Was It Me, Dayo Or...? No Warranty!

It happened sometime last year. At least that was when it all started. Maybe that wouldn't have been the case if it had served me as desired. Still, this is just a record.

I called Dayo some time this year —early January, second week, and I complained to him that the supposedly original Acer laptop charger I bought from him with plenty verbal quality assurance is now very faulty - not working!

He didn't argue, but simply asked me to bring it. I wish it was all that simple. But no. It was a transaction that had gone through proxy. Who, now, I wondered, was going to accept the liability, Dayo, or Chukwuebuka the main seller (as I was to learn about two weeks later).

It all started some time in December.
But before I proceed, let me digress a little, and take you with me on quick sail on my religious sentiment. Yes. Simply because I find it both wonderful, and hilarious!
So, it was said that if you had money (to spend) on the 25th of December, 2021, then it was Christmas for you. But if you didn't have money to spend, then the said date was simply Saturday, the 25th of December! But for me, it seemed like 31 days in the month of December! Nothing particularly special. Yeah. I get it. But it wasn't all that doldrums. In the contrary, it was very revealing!

...December had turned out to be a month of incubation, meditation, reflection, and personal retreat for me. The major highlight for me was working on my prospects for the coming new year, 2022. To achieve this, I embarked on a month-long daily prayers, book reading, online courses, and planning. One personal strong discipline I laid down is that there should never be a movie whatsoever found anywhere in my laptop computer. Maybe on my phone, but not on my laptop. Now, it gets more interesting from here.

Being a firm believer in Christ, I practically relate every major personal experience with God's involvement. And, that was exactly what I did when my laptop suddenly stopped charging! I couldn't believe or explain it. Because the laptop charger led indicator was working, but my laptop would not charge. Just then I thought, "it is because I had broken my own law of discipline by collecting and keeping movies in my laptop," which had by that time clearly derailed me from my path of studying and meeting my set targets and goals in December. I thought to myself, after several failed attempts to make it work, that it was the will of God in action!

Now, fast forward from the second week of December to the first week of January, and I decided to try the charger again, and boom! It was working! I laughed like a man dearly loved by God, thinking to myself, God had made it not to work so that I could concentrate on my plans for December against the coming new year. Since December was gone and I had achieved most of target without my laptop and movie distraction, I could proceed. This seemed to be just it, a clear proof, at least for a very few days, till, again, just suddenly, the charger stopped working like it did in December of the previous year. But this time, it would charge a little and just stop. Sometimes not work at all. At other times, it will work for long hours till I put it out, till it completely got me vexed when it stopped working altogether, and I realised what was really happening. The laptop charger was now faulty, simple. And my religiosity thrown out the window! Goosh!

After over a week since I called Mr. Dayo that I was to coming for him to look at the charger, I finally went to Computer Village at Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. That was Tuesday the 25th. On arrival, Mr. Dayo did his tests with his multimeter only to tell me that the charger was "OK." But that he couldn't "understand my laptop." I insisted that the charger was faulty, his tests notwithstanding. Finally, he put a call across to someone and requested for an original "fairly used" charger to be brought to him. When it arrived, I immediately recognised the young man that brought it —he was the same person who sold the first one to me, and I got to learn that his name is Chukwuebuka. Mind you, I bought that charger around September of 2021. So it was less than four months of use.

Upon Mr. Chukwuebuka's arrival, I waited to see how it would play out, because honestly, knowing what gives in the local Nigerian market, I didn't expect to walk in with the faulty laptop charger and simply walk away with a new replacement - for free! That actually sounds like an American dream in Lagos!
Mr. Dayo came back into his shop and went to resume his seat, unable to tell me that Mr. Chukwuebuka was not willing to replace the faulty charger, or tell me anything tangible at all. I picked up on his cue, and took to speaking with Chukwuebuka myself. After quite some time of going back and forth about how he cannot simply replace the charger, we had to settle for a dismal discount of barely 12% of the original price of the charger. Paying N3000 ($7.22) for a N3, 500 ($8.43) charger.

I really needed the charger. But I wasn't happy paying for it, again. The fault of it had stalled my work. N3000 doesn't sound like much, I get that. But at this point, it really is. Plus the trouble and loss it had cost me. Not to forget I paid about N1000 in transport fare, to and from Computer Village. I wasn't pleased as I had expected to enjoy a better service and discount, but then, maybe I wouldn't be writing this article for you beautiful people to read and connect with my December 2021/January 2022 experience.

Key take aways for me:

• The local market gives you no warranty on products purchased from them - 90% of the time.

• The proper use and care of your electronic devices and equipment are entirely up to you, as replacement can be uncomfortable and probably costly - in time, loss of man hour, safety and cash!

• Extra power protection can save you a lot of money in repairs and replacement.

• Everything counts!

Thank you for taking your precious time to read through this article. I love you guys.

CN Humphrey.