As a consumer, i have definitely had some memorable encounters, but one of the funniest and most embarrassing moments came when I thought I was getting an incredible deal at Computer Village in Lagos. Let me tell you how it went down.
It was during one of those usual third-term long breaks in secondary school. My brother, who was still a bachelor then, invited my sister and i to spend the holiday at his place in Magboro,Ogun state which is just a few minutes from Lagos. Before that time, i was using my mom’s phone every now and then, but I wanted one of my own. So, I casually mentioned to my brother that I needed a phone.
He agrees but Instead of getting me a new one, he asked his girlfriend to get a Samsung for my sister and handed me her old techno phone. I wasn’t too bothered by it—it was my first phone, and I was excited to finally have something I could call my own.
One afternoon, while we were bored and tired , my sister and I decided to go outside the compound to take pictures.
As I was holding her new phone, trying to take pictures, it just slipped out of my hand and hit the ground and from there, the phone screen cracked . My sister was actually livid, and she wasted no time to inform my brother about what had happened. To my surprise he was calm but he insisted we head to Computer Village in Lagos to get the phone repaired.
Now, if you’ve ever been to Computer Village, you know it’s a whole different world. It’s a place packed with people hustling, shouting, trying to sell everything from phones to chargers, and, of course, memory cards.
The place is known for its chaos, and let’s just say not everything sold there is the real deal. On getting there, we handed the phone over for repairs and we were told it would take some time, so I decided to explore the market while we waited.
As I was walking around, That’s when I met this guy selling memory cards. They were packaged so well you’d think they were straight from the factory.
The guy had this really calm and convincing vibe, like someone you’d immediately trust. He tried to persuade me and said, “Oga, come na, come check this out. This memory card is 100% original, I swear. No fake stuff here. You can store all your music, videos —everything will work smoothly on your phone. And it’s cheap, just 1,000 naira for 32GB! I don’t do fake things, I promise. If it doesn’t work, come back and find me.”
At that time I needed the memory card because the phone didn't have much space but then a little voice inside my head was saying,"Hmm, this is probably fake, especially for that price." I mean, 1,000 naira for 32GB? Something wasn’t adding up. But you know how it is—when someone makes a deal sound so good, you start convincing yourself it’s legit or not.
Plus, everyone loves a good bargain and cheap things, and the way this guy spoke made it seem like I was the luckiest person in Computer Village that day. So, without thinking too much, I handed over the money to him.
A little while later, the phone was ready, and we headed back home. As we got home i was very excited i have gotten a new memory card for my phone so i rushed to insert the memory card in the phone, expecting to see all that 32GB of storage pop up. At the end of the day it showed 32 gb but after some while it didn't even work again. I was very suprised about the outcome and nothing even happened to the memory card before i put it inside my phone. So I pulled it out, put it back in, turned the phone off and on again, but still—nothing. My phone didn’t even recognize the card again. That was when i knew i was scammed.
I felt so embarrassed, standing there with this useless memory card in my hand. The whole thing was funny in a way because I knew deep down it was too good to be true , but I let the guy’s smooth talk and that nice packaging convince me otherwise. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for falling for it so easily. It was a hard lesson, but a funny one looking back.
Thanks for reading. The second image was gotten through meta Ai.