Jon Tudy Interbiz Ltd. is demanding a N3.6 million refund and compensation from Delta Air Lines Cargo after a perishable shipment bound for the US failed to leave Lagos on schedule, according to a demand letter seen by BusinessDay.
The Lagos-based agricultural exporter said it paid N2.6 million to ship ground ogbono to Newark, New Jersey, under air waybill No. 006-31303370, with departure scheduled for April 16. Air freight was chosen because of the perishable nature of the goods.
The shipment did not depart as scheduled. In a letter dated April 29, Delta Cargo told the exporter’s US broker that the goods remained in Nigeria because of a backlog, the exporter’s lawyers said.
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By May 4, the cargo had still not left Lagos, forcing the company to retrieve it and arrange alternative carriage at its own expense.
Jon Tudy Interbiz, led by Jon Tudy Kachikwu, it cief executive officer and a former chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Small and Medium Enterprises Group, said it has sought a refund for seven months without success.
In a letter dated July 6 and served on Delta Airlines on July 10, lawyers for the company, AceTrix, demanded payment within seven days.
“The referral of our client’s claim to your United States office is a matter of your administrative convenience which should not suspend or defer your obligation to our client,” the letter, signed by Ayodele Adeniyi, managing partner, said.
The demand comprises N2.59 million as a full refund of sums paid — N2.5 million in freight charges and N101,600 in shipment-related charges — plus N1 million in compensation for deterioration of the goods, the cost of alternative carriage and disruption to the business.
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The lawyers said Delta officials told the company during a follow-up visit that the claim had been escalated to its US office and that the refund would be processed within about two months. That period has since elapsed, they said.
Delta Air Lines Cargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to The Guardian, Delta’s media relations officer in Nigeria, Adeola Olanrewaju, said the company was not aware of the concerns raised and would refer the matter to the relevant team for review.
The exporter said it has instructed its lawyers to take all legal and administrative steps available to recover the sums if payment is not made.
