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Ghana International Airlines – passengers ticket
refund plight
Mrs. Mercy Adede Bolus
My son encouraged four friends from his college to go to
Ghana with him to share their knowledge and skills with La
Bone High School last May and to return in early July for a
five week mini gap year trip.
They got no assistance from no-one, raised funds to buy
books for the school through sponsored run and as well as
worked hard to raise funds for their air tickets.
Being a patriotic Ghanaian, I recommended Ghana
International Airlines when they asked for the cheapest
airlines which flies direct. This was because of safety
records in the past and more so being patriotic.
The group bought their tickets in February this year from a
travel agent in London. Unfortunately, in early May, there
were the uncertainties about Ghana International Airlines
due to the volcanic clouds impacting on air travels. The
students then approached the travelling agent for a refund
of their monies so that they could rebook their flight
elsewhere. However there was hesitation because no one had
the answer as to what was happening. In order not to lose
this opportunity the group borrowed money as they were
determined to leave for Ghana as planned. Thankfully Virgin
Atlantic came to the rescue so the trip went on as planned.
The five friends then started to ask for a refund from the
travel agent however this did not go down well at all. The
agent reassured the students and their parents to exercise
patience for the refund process.
I then phoned Mr Gameli Nudanu customer support, who later
then phoned the students whilst they were in Ghana to
reassure them. On 29th August I emailed him regarding the
refund but got a reply saying he was no longer with GIA and
Anista Ashon will the person to contact.
I was aware of the government keen interest to ensure that
all monies were refunded to would to be passengers. I first
phoned and followed up with an email to Miss Anista Efua
Ashon as the new customer support for GIA. She was
interested and asked me for the tickets details of the five
students. I quickly informed my agent who provided her with
the details and copied me in.
I later follow up with a phone call to Miss Ashon to express
my concerns regarding the refund. This was because the other
parents were all expecting to hear some positive news about
the refund. I emailed and phoned Miss Ashon on several
occasions regarding the the five tickets and got replies
assuring me that the money would be refunded into my account
in Ghana.
Miss Ashon emailed me to find out whether we bought the
tickets in the U.K or Ghana, which the travel agent also
emailed to confirm. I called her on her mobile in October
and to my horror she started being nasty to me on the phone.
I could not believe what I was hearing and she added this is
my own private mobile so rest assured that the refund would
be paid.
I waited and called her as suggested. I followed up her
instructions and called as requested and spoke to Miss Ashon.
However, she said she no longer worked for GIA and that she
was looking at her own interest right now, and added
"won’t you Mrs Bolus?" I honestly do not know whether Miss
Ashon got our ticket details for her purpose or not.
I need to know whether Ghana Government and from the
Minister of Transport whether our refunds have been paid or
not as the other parents are now fed up waiting and
demanding to know precisely what is happening.
Thankfully I have all the evidence of my correspondence with
Ghana International Airline. I am happy to speak to Minister
of Transport and GIA management regarding this matter before
deciding which avenue to take this matter. How could
Ghanaians or foreigners ever trust any new Ghana Air line
because when things go wrong there is no help?
If Ghana indeed wants to do business with the developed
world then these are serious issues we need to address head
on. I am afraid customer relations means nothing in Ghana.
Some organisations simply have no clue of what it entails,
let alone having a quality service. It is rather amazing for
an employer of GIA Miss Anista Efua Ashon to tell a customer
that she is looking at her own self interest from now on.
Mrs. Mercy Adede Bolus, UK, December 1,
2010
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