Hello Everyone,
Online shopping is not something i am used to in Nigeria, this is because of how skeptical i usually feel about it. Sometimes i ask myself question like,
what if i pay for a product and it never get delivered?
How about the product finally got delivered but damaged or looks different from what i ordered?
Can i return it and get refunded?
What about the time it takes to get the item delivered? (Knowing that some Nigeria communities are like ghost towns, these are rural communities that are deserted, with fewer people living in it. Some of these areas consist of uphills and downhills making it difficult for cargo transportation.)
Finally, I would prefer going to the market to purchase whatever product i need to buy, it gives me the opportunity to bargain price with the seller, and sometimes i end up buying it cheaper at a favourable price than the price listed online. Not only do i buy it cheaper than the online price but I'm going home with my product the same day.
Very fast and stress free right?
But at some point, i started paying attention to online shopping, trying to understand how it works, its benefits and dissatisfactions. This is as a result of cheaper and inferior products that flooded the market, imagine purchasing an item as an original quality only to discover that it is counterfeit.
I remembered buying an earphone at the price of the original product only to discover it was an imitation.
That being said, i found out that online shopping seems a safer place for acquiring original products with a warranty that covers the item against damage for a specified number of days.
I have actually ordered a number of products from both Jumia, Ali Express and Oraimo store. I encounter different challenges and experiences from these platforms but i would like to share my first experience shopping online.
My first experience was with Jumia in August 2020, when i ordered a Bluetooth speaker (Zealot S16).
My friend bought the speaker that same month and I like its sound quality and battery duration and decided to go for it. The order came real fast within 7 days, however when i got to the pickup station to clear my item, i found out that it was another Bluetooth speaker that was sent to me in place of the one i ordered.
I got disappointed and ask the staff there to do something about it because i won't take it. She directed me on how to go about return and refund in the jumia app but i was dumb to understand what she's saying, so i ask her to apply it by herself. She took my phone and did all that she explained to me earlier and ask me if I would want to order the same product again? I said yes. She said alright i can go.
It took 7 days to get returned and refunded.
I had to order the same Bluetooth speaker again, a second time.
This time it got delivered within 7days but again it was a different colour from what i ordered. I can't go through the stress of return and refund anymore so i had to accept it that way.
The speaker has quite lasted for me but not it's having some issues which lead to small construction.
You can see some wires attached to it, I'm managing it that way till i find a good electrician or maybe buy a new one.
Thanks for reading 🫶
Images are mine.