking things will work itself out....you do not have to be scared of Mr. Inyang dragging you to court.

As NIKE commercial says "JUST DO IT." Your staff is DEAD WRONG here and you know it. Moreso, your business will take a nose dive for the worst if you do not nip it in the bud.

The writer of Arik's 2nd rejoinder to Mr. Inyang's case belongs to the class of people Arik should go all out to get into their fold. Short, simple, non-committal but decent and not calling the public "morons" as the earlier morons attempted to do; but got Arik more messed up. Sack the morons.