2 Weeks After FIJ’s Story, AliExpress Returns N129,000 to Niger Woman, Ends 11-Month Delay
AliExpress has refunded N129,000 to Ruth Kudaisi, a Niger State resident whose order was was cancelled nearly a year ago due to a payment failure.
The online store refunded the money after FIJ shared her experience in an earlier story.
While the refund was N20,482 shy of the N149,482 deducted from her OPay account on July 24, 2025, for a phone and two pouches, Kudaisi said she was excited for getting a significant part of the money back.
“I got credited now,” Kudaisi told FIJ with excitement on Wednesday.
“Though, it’s not complete, I am already happy for this [amount]. I have emailed them to know why. I am really excited now.
“Thanks to you and your team. I am truly grateful for helping me recover my funds. This coming July 24 would have made it a year that the money had been withheld, but you helped get it back. I am so grateful.”
Thinking she was supposed to give FIJ a commission from the refund, Kudaisi asked: “What am I expected to do in return, please? What’s the percentage I am paying for this work done?”
In response, FIJ told her she did not have to pay any commission as its policy is against such an exchange and none of its reporter would ever make such a demand.
She found that unbelievable, and she said she would follow FIJ across its social media channels for latest stories.
The first story documented how the payment channels timed out while she was trying to authorise the purchase.
AliExpress maintained it did not receive the money, but OPay insisted that the payment was successful. From emails to phone calls and a visit to OPay’s service centre in Minna, Niger State, the two institutions kept tossing her around.
Following the publication, AliExpress responded to FIJ’s inquiry on July 10 saying its investigation had confirmed that the money was deducted.
“Upon receiving your message, we immediately conducted an internal investigation and contacted the payment channel for further verification,” AliExpress said.
“It was confirmed that the payment was successfully deducted from the customer’s account; however, the information transmitted to the AliExpress platform indicated a ‘payment failure’ which led to the cancellation of the order.
“While the platform is able to assist the customer in obtaining a refund, the payment date has now exceeded the maximum refund period allowed by the payment channel. As a result, we need the customer to provide his bank account or other payment details in order to process the refund manually.”
Kudaisi consequently supplied the requested information and the money was returned to her account accordingly.
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