ibkayee:

Lmao it genuinely resonates with me because I work in tech, so I know how the blood and sweat that would've gone into creating something may seem 'small' to a layman, I can just imagine you asking if they meant 200k and the way you must've done a double take when the other person you mentioned offered 3k

God bless your hustle

I thought it was 3k dollars

Amen, yours too.

Donald3d:


I thought it was 3k dollars

Amen, yours too.

No matter how smart a handy man want to be, there is always a way to get to them and when they see you as that òga or madam that don't look down on them, there is nothing they won't do for you.

If tomorrow this @op go there for another service, the treatment will be better. Will be more if he drove by and stop to greet them.

I love this thread.

I think OP has partly answered his own question. It is often ignorance. OP didn't know what it would take to dry his car so he underestimated the time, manpower and energy needed to do the job. Another reason could be greed and another lack of respect for other people's work.

In a country where children are used to run a home, the last reason is no surprise.

What people do not understand is that this has consequences for the economy as a whole and ultimately affects them negatively.

Someone who earns well has more spending power and so supports other people's business and these people in return other people's business. This creates more jobs. It goes on.

lekki1444
God bless you for paying more than they asked initially. It tells so much about the kind of person you are. God bless you.

Donald3d:


I have learnt something very important in life, very important :

All you have to do is the good and right thing, what the receiver of your action does or how they treat you back is not relevant. Spread goodness and compassion, that's what counts. Your deeds are more important than what is done to you, because whether you believe it or not, good or bad, you would get your reward in multiple folds according to your deeds and intentions.

U are right. Very very right.

Donald3d:


I thought it was 3k dollars

Amen, yours too.

This part

Hathor5:
I love this thread.

I think OP has partly answered his own question. It is often ignorance. OP didn't know what it would take to dry his car so he underestimated the time, manpower and energy needed to do the job. Another reason could be greed and another lack of respect for other people's work.

In a country where children are used to run a home, the last reason is no surprise.

What people do not understand is that this has consequences for the economy as a whole and ultimately affects them negatively.

Someone who earns well has more spending power and so supports other people's business and these people in return other people's business. This creates more jobs. It goes on.

lekki1444
God bless you for paying more than they asked initially. It tells so much about the kind of person you are. God bless you.

Unnerve:


Now assuming you had left your car behind and was not present with them to watch the effort they put into steam-drying the undercarpet, you still would have paid them 4000, yeah?

Well that's the real problem, ain't it? You had no idea what the job was worth and this is a real reason why a lot of people underprice products and services.
Making the assumption that a seller is overpricing is normal, this is not just a Nigerian thing because it happens everywhere.

Unless there is a printed price list or price tag on a service or product, everyone tries to bargain downwards, not just Nigerians. Even with a price list, some people will still bargain.

For informal services that depend strictly on bargaining power and goodwill, I believe it's best to have an idea on the going rates for that particular service before surmising that a chosen rate means undervaluing hardwork.
Rates can depend a lot on the reputation of the person offering the service. For instance, there are some autowashes that will bill you at least 10,000 for that same drycleaning service and once you start bargaining, they won't pay you any mind and you'll drive away with no one bothering to call you back. Same way there are autowashes you'll go and they'll tell you to pay only 2,000 with abeg just for them to dry your carpets for you.

Its a good point and yes i still would have paid 4000 had i not stayed behindd to watch. Also let me say the job was bigger than steam drying the carpets, they pulled out the carpets to get to the chasis. I think these guys are more than car washers because the way they gutted the car and re-assembled it without messing any of the electricals was amazing to watch considering everything in the car wass electrical. The head guy later told me he is a rewirer too and thats how he can gut a can and re-assemble it back perfecctly

cococandy:
Good thread.

I like the opinion of that guy who suggested it might be because they don’t understand what goes into the work. I want to believe they (some of them) are not mean/cold hearted but just don’t understand what it takes to achieve what they are asking for.

Another reason could be finance. People need to learn to shop within their budget. Like someone who wants to start a business but only has 150k (For example). Instead of him/her to do a business within their budget, they want a full standard website and all the frills, thus offering peanuts to website creators and stuff like that. And if you don’t accept the offer, they think you don’t want them to succeed.

And of course there are many who are just mean.

I think it is just a culture of ripping people off aka being smart.

Yea, some don't know the value E. G. The OP.

How do you explain someone collecting N2m from a student per year and paying the teacher tutoring twenty of those students N100k per term?

Or subcontracting a job for less than 20%?

I remember a bead maker telling me that a woman was pressuring her to collect N4.5k for a piece which she sold N15k in front of her.

Someone wanting to use a service they are paying N800k monthly to make N600k weekly?

sassysure:

No matter how smart a handy man want to be, there is always a way to get to them and when they see you as that òga or madam that don't look down on them, there is nothing they won't do for you.

If tomorrow this @op go there for another service, the treatment will be better. Will be more if he drove by and stop to greet them.

yeah thats taking it too far

although i agree with everything else you said

Hathor5:
I love this thread.

I think OP has partly answered his own question. It is often ignorance. OP didn't know what it would take to dry his car so he underestimated the time, manpower and energy needed to do the job. Another reason could be greed and another lack of respect for other people's work.

In a country where children are used to run a home, the last reason is no surprise.

What people do not understand is that this has consequences for the economy as a whole and ultimately affects them negatively.

Someone who earns well has more spending power and so supports other people's business and these people in return other people's business. This creates more jobs. It goes on.

lekki1444
God bless you for paying more than they asked initially. It tells so much about the kind of person you are. God bless you.

after seeing 3 adult men spend that much time and effort of their life on my car my conscience just wouldnt let me give them just 4000. if they all share that they will have only 1000 each for 2 hour labor. I just couldnt do it. Thank you very much Hathor for the kind words

lekki1444:
after seeing 3 adult men spend that much time of their life on my car my conscience just wouldnt let me give them just 4000. if they all share that they will have only 1000 each for 2 hour labor. I just couldnt do it. Thank you very much Hathor for the kind words

Thank you for sharing your story and opening this thread and treating these men with the respect they deserve.
People like you make this world a beautiful place.

Also known as being sharp. Lol

Sometimes the consumer thinks the service provider is trying to rip them off. they don’t trust the initial quote so they underprice in an attempt to get what they imagine to be the real cost of the service. (They don’t want to be a mugu).

Just a systemic lack of trust on both sides.
If only there was a way to standardize prices for services. Usually people can charge what they like and it can lead to short changing some other service providers and consumers.

bukatyne:


I think it is just a culture of ripping people off.

Yea, some don't know the value E. G. The OP.

How do you explain someone collecting N2m from a student per year and paying the teacher tutoring twenty of those students N100k per term?

Or subcontracting a job for less than 20%?

I remember a bead maker telling me that a woman was pressuring her to collect N4.5k for a piece which she sold N15k in front of her?

Someone wanting to use a service they are paying N800k monthly to make N600k weekly?

Hathor5:


Thank you for sharing your story and opening this thread and treating these men with the respect they deserve.
People like you make this world a beautiful place.

awww thats so sweet. Thank you

cococandy:
Also known as being sharp. Lol

Sometimes the consumer thinks the service provider is trying to rip them off. they don’t trust the initial quote so they underprice in an attempt to get what they imagine to be the real cost of the service. (They don’t want to be a mugu).

Just a systemic lack of trust on both sides.
If only there was a way to standardize prices for services. Usually people can charge what they like and it can lead to short changing some other service providers and consumers.

yeah the bolded

Carchoice:
God bless you OP. I thought I was the only that noticed this. Someone up there said they’ll take you to be a fool. But what people don’t know is whenever anyone takes your kind heartedness to be a “mugu” and cheats you, you’ll get it back in 10 folds while the person that cheated you will still go about looking for who to cheat. Hence they remain stagnant in life always looking for who to reap off.

Always appreciate people’s effort no matter how small. Whatever you give out to appreciate or support someone gets rewarded to you, I don’t know how this happens but it keeps happening. This is the more reason I believe we are not alone in this world, there’s a supreme being taking note and rewarding you of your good deeds.

wow i dont know how i missed this post and a couple of others. i totally agree with the bolded. Thank you and God bless you for your insightful input

This is one of the best post i have seen,at OP its just pure wicketness nothing like being street smart or wise,imagine buying bread from an old woman who needs to sell so her children can eat and you will wait for her to bring 50 naira to you but you can buy bread at exorbitant price at shoprite and even leave some change...there is no greater love than putting smile on the face of a poor man and paying for his value...may the universe bless you OP

Donald3d:


I have learnt something very important in life, very important :

All you have to do is the good and right thing, what the receiver of your action does or how they treat you back is not relevant. Spread goodness and compassion, that's what counts. Your deeds are more important than what is done to you, because whether you believe it or not, good or bad, you would get your reward in multiple folds according to your deeds and intentions.

very profound

sirBLUNT:
This is one of the best post i have seen,at OP its just pure wicketness nothing like being street smart or wise,imagine buying bread from an old woman who needs to sell so her children can eat and you will wait for her to bring 50 naira to you but you can buy bread at exorbitant price at shoprite and even leave some change...there is no greater love than putting smile on the face of a poor man and paying for his value...may the universe bless you OP

Totally agree and God bless you too Sir

This is me the op is acting out his life. I hardly price things not cos I don't know but to make life easier for them.

SweetCunt97:
Okay I'll do well to change cos I can price for Africa. But most people will overbill you especially you they sense you don't know d price.

Ala'roro

lekki1444:
yeah its like i am slowly starting to find out that most nigerians are cold hearted, self centred and wicked Thats the only explanation for the total lack of empathy they display on a daily basis as they take advantage of the disenfranchised

That is not fair. You're being judgmental.
What if you weren't there when they worked to fix your car, would you have known how much effort they put in? Would you have paid them what you eventually did or what you agreed agreed on?
For a person who can't afford to pay them what you did, would you rather he not give them the job?
Would you rather they not work than get underpaid?
The system is not fair on anyone. That is the situation in Nigeria.

Interesting thread!



The funniest and most hypocritical part of it is that this set of people will go to supermarket and buy at exorbitant price and even leave change for the sales rep there to showoff but when it comes to paying the poor sellers and service providers, they'd resort to cheating them, just because they(sellers and service providers) seems helpless.

More hypocritical is the fact that they preach love and selflessness in their various places of worship, forgetting that love is the fulfilling of the law.

I was at a market sometimes around last year, I saw something that I still think about till today. One alabaru helped a woman to carry one bag of rice and half bag of beans with wheel barrow. It took them like 25 minutes to reach where she packed her car, only for her to give the alabaru#30, yes, #30 and the man was begging the woman to pay #100, zooom, she just left him there and zoomed off. Myself and one other woman was around watching what's happening, we were the ones who gave the guy #200 each, encouraged and prayed for him . Imagine? And from that woman's appearance, she looked like those born again Christian o.

@MODS, THIS IS THE SORT OF THREAD I WANT TO SEE ON FRONT PAGE AND HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT AND NOT THE TRASHY TOPICS THAT I HAVE BEEN SEEING ON FRONT PAGE OF RECENT.

@Op; good thread; kudos to you for recognising the amount of labour that went into doing your requested task which subsequently empowered you to up the fees from what was initially agreed to a LATER REASONABLE AMOUNT. Obviously, as @Unnerve pointed out that if you didn’t stay behind to see the labour that went into doing the agreed task, you wouldn’t have known the effort that went into completing your required task.

To the topic, I think it is lack of being humane that makes some people to price a product for a ridiculous amount simple because they know that the person offering the goods/services may still accept the ridiculous price you are willing to offer as the person offering the goods/services have one thing at the back of their mind; which is to sell their goods/services.

One rule of thumb I have for myself is this; the goods/services I require and price, if I were the one that was offering the goods/services and someone prices it the way I did will I accept it? A GIVER NEVER LACKS.

Keep doing all you can for humanity and along the way, seeing a smile on the face of someone you have helped in the form of purchasing their goods/services in a reasonable priced way (not in a ridiculously priced way) is priceless.

Mariangeles:


That is not fair. You're being judgmental.
What if you weren't there when they worked to fix your car, would you have known how much effort they put in? Would you have paid them what you eventually did or what you agreed agreed on?
For a person who can't afford to pay them what you did, would you rather he not give them the job?
Would you rather they not work than get underpaid?
The system is not fair on anyone. That is the situation in Nigeria.

i hear what you are saying but i have seen many terrible things that defy human comprehension. sitting in your 40 million naira SUV while pricing roasted corn down to 50 naira is just absurd.. meanwhile you can see the corn seller is struggling in life . but ultimately viewing the whole situation spiritually i believe everyone is where they need to be in life. These poor people being exploited are most likely exploiters themselves in this life or past life clearing up their karma in affliction. i strongly believe a humane person will always be blessed. so if you find yourself at peoples mercy being exploited you may need to look introspectively at your life. and so i have learned never to pity any humans under whatever conditions they are but if i engage your service i will pay you what you are worth so i dont incur karma on my own head.

Oluneutral:
Interesting thread!



The funniest and most hypocritical part of it is that this set of people will go to supermarket and buy at exorbitant price and even leave change for the sales rep there to showoff but when it comes to paying the poor sellers and service providers, they'd resort to cheating them, just because they(sellers and service providers) seems helpless.

More hypocritical is the fact that they preach love and selflessness in their various places of worship, forgetting that love is the fulfilling of the law.

I was at a market sometimes around last year, I saw something that I still think about till today. One alabaru helped a woman to carry one bag of rice and half bag of beans with wheel barrow. It took them like 25 minutes to reach where she packed her car, only for her to give the alabaru#30, yes, #30 and the man was begging the woman to pay #100, zooom, she just left him there and zoomed off. Myself and one other woman was around watching what's happening, we were the ones who gave the guy #200 each, encouraged and prayed for him . Imagine? And from that woman's appearance, she looked like those born again Christian o.

hmmmm SMH

lekki1444:
I have discovered that Nigerians like to take advantage of each other and especially the poor and i find this very disturbing. its like kicking a man when he is down. Here are two scenarios that i witnessed

1- So i parked my car in an estate in Lekki. It rained so hard on this particular day like 4 weeks ago. So i woke up and went to get my car and the inside of it was full of water. So i went ahead and used a towel to mop out all the water but i couldnt get to the water trapped underneath the carpet and after a day the car started to smell funny. So i called around and found a car wash place that said he would do it for me. I asked the guy how much he said 7000 naira. I looked at him like really ? to run a hot vacuum over the car floor for like 5 to 10 minutes is 7000 so i said all i had was 4000 and pretended like i was about to drive off and he ccalled me back and said he would do it for the 4000. So i sat down and watched. First of all i noticed that the job was taken on by 3 grown men, and secondly i noticed they took out all the back seat andd front seat of the car. they literally gutted the car to get to the water in the chasis. And then i notiiced the job was going on for like 2 hours. After observing all this I started to feel guilty for beating him down from 7000 to 4000 because i saw all that was involved.. Me i was thinking it was just a quick blow dryer job. So I called the man aside and said i was sorry for beating him down from 7000 to 4000 and that i didnt know it was that mucch work invvolved.. i said i would not give you the 7000 you asked for i will give you 8000. and he and the 3 guys were extremely happy when i gave them the 8000 after the job. Now while i was sitting there waiting for them to finish a guy who was sat beside me called one of the hausa guys who do manicure. The hausa guy did this guys manicure for close to 30 minutes and you can look at this hausa guy and see that he was suffering. the hausa guy asked for only 200 naira for a 30 minute job and this guy started shouting that are you crazy ? i will pay you 150, now take this 200 and go and bring my 50 naira change. the hausa booy hadd to go around looking for 50 naira to give this guy. i mean someone spent 30 minutes of thheir time beautifying your nails and you cant just say here is 500 naira keep the change ?

2-Case number 2 - I was trying to move into an estate and the estate manager called a carpennter to come and fix the door. the carpenter travelled all the way from Ajah to Lekki phase 1 to come and fix this door because it was a sunday and there was no one else to do it and i was desparate to move in on that day. So after this guy travelled that long diistance and fiixed the door, the estate manager told the guy that he doesnt have money o jare makke you manage this 150 naira. Apparently they have a rapport going and have been working with each other for long and are friends but to givve smmeone who travelled from ajah to lekki phase 1 and who fixed a door 150 naira is an insult

i have noticed this disturbing trend amongst nigerianns of just undervaluing each others labor and taking each other for granted and just using each other as slaves and not respecting each others time and labor. why are nigerians this demonic ?

^^^Profound. You displayed emotional intelligence as an aware soul. We live in a world of cause and effect... and people have lost the awareness of what they truly are! Many now write fake stories and brutally defame other prominent folks out of envy and as a trick to drive online traffic to their crappy blogs... Even using NL.

TheeDetective:
@MODS, THIS IS THE SORT OF THREAD I WANT TO SEE ON FRONT PAGE AND HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT AND NOT THE TRASHY TOPICS THAT I HAVE BEEN SEEING ON FRONT PAGE OF RECENT.

@Op; good thread; kudos to you for recognising the amount of labour that went into doing your requested task which subsequently empowered you to up the fees from what was initially agreed to a LATER REASONABLE AMOUNT. Obviously, as @Unnerve pointed out that if you didn’t stay behind to see the labour that went into doing the agreed task, you wouldn’t have known the effort that went into completing your required task.

To the topic, I think it is lack of being humane that makes some people to price a product for a ridiculous amount simple because they know that the person offering the goods/services may still accept the ridiculous price you are willing to offer as the person offering the goods/services have one thing at the back of their mind; which is to sell their goods/services.

One rule of thumb I have for myself is this; the goods/services I require and price, if I were the one that was offering the goods/services and someone prices it the way I did will I accept it? A GIVER NEVER LACKS.

Keep doing all you can for humanity and along the way, seeing a smile on the face of someone you have helped in the form of purchasing their goods/services in a reasonable priced way (not in a ridiculously priced way) is priceless.

Thank you Sir. I appreciate your input

RuggedSniper:
^^^Profound. You displayed emotional intelligence as an aware soul. We live in a world of cause and effect... and people have lost the awareness of what they truly are! Many now write fake stories and brutally defame other prominent folks out of envy and as a trick to drive online traffic to their crappy blogs... Even using NL.

Thank you Sir. And you are right we truly live in a world of cause and effect Many are not aware of that.. They are in self obsessed darkness