Hello great people, I hope this story meets you well.
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about pushing on with one of my dreams;
“There's no perfect time to actually start, just start what you have to do with what you have at the moment - says a motivational speaker.”
Source:
After a long thought and research, I decided to place an order for some of the raw materials that I’d need to kickstart.
However, you guys know how I feel about virtual purchases or rather what I’ve faced from fraudsters. One of them is from the story damn my 3k.
I had done a lot of research to see where I could find the raw materials around me but to no avail.
Personally, I feel it’s not about ordering from online but it’s more about risking a lot of hard earned money. Of course, starting a business doesn’t come with a cheap investment. So, some other days I went to the general market in my town to look around for the needed raw materials but errrm I didn’t see. It’s more like I lost weight and energy from walking through the nook and cranny of the market you guys don’t wanna know what my eyes saw that day stress of the highest order.
The most annoying thing about getting these raw materials is that the location of the available vendor is so far away from where I am and the delivery fee feels choking. Well, after my merry go round on instagram ( you might say instagram of all places, it’s like my 3k loss didn’t really pain me, I know, I just didn’t have a choice), I finally found one vendor location that’s closer to my city; Ibadan.
Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo state popularly known as IB(as in Ibadan).
“Ohh niceeee, I found it” I said with so much relief . I’m familiar with that kind of relief.
When I was struggling with a particular task for a long time, I finally discovered that I was going about it the wrong way then with just a little effort, I got the task done. Yeah, it’s that kind of relief.
The most interesting thing about the vendor was that they seem to have all of the raw materials that I needed. wow. Prior to that day, I’ve come across different vendors on instagram and Facebook that sell some of the things that I wanted but I’ve never come across one that has all of the stuff that I needed.
My mood changed again. I switched from the lively and happy Joyce to the sad and overthinking Joyce.
“What if they’re scam?” “ why do they have all these things at once” “Even bigger industries that I’ve seen have some things marked as OS (out of stock) on their website.”
Well, I encouraged myself back up and took the big step of contacting them personally on WhatsApp. I clicked on their WhatsApp link displayed on their profile and boom we began chatting.
I took my time to go through their catalog, went to their Facebook, media, posts and also confirm their hashtags.
not bad, seem legit. I hope I’m not wrong this time
“If you place an order now, you’ll get your materials tomorrow. That’s because we don’t go the park twice a day and we’ve sent out today’s orders”
He texted back after I asked him when I’d get my package.
“Oh okay”.
And finally, just as you expected, I placed the order.
And the juicy part is..
The next day finally came. A strange number called me to inform me that I’ve got a package in Ibadan but he’ll call again when he gets to my city.
well not so bad this seem to be going well
The vendor also sent me the driver's number and the way my orders were packed.
From that instance, I calculated the time it’ll take him to drive frim IB to Ondo.
Since he called me around past 8, he’s get here soon before 12 pm. At around 12 and I didn’t receive a call from the driver, I became so unsettled.
It got to the point where I had to ask about the distance around and people said It’s about a three hour journey from IB to my city.
okay let’s say he didn’t leave at that 8 am that he called me. He probably just started loading his car then. Let’s give him a two hour allowance. So, if he took off around 10 am, he should get here around 1pm right?
I eventually left work around 1pm. Some part of me hoped that it wasn't a scam and my goods would soon arrive.
I decided to distract myself with some movies. I opened my VLC app and watched some kdrama. Me, you and everyone else knows that my mind would never be fully focused on the movie and yeah, that’s correct.
The next time I checked my time was around 4 pm.
what’s happening mehn?.
I went on WhatsApp and texted the vendor and updated them that I’ve not gotten my goods.
“Let me call the driver” the vendor said simply.
So I calmed myself down and waited for the update after his supposed call with the driver.
He didn’t call me after some minutes of waiting, I went back on WhatsApp and asked him what’s up?
“Kindly send the driver’s number please”
He texted.
Firstly, I went blank. like aren’t you the vendor didn’t you get the driver’s number before you gave him my paid goods?
Secondly, I clicked on my phone app and copied the driver’s number then settled and compared it with the one he sent earlier. They were the same digits but with an omission of one digit.
“Oh, this is probably why he couldn’t reach the driver”
So, I sent him the correct digits.
I called the driver myself and to my greatest surprise, he poured out three different excuses at once.
“I’m sorry ma, the tires of my vehicle got spoiled in the middle of the journey” “I’m at the road safety point at Ikirun” “I won’t be able to make it today, you’ll definitely get your goods tomorrow”
At that instance, I didn’t know what to say so I hung up.
I threw my phone at my bed and concluded in my mind that I’ve been scammed once again.
I felt so sad and pained. When I sat up to think about the whole thing, I just couldn’t resist my tears.
Few minutes later, the vendor called me and explained the whole issue to me plus he really apologized on behalf of the driver.
I’d lost hope so I was worried about why he hasn’t even blocked me.
“What kind of false hope is this one now* if you want to scam me, scam me and rest na
“I’m so sorry ma, I’ve spoken to the driver and he actually had a road accident but don’t worry, you’ll receive your goods tomorrow unfailingly. And if not, you’d be refunded”
Well, let’s see how it’ll turn out.
At around 12 pm the following day, I received a call from that strange number. It was a man with a hoarse voice. “I’ve arrived Ondo, come and get your package at Ife garage.”
Without wasting a minute, I took excuse from work and stormed the road to get my packages. I hid my excitement until I set my two naked eyes on the packages and the content.
Have you been so happy that you shed a little hot tears? To think that a part of me wasn’t actually waiting to get the goods again however, some part of me still believed that I’d get it. And you know what?
I got it.
Thank you for reading my “Order from IB” story.