Customer satisfaction has been identified as one of the major pathways for the success and sustainability of businesses. There are countless Nigerian businesses, which have gone under, on account of poor customer service. While there are customers who may shrug off the reality of poor services, there are others who would not take the situation lying low. One such example is Patrick C. Chukwuma who filed a court action against the Peace Mass Transit on the 10th February, 2023. The bone of contention was the company’s policy of no refund after payment.
According to details from the court documents, Mr. Patrick purchased a ticket from the Obollor-Afor branch of the Peace Mass Transit for a trip to Enugu. Having been delayed for about two hours and with no passengers in sight, the plaintiff returned back to the ticketing booth and asked for the refund of his fare. The story goes that the Peace Mass Transit staff refused to refund the money, stating that the company’s policy does not permit that and the staff made reference to the receipt/ticket issued that effects the conclusive proof of the company’s position on the matter at hand.
On his part, the plaintiff argued that the “the policy was unlawful, as the law mandates them to refund fares for services not rendered. The plaintiff deposed to the court that instead of quietly making the refund, the Peace Mass Transit staff annoyed their customer with their rude responses. This left the customer with no choice, but to approach the courts and seek redress.
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With his letter demanding an apology similarly ignored, the stage was set for a legal battle, which would turn out to be one of real public interest, considering the number of Nigerians who have suffered similar challenges from products or service providers. According to the verdict of the Enugu State High Court, through the rulings of Hon. Justice C.O Ajah, the court declared that the no refund policy as illegal, null and void in light of the provisions of Sections 120, 104, 129 (1) (a) and (b) (iii) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018. The court, it was learnt further ordered the defendant (PMT) to pay the sum of N500,000 as damages to the plaintiff.
The general manager of the company, Mr. Ifeanyi Enete, is however reported to have recanted by noting that the company usually refunds passengers in events of “unforeseen service failure”, and the company makes alternative arrangements for passengers whenever the car breaks down in the course of a journey. While the transporter’s excuse focused on the point that it was an overzealous staff that took the policy overboard without channelling it to the appropriate quarter, there is no doubt that the court verdict will now serve as deterrent to unscrupulous service providers. Close watchers of this landmark case have also advocated for similar public interest litigation, especially at a time banks, telecoms, electricity companies have made life unbearable with a combination of poor services and extortionate charges. In the end, Peace Mass Transit has now learnt it lessons, knowing that the wages of poor services and bad customer relations could mean getting more than they bargained for. It is hoped other businesses would see the light and desist from leaving customers with no choice, but to invoke the laws against them.
