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This is an avenue to share stressful experiences in Lagos and find solutions on how to enjoy a more comfy city.
So the SIM card of my mini WiFi (MiFi) modem was faulty and I had to take it to my service provider before heading for a meeting at Nestle in Ilupeju. In retrospect, I should have gone to Ikeja Smile office instead of Surulere since I was coming from Omole II.
Got to Smile at Adeniran Ogunsanya mall at about 10.30 and the technician on duty said it would be two minutes. I asked him to give me more time because I was hungry; climbed the stairs to the food court and opted for the fresh looking boiled yam and fried eggs at Mama’s Place.
As I was getting a seat while the eggs to be fried, there was a frozen yoghurt store right opposite Mama’s Place. I love frozen yoghurt and it’s not common to see it. Yeah, I’m adventurous with food like that.
Popped into Bia’s frozen yoghurt and guess who was the waiter?! The owner, Fadesola Adebayo, is the man who did a 17-day trek (717km) from Abuja to Lagos to raise awareness on Steven Johnsons Syndrome.
He runs the place and needless to say, I bought some healthy frozen yoghurt with mango and blueberry with coconut chips topping. It felt really good to meet someone you have read about! We had a great chat, watch this space for more on that.
I was still basking in that moment when I returned to Smile office and the technician said it was a good thing I didn’t come back in two minutes because he had had time to check the device and concluded that the device had to be replaced but that I couldn't get the new one immediately.
Having said that I needed to drop the device, I asked if it was possible to get a complimentary device before the new one is made available. He answered negatively. I then was trying to make him see reason with why the internet was really important to me at time.
In order to stay online, I had bought a small amount of mobile data from Airtel but I couldn’t browse even though the social apps were working. I had called Airtel Customer Care to lodge a complaint while at the food court and that was what I showed him when he said that Smile SIM card could fit into my phone. I was a bit skeptical because I have two active GSM SIM cards but was willing to drop one pending when the new modem arrived.
Mr Technician then returned my phone asking me to insert password. Password? I don’t password my phone! I tried all the possible number combos I could think of. Nothing. Then I asked him to replace the original SIMs. He did and it was the same thing; request for Privacy Protection Password.
He explained that it was a new feature with the latest set of Android phones that came up with such anti-theft feature and suggested I took it to either 3C Hub across the road from the mall or to SLOT about 15 blocks away; everyone remembers how it rained cats and dogs in Lagos on Wednesday.
I had decided to use Uber for that part of the journey but now the phone is blocked, making it impossible to book an Uber (Thinking back now, he should have given me a spare phone to maybe download and use the app on).
I waited a bit for the rain to subside and walked briskly to 3C Hub. No show. Took a 30-second Keke Marwa trip in the soft rain to SLOT. Still no show. It was half 12 at the time. Neither 3C Hub nor SLOT could solve the problem; they referred me to Carl Care centre for Infinix phones on Opebi.
It’s a shame that such a service isn’t available in Surulere and its environs. Imagine how many people have to go all the way every day. Little wonder the traffic in Ikeja is that serious. I got a painted black and yellow taxi to Ikeja after we agreed he would take me back the mall to pick up the modem.
Got back to the mall and Mr Technician asked if he had stressed me? Really? I didn’t even know what to say! I let him know that I had to go to Ikeja to get my phone unlocked and wouldn’t be able to return to Surulere anymore. I requested he returned the modem so that I could take it to Smile Office at Ikeja. He stuck a handwritten note on the device.
The taxi dropped me at Carl Care on Opebi road at about 3.30pm where the phone was eventually fixed at the software department after a one-hour wait. At this time, nobody was able to get through to me until the phone came up. All files were lost and I’m still in the process of re-installing apps.
Next stop was Smile office on Toyin street. The technician there agreed that the device needed to be changed but that they had none in stock. I then asked again if he could put the Smile SIM in my Infinix Zero 3 and he said no because the phone does not support 4GLTE. I was livid! It means that the Surulere technician didn’t have to make me go that extra mile if he had checked to see whether the phone was compatible with Smile or not.
He also said that his colleague in Surulere said they had the phones in store. Really?…So why stress me that much?!
If you ask me, people like that who are obviously incompetent at customer service, I’m sorry to say, should not deal directly with customers to help keep our experiences less stress and more smiles.
Feel free to share yours!
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