For a while now, I’ve been coming across some businesses that have been acting pretty annoying. They seem to have some policies that just reek of manipulation and make it seem like they’re only trying to take advantage of you and get as much money as they possibly can out of you. That’s just who they are and if there’s one thing that I am, it’s that I don’t like being taken advantage of.
I don’t think anyone likes it, but that doesn’t stop them from doing it to others. Especially in this period where things are really hard and everyone is trying their best to hold onto as much money as they can. Things are tough, and people are looking to take as much money as they possibly can, even though the customers don’t have all that much money to give.
My situation is not unique, if you live in Nigeria, I’m sure that you’ve experienced it before. Yesterday, I went shopping for a few essentials. I don’t really go out with cash anymore, except for transporting myself. Any other thing I buy, I pay via transfer or through my ATM card. I didn’t have my ATM card, so I was going to pay for my shopping through transfer. This is not a new thing and ever since the cash crunch of 2023, it’s something that I’ve gotten used to.
So, before I started, I asked the shopkeepers if they accepted transfers, and they told me that they did. So, I went about making my selection and buying the things I wanted. However, when the time came to pay, and I asked for their account number to make the transfer, I was directed outside to a POS stall where I would make a withdrawal of the amount.
Now, this was crazy, because the POS stall is a business and for me to withdraw the money from them, they’d charge me. I bought something close to 25k and imagine having to withdraw that amount of money, I’d pay over 1k in charges alone. That was just insane. It was especially annoying because they told me that they accept transfers, however, they tried to explain that they meant I could make the transfer to the POS.
Anyway, I didn’t have the time for arguments, the sun was harsh and I just wanted to go back home. So, I decided to make the withdrawal, regardless of the hefty charge. The lady at the POS stall gave me the account number and when I filled it into the mobile app, the name of the account came out and it was the same name as the store! Yeah, the store where I bought the goods owned the POS store!
So get this, they sold goods to me, and then want to charge me for the transfer that I would make to them on the goods that I’d buy. So, instead of me paying 25k for what I bought, I was going to pay about 26.5k or thereabout. When I figured this out, my body was just boiling! I was so angry, that I just dumped the things I bought and walked out of the stall. They tried calling me but I ignored them.
Funny enough, this is something that many businesses do and it’s annoying. That’s why when I want to buy something and I ask if you accept the transfer and you direct me to a POS stand outside your shop, know that I’m not buying from you again! Like, why can’t you just be honest in your dealings? I can’t be paying you for goods and also paying you for the money that I’m giving you na. How is that possible?
I ended up going to the supermarket. These days, I’ve been going to the supermarket more because I know they would never try such a move. They’re more professional in their setting. It’s all these shops that don’t even have any goods in their shops that will be trying to pull these fast moves on us. People need to learn, the country is hard and we’re all going through a tough time. It sure as hell doesn’t give you a right to try and steal my money.
Anyway, that shop just lost a customer for life, because the only thing that would make me go back to that shop is if the world is coming to an end and every other shop in Nigeria was closed. That’s the only time I’d consider them. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
