End of the Road
How times change and very quickly indeed.
I started using cellphones the moment the original gsm licenses were issued in Nigeria 2001 and I have been using them till now.
In my 11 years of using the various networks, most of my cash has gone to one network in particular and that network is MTNng
I have sworn over their reliable service in my area among friends and colleagues. I use their postpaid, their prepaid and even their data cards and sims for my network.
To say I’m invested in MTN is an understatement my data networking revolves around them.
I got the blackberry for myself a few years after I got it for my wife and we have been using it since then every where we went. So much that I got a quarterly blackberry subscription to use with my device.
A few months ago, I noticed that the quality of the service, data-wise had dropped from the regular 3G to EDGE. I waited about a week, hoping that it would change and go back to its normal state, after seeing no change, I made a call to the customer service and the lady though nice, seemed to be more interested in making sure I got the new security code thing that The company is peddling. I told her my problem and she gave the routine customer service tale of maybe there were a lot of users that I should try after sometime. Of course by this time, I did not have data to work with on my network so I moved to another network incurring some additional cost in terms of their hardware.
Then 3 weeks back, everything went down to GSM from EDGE which means zero data for my wife, myself and anyone using MTN around the area.
I sent a message to @mtn180 on twitter trying to get assistance or someone that would start the process of getting the system in the area checked. No luck no one answered my message.
All this got me thinking, is it that the networks don’t go around to check the state of their equipment? I know there is the routine check of power generator and fueling but I wonder greatly about checking that the equipment is giving the quality service it should give. And assuming they don’t, when a customer is showing some concern about the quality of service, should it not be taken seriously?
The subscription on my BB is now only useful when I link the device to a wi-fi network or move out far enough from my area before I can use a service I have paid for.
Knowing that my BBQ with expire by the end of this month and not sure that the issues will be resolved, I officially tender my quit notice to MTN with respect to data service. It has been nice doing business with you but I guess this has to end as you can’t keep your side of the agreement but my cash will now go to someone else.
@jaidox
Importation and Import Duty
November 30, 2012 by Jide Ajayi • Issues, Life • Tags: DHL, FedEx, issues, life, myus.com, NCS, Nigerian Customs Service •
This week has been an eye opener for me to the way the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) works in Nigeria in terms of how duties are determined, calculated and paid.
I speak mainly from my experience with DHL and their interpretation of the process.
I bought some items from Amazon and shipped them to MyUs.com which happens to be an excellent shipping service. I will write about them later.
Once all the items I wanted was complete, I asked myus.com to ship them to me here in Nigeria. To effect the shipping, I chose DHL as the shipper, the other option was FedEx which is definitely a good courier company. I chose DHL because I have used them quite well in the past and they have a good web, phone and email tracking system that allows you to know where your items are most of the time.
Well, by the DHL tracker my item was in Lagos by Monday and had gone through sorting only to read that it was experiencing clearance delay.
I waited and hoped that it would move on but also prepared to receive a call from DHL about the situation, the later was the case and around 1230pm the next day, I got a call telling me about the delay and the duty that I have to pay.
I asked for the email to be sent to me and this was sent out immediately.
Upon reading it, I saw that the total cost of the invoice was way above the cost of the things I bought, but I already had an answer to that the DHL agent or rather customs’s agent as he was very enthusiastic to tell me that NCS has a market value that they impose on items when they feel the invoice has been understated or undervalued in their words. So without requesting for evidence or sighting any documents NCS can blatantly decide the cost of any item they see. So the question is do they have a standard list of prices or does the list change as the harmattan temperature changes or is this the so-called Nigerian factor at work?
Moreover, the duty that is calculated is one that is based on the total cost of the invoice and not the item of interest. First, I had some stuff for my kids in the package, tiara, socks, shorts, pants and some for my wife. It was these items that attracted customs to the package. Second, the cost of the ‘clothes ensemble’ was definitely less than the total invoice cost as I had a book, some DVDs and a card reader in the package. So according to the NCS calculation from the DHL/NCS rep, the total dutiable invoice cost is my original total + some additional ‘market value’.
What this means is that 1) though the total levy is 45%, due to the regime of taxing the total, the duty can easily be in the region of 70%
2) With the additional cost added to the total, the duty on the clothes easily rises 300% of the original cost of the items.
I don’t believe and will not believe that the government of Nigeria will deliberately put such a load on her citizens.
I am yet to receive my goods from DHL but I am hopeful that between them and the NCS, the issue will be resolved and I will be able to pick up my items but more importantly, it is necessary that the right thing is done in the interest of this great nation. I understand that some people try to cheat the system and that is unfortunate and pitiable but to set up a scarcity mentality and blatantly label everyone a crook is a worse solution.