Left in the lurch

<p>I took a trip to Lagos, Nigeria in January that was supposed to return on the 28th and made my booking through STA Travel as I have consistently done for the past 5+ years now. Unfortunately on the appointed date of my return to Joburg the flight was unceremonoiusly cancelled by the airline (Arik) without warning. I was informed at the airport that the next flight out on the airline would be on the 1st of February but I had to be back at work by the 30th of January so that wasn't going to work. In order to make it back in a timely fashion I ended up having to take the only flight option available to me on that day at such short notice which was South African Airways. The return leg which cost me nearly twice of what my original round trip ticket was. I tried numerous times to get my refund for the return leg of my original ticket but was told this could not be done as the airline didn't put in some obscure code in their reservation system stating that I should be refunded. This despite my showing them documentation the airline provided stating that the flight was in fact cancelled. I have made numerous trips to their office at the Morningside Shopping Mall and exchanged numerous e-mails and phone calls with them to which I was given the same s****- essentially the airline has been non-responsive so we can't issue you a refund. Whilst I don't blame STA travel for the cancelled flight, I do hold them fully responsible for their decidedly customer-unfriendly policies that have left me out of pocket for a substantial amount of money I could ill-afford. I've been a long-standing customer of their right from college and to be treated so shabbily was a major letdown. Lesson learned. I will henceforth be handling my own travel arrangements.</p>