What to do when you get a raw deal – published September 9 2008

Whether you have easily shelled out N350,000 for a brand new generator or you have scrapped and saved for a few months to put the amount together, the pain is the same when two days later the new generator has packed up. Especially now, when generators provide more than three quarters of our daily power needs. You would expect that you could simply return this generator and get a refund or an exchange…but not quite. Let’s throw in a few more variables: the receipt says ‘No refunds, only exchanges’ but you just found out that the store only carries one brand and that brand is notorious for being problematic (now someone tells you) and you would prefer your money back.

You walk into a fast food joint – buy a chicken pie and one bite later and you are gagging. The chicken pie is filled with rotting chicken. Furious, you march back with your receipt and the spoilt chicken pie safely ensconced in the fast food outlet’s branded pack. Contrite and full of sympathetic noise, they apologise for not being able to exchange it or refund your money.

It gets better.

Right after you pay for an item and you reach for the door handle to step out of the store you finally give in to the voice which says you do not need that N5,000 lamp. You turn around and speak to the cashier who just gave you your change and receipt and tell her you’ve changed your mind about the lamp and would like your money back. The answer: No. No refunds, no exchanges. You never even left the store.

Engine destroying fuel, beans which kills and re ‘dated’ expired consumables sold in supermarkets… the list of consumer complaints is endless. The Nigerian consumer is constantly being squeezed and taken for a ride, in a rickety car no less. Brand new motor vehicles cost on average N3,000,000.00 more than it costs to buy AND SHIP from outside the country and car dealers with a monopoly over certain brands ‘punish’ those who don’t buy from them by asking them to deposit N1,000,000 before they will service their cars. An April 2008 Report on the Consumer International website noted the increasing use of West Africa as a dumping ground for e-waste. According to Professor Oladele Osibanjo, director at the Basel Convention Regional Co-ordinating centre for Africa: “We have about half a million used computers coming into the Lagos port every month, and only 25 per cent of these are working. Seventy five per cent is junk. The volume is so large, that the people who trade it, just burn it like ordinary refuse.”
What next? Nigerian consumers are so frustrated they are taking their complaints online – asking for help from international consumer law and policy blogs. http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2006/10/consumer_protec.html

Do consumers have rights and remedies under Nigerian law?
A good place to start is the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in Abuja operating under the Consumer Protection Council Act 1992 and providing for the protection of consumers in accordance with the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection of 1985.
According to the website (http://www.cpcnigeria.org/) the CPC is dedicated to ensuring that consumers are educated about their rights, protected, and that service providers live up to their responsibility towards consumers. CPC encourages consumers to lodge complaints with them either via SMS, email or the online complaint form which is detailed and even asks the consumer what they think is a fair remedy. Unfortunately, the email constantly bounces back and it takes an average of three months to process a complaint. It does not help that the powers of the CPC seem to be concerned with certifications on standards, quality, safety manufacturing information and that the CPC has offices only in Anambra, Katsina and Oyo. Despite this, CPC has recorded some successes, predominantly with the telecommunications industry; this could be because consumers are highly vocal about telecommunication services as the ‘letters to the editor’ page of any major daily will testify.

In Lagos State, consumers have the additional option of taking complaints about goods and services to the Consumer Protection Unit recently inaugurated with the blessing of the Federal Government as the DG of the CPC was in attendance. But since then little is known about operations apart from where it is located. Although the Peoples’ Advice Council (PAC) in Alausa specifically states that its objectives are to cater to tenant landlord issues; estate administration issues, victims of brutality or extra judicial killings in the hands of law enforcers, medical malpractice/negligence and single mothers in need of financial support from deserting partners, they also add that they can direct your problem to the correct channel. However, I received no response from PAC asking for advice on my generator issue…so what else?
Presumably consumers could apply to the courts as a last resort but we all know going to court is not cheap or quick. However what we need are special courts to handle these types of claims – small claims courts they are called in the United States. Depending on state law, small claims courts are limited to claims for damages ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. The types of cases tried in small claims courts are also limited and because the procedures in small claims courts are not as complex as in other courts, consumers can file and present their cases quickly and cheaply, without a lawyer.

The powers of the CPC could be expanded to set up small claims courts in each State capital (to start) where Nigerians with goods and services issues can go for quick but fair relief. A limit can be set for the damages i..e, no more than N500,000, lawyers could spend their Youth Service time there and the CPC could be charged with enforcing claims. Nice and tidy.Let’s use the avenues we have – don’t fume, send in your complaints to the federal and state CPC units, they will have to do something. In the meantime, to prevent those feelings of overwhelming powerlessness while we wait for a response, start a blog – www.ihatestopandbuy.com, www.baddiessuck.com and www.stophombre.com are already taken.