It is one thing to blame our leaders for our woes but it is another thing to see that corruption and lack of accountability is even beyond our government. It took almost 20 minutes for me to convince my little sis that she had been scammed after investing so much emotionally, physically and financially. However, it was obvious from the last chat she had with the coordinator of this competition that he is quite relaxed about there being no consequences for his actions. I have decided to call them out for two reasons:
1. You can’t make my baby sister cry that much and I will do nothing about it
2. For them to know that they do not hold all the power, punishment can be served in a lot of ways to the over-confident trickster

So, grab your popcorn and a basin of juice because it is going to be a very long ride.

My sister saw an advertisement shared to her school group about a spelling bee competition organized by Metrobee. The winning prize was slated to be N350,000 and a scholarship to Poland where the winner can work and study. Definitely mouth-watering right? Well, my sis got very interested and made inquiries. Registration fee for the competition is N1000, and a spelling material containing 10,000 to be sold at N2000. (See screenshot below)

Keep it coming.....popcorn running out!

Reading.....no popcorn tho....but we gat barbecue!

She registered successfully and purchased the material as there are a lot of words in the dictionary. This material was deemed optional but you know how it is in our country. Our lecturers will say “buying my material is not compulsory oh but class rep…write the names of those that bought it”. Anyway, she got added to a whatsapp group with other participants where the coordinator would answer questions and drop important updates. All through the period prior to the competition, the only rules that were stated for qualification were the use of the app, there was to be a total of 30 questions and the minimum to qualify for the next stage was 15 correct answers out of the 30, after the online preliminaries and there would be a regional second stage where participating schools would further screen participants for the final stage that was slated to hold at University of Benin in August 2018. Although the participants paid fully for the spelling material, only 5000 words were given out. The other 5000 words were to be sent after qualification for the final round.

About a week to the start of the online preliminaries, new rules were introduced. The regionals were cancelled. This meant that after the online preliminary, whoever qualifies goes straight to finals. Another rule was that you were allowed to have three trials. At the time, all contestants felt that this was a really fair challenge, a sentiment shared by my sister. There was the introduction of groups this time. If you qualify as the top 5 in your group, you move to finals. Each group had two slated days to make their attempt during the preliminaries. My sister got scheduled into group C and the online preliminaries which were to hold from the 3rd of July to the 8th meant that she got 7th and 8th. The coordinator asked everyone who had been grouped to exit the group as the group will be disbanded and all correspondence will be made via email. Only those who qualified would be added to a new group for finalists. (See Screenshot below)

Alejoc:
Keep it coming.....popcorn running out!

Sorry boss, u know we gatz arrange evidences nicely

Much to the shock of the participants, a mail was sent telling them that to make any trial, they would have to load N900 credit on their account. Three trials would mean a whopping N2700, which is after paying for registration and materials oh!!! (See Screenshot below)

After complaints from participants, they said that they would make the first trial free. So, if you fail to qualify after trying the 1st time, you have two more chances but you are to fund your account yourself. (See Screenshot below)

The link was sent and another mail with a new rule was sent again. The groups had been cancelled! Everyone could login in any day they liked and following several complaints about how the app wasn’t working properly, they shut it down for an upgrade. This was an app that supposedly took 5 months to build but still couldn’t function properly. Had issues with keyboard compatibility and loading very slowly.

Finally, it was fixed and my sister was ready to try hers. She first tried using her laptop so she could have a wider interface. As soon as she logged in, the page kept taking so long to load that she eventually switched to mobile. But guess what? As soon as she switched to mobile, her page came up with the message, “You do not have any trials left”. This was a girl that had not even had her free trial and this was where the war started. Their attention to complaints is wack. She sent a message to the coordinator and basically got no replies. She was practically begging. (See Screenshot below)

The afternoon of the next day, she finally got a reply but she was shocked that on the app, she did not get her free trial again. She was just asked to load up credit immediately. She complained about this but this part of her message was ignored. Once again, she tried to login and after asking her to pay and she reloaded the page, she got the message of having no trial left. The baffling thing here is that after contacting the coordinator, he didn’t give her the three trials as stated for the competition. Instead, she was always given just one and asked to pay. She sent several texts and called, all were ignored (See Screenshot below)

She sent whatsapp messages to the coordinator who was online, ignored too

She sent a mail and got a reply much later

She sent a message to the second number who asked her to keep contacting the first person (See Screenshot below)

More screenshots

Finally, she decided to go on with the one chance she was given and try her luck. Afterall, she had been studying the material for close to a month. She was really excited about this competition, wanting to make her family proud of her. She tried to load up the account but there were stipulated amounts which were N100, N200, N500 and N1000. She went ahead to load N1000 credit. During this period, naija no dey carry last na. As she dey put card details, site no hang oh!!! Infact, na this particular process fast pass….yeye

After loading up, the page for the words came out but after the word was pronounced, she couldn’t type anything because the keyboard didn’t come up!! This went on till the third word and she minimized the page to contact them again. After sending her complaints, she went back but I am sure you can guess what showed up…no trial left. She was given one more trial again. The keyboard came up this time but the word didn’t register as answered. Finally, this was what the coordinator had to say after the entire ordeal. He asked a very stupid question (See Screenshot below)

We are supposed to make things work in this country by starting from doing the right thing. Apparently, they are aware that the app is having issues. Instead of cancelling the regionals, they could have cancelled the online stage instead. The coordinator did not even sound apologetic. You cannot deny the fact that a lot of money will be made from these students who felt this was a well-organized platform but deep down, it is just a money generating scam. Use the money of unsuccessful applicants to pay the winner. Their site metrobee.com.ng is even shut down, they do not have online footprints. The competition site is metrobee.ga. Apparently, when such a thing happens, the victim is expected to just lick her wounds and move on. What about the psychological toll? This babe was weeping like it was the end of the world, she is very emotional. So, feel free to share wherever, the entire process is very shady and this is an example of a scam!!! This is her story and thanks for your audience.

Signed...Caring big bro

These people need to be stopped asap. Before the next edition will commence, because the coordinator has already scammed the people working with him before it even starts... If this thread can get some traction somehow and stop these people because they are at it again.