AM ALONE said


Bros, just keep your money!!!
Anytime you come to Nigeria
come and build!!!! Don't trust anybody my friend
even if they give u a quotation of 50k
they will still eat the money without doing anything!!!!
For the above quotation

30ton of granite
Labour 80k
3tipper load of 10ton sharp sand(will still have little remaining)
132bags of cement is okay!!!(will give you a standar/solid house)
But the problem is if they will use that much. They may use 40bags gon self.
Bros keep your money!!!! that is all I can say!!!!

SPYDER880 SAID


@ Am Alone, if I dont trust anybody;
I will need to open all the cement before I pay for it because they may sell a bag of sand to me
I will not follow any estate agent into the bush to search for land since he could kidnap me
I will not eat food at anywhere except the one I cook cause I could be poisoned
I will need to become a mechanic because my mechanic can remove my brake spring in the guise of fixing my car
I will not attend church because my pastor/priest may be a cultist
I will be standing at all my 3 sites at the same time since my boys might sell my materials
I will even be flying myself to Lagos when I need to travel because the pilot may be drunk!

E no easy o

spyder

I have to agree with am alone on this one, i read the other thread about the guy who gave money to his family and was done a one chance.

I see this a lot happening in Nigeria. Builder dupe people and people dupe builders. My advice is entrust your building to the Professionals. It may cost you more in the long run but its the best.

If I dont trust anybody, I will need to go and sit down in the mechanic workshop to make sure he using the right part for my vehicle.

its not about not trusting everyone, the guy as to go home if he can, you and i know even those present  still lose money, talk less of some one thousands of miles away. come on 6m for foundation na juju man.

olubuffett:

spyder

I have to agree with am alone on this one, i read the other thread about the guy who gave money to his family and was done a one chance.

For each ugly incident you dig up, I can give you two examples of good deals being sealed in the building industry daily.
1. I paid a man for wood when I was not around the site and he delivered the right size and qty.
2. My own younger brother built a house for me in early 2008 and didnt take my money.

olubuffett:

its not about not trusting everyone, the guy as to go home if he can, you and i know even those present  still lose money, talk less of some one thousands of miles away. come on 6m for foundation na juju man.

In every venture, people lose money, every sector sef, bad eggs are everywhere, and I will tell you the truth, 6m may not fill some waterlogged sites, the guy didn't tell us if his land was 1 hectare, or if the water was 6 foot high!

braus

yes i support give your project to professionals if they dupe you you can call efcc, not family if one mess up don't trust the other one because they do talk to each other.

what about standards, buying inferior materials etc etc

olubuffett:

spyder

I have to agree with am alone on this one, i read the other thread about the guy who gave money to his family and was done a one chance.

@Olubuffet, little wonder he's sending money into drain. He sent the money to his family (sister & brother) - a trader, banker, civil servant I guess. Hope you've read the post very well, how do you conclude he was duped when you have not seen the picture of his building, the size, the location or the level of work done so far.

The fact that a man got drown in water does not mean we wont eat fish, drink water or swim in water again.

Another point just came to my mind, some people may think they are duped while they are not. A man may take a look at your house and tell you this house will be built with xyz amount while you have spent like abc amount and you scream blue murder! you may not know the quality your house has inside of it, the type of wood, sand, stone and rods used. It is not easy to make that call except you also know about buildings.

Some family members may come to you and say your money is finished, that your brother is using your money to marry a second wife instead of doing your decking and you go mad with rage, do you know if your brother made money elsewhere or other siblings are just jealous and wants to create confusion.

So the question is, how could a person know when he has been truly duped?

spyder880:

In every venture, people lose money, every sector sef, bad eggs are everywhere, and I will tell you the truth, 6m may not fill some waterlogged sites, the guy didn't tell us if his land was 1 hectare, or if the water was 6 foot high!

bad eggs in 9ja are more than the good ones, 1 hectare land you dey make me laugh.

Let this man give breakdown of the first N3m, then we'll know if he's being duped or he duped himself. Once beaten,

olubuffett:

what about standards, buying  inferior materials etc etc

Hey, don't go there!
The two of them may be victims of the same scam, what if the brother don't know the difference between the quality of materials and has also been duped by the material seller? And even if the brother came back from abroad, he may still be cleaned out like his brother/sister?

am sure if he feels is money was well spent he won't hala out

spyder880:

Hey, don't go there!
The two of them may be victims of the same scam, what if the brother don't know the difference between the quality of materials and has also been duped by the material seller? And even if the brother came back from abroad, he may still be cleaned out like his brother/sister?

so you agree that it still goes down to the same thing some one scam someone.

olubuffett:

so you agree that it still goes down to the same thing some one scam someone.

Yes, and the one being accused is innocent and the smart dealer can repeat the scam on the accuser.

we will wait for him to give full account, but you know that not so many can do what you and brabus are doing here trust is a very rare thing in 9ja forget what ever industry, you have to shine your eyes.

Must read:

In Nigeria, people basically purchase based on feelings, impulse to purchase, peer pressure, ego reasons. When all of this is applied, then VALUE for money is lost. I have seen a lot of uncompleted projects just as our friends' and in most cases it occurs as a result of lack of knowledge.

Such individual becomes a prey and the builder/supplier/agent/contractor is not at fault for duping because our guy thinks quality means paying more.

Why you apply self protection, you will not easily walk into a wrong transaction.

.

On this debate about trust and Nigerian attitude towards other people's money, I will go with Am Alone. I reside in the UK and come home on average twice a year for my four flat project and Brabus asked on previous thread why go into such great trouble? If there is nobody in my family I trust? Trust is in abundance. The problem is not trust but lack of financial discipline when it comes to OPM (other people's money).

Maybe its a culture thing, maybe better number of Nigerians are caused when it comes to handling huge sums of OPM. We are all too quick to "eat" our profit upfront and then shy away in seeing the intended project to conclusion because we have eaten the incentive way back and then we start telling stories:

as you send the money na him one thing come do one thing, so I come say make I just use small for the money take turn round, but as I just reach house na him my wife come dey sick, na him convulsion come catch my pickin. In short enh, na hospital I dey take this your call so! STORY!!! Long and winding stories; no folks can match Nigeria.

diordaves:

On this debate about trust and Nigerian attitude towards other people's money, I will go with Am Alone. I reside in the UK and come home on average twice a year for my four flat project and Brabus asked on previous thread why go into such great trouble? If there is nobody in my family I trust? Trust is in abundance. The problem is not trust but lack of financial discipline when it comes to OPM (other people's money).

Maybe its a culture thing, maybe better number of Nigerians are caused when it comes to handling huge sums of OPM. We are all too quick to "eat" our profit upfront and then shy away in seeing the intended project to conclusion because we have eaten the incentive way back and then we start telling stories:

as you send the money na him one thing come do one thing, so I come say make I just use small for the money take turn round, but as I just reach house na him my wife come dey sick, na him convulsion come catch my pickin. In short enh, na hospital I dey take this your call so! STORY!!! Long and winding stories; no folks can match Nigeria.

Of course there is a lot of truism in your comments, but still we cannot throw away the baby with the bath water. I have seen countless stories where people chop their folks cash and have also seen folks building for their people as if they are there. It is all about the particular case, and the people involved in each case. Just like some fraudulent builders will still cheat you, or your fraudulent banker, stock broker, doctor, mechanic, or maid when you send her to the market. Now can you replace these people, can you perform all their services just because they may cheat you? like you learn mechanic, read medicine, become a maid, open your own bank, become a stock broker and still run your carrier?

About using your money and telling you stories, it happens, in every other profession, some mechanics will remove parts from your car and repair another car and tell you stories, and the car you brought in for radiator problems will develop brake problems when you come back for it, dishonest people are everywhere, and that fact will not change till the end of the world.

Please don't assume you could do better with your money, those 'stories' your folks are telling may be facts, and may happen to anyone here. (God forbid) I have heard of a lady that was robbed and a large sum was taken from her en route the building materials market. Now, what makes us believe that the brother who sent the money may not have suffered same fate if he were to be in the country? Anyway I support you coming back sha, not like my own people who dodge all family spending by hiding away abroad, just kidding

The beauty of the internet is that we can now see the progress in our houses, and trust will be put to test, as we are showing all costs, people can challenge our claims and suggest, correct impressions as we progress. My only fear in this building business is that I may end up losing, like spending my own money to satisfy my clients, for me, its not mainly about the money, but my desire to help people, the passion to create and to achieve, to make a name my kids can be proud of, and to prove a point, THAT ALL NIGERIANS ARE NOT THIEVES.

Any day I cannot trust myself with money, I will quit this business, my reputation is precious to me.

@Spyder880, word! Ordinarily, if I told anyone on Nairaland that I lost my N97 phone bought at almost N100k while trying to satisfy a client and had used his money to buy a replacement. Would anyone have believed me? That I lost 2 tires while looking for lands and had to use his money to buy new ones. Won't you see me as a 419?

Everybody wants it FREE and yet some people are still not satisfied. They want you to give updates every day and night on the internet and mobile phone as if your service provider give such. That's my problem with Nigerians especially those away because you think everything you heard from your folks are lie. The fact that you are building a house does not change the world and if you're not mean - you'll agree that people got ill, die, buy fuel everyday, loose their jobs, and all sorts of bad and terrible things happen.

For instance, while trying to satisfy my client, I decided not build a shed, sink a borehole and do some other things to the detriment of the labourer - a fellow Nigerian. Until you pass through the same experience - you'll always think life is a bed of rose.

That's the reason why I say builders cheat owners and owners cheat builders.

Going forward my service will now be charged accordingly. Take it or leave it.

Its like a case of you sending a man to buy you a cow, if its too small - people will complain! If it is too big, they will say, for him to come up with something like this, he must have made a lot of money. Why nah? I HATE people who can't trust themselves or other people with passion. DIY as if that will stop shits from happening.

spyder880:

In every venture, people lose money, every sector sef, bad eggs are everywhere, and I will tell you the truth, 6m may not fill some waterlogged sites, the guy didn't tell us if his land was 1 hectare, or if the water was 6 foot high!

Spyder remember the guy mentioned that the land was a plot and was around Ikotun.
Again if you notice very well, he also mentioned that the first 3m sank into the soil so
as a result there was absolutely nothing to show for it.

To the best of my knowledge there are 100% chances that the first 3m was used by his
brother(s)to satisfy their own need. I am not saying a foundation cannot gulp 6m o.
But ifs very simple. They mentioned swampy and not sloppy. Even if its both combine.
Atleast the water wont have washed the first 3m away. . . .

In all when I say don't trust people.
I mean try to take precautions.
Even professionals can still dupe you
Like Olubuffet stated

What about inferior building materials?
Even the most honest people in naija
can still dupe you. They can buy a stone
for 10 and tell you 20. Or give you a quotation for
gold and end us using copper. Like I always say
once the plastering is completed you can never
tell what was used for your house.


To play save, I will advice people abroad to save their money
in one of our solid banks around Nigeria(we have hsbc)
or first bank and watch the bank. Anytime you are opportune
to come around, come and buy your land and start your constructions.
Peace!!!

spyder880:

AM ALONE said


Bros, just keep your money!!!
Anytime you come to Nigeria
come and build!!!! Don't trust anybody my friend
even if they give u a quotation of 50k
they will still eat the money without doing anything!!!!
For the above quotation

30ton of granite
Labour 80k
3tipper load of 10ton sharp sand(will still have little remaining)
132bags of cement is okay!!!(will give you a standar/solid house)
But the problem is if they will use that much. They may use 40bags gon self.
Bros keep your money!!!! that is all I can say!!!!

@ all this is not my full statement. A guy was obviously duped by if family for
close to 6m. The first 3m he gave them to start is 4flat of 3bedroom was consumed(his brothers).
Even the land before he bought it he asked them if it was a solid soil and they said yes!!!!
but after he paid, he said story changed from solid to swampy.
So now he said the property has been left abandoned after he sent a friend of his to go and
check the site on his behalf all the way from Togo(he took care of the expenses). The friend
sent him pictures and video of work don @ the site. Which was done when he paid a second 3m
to his sister. This was as old as 2005. They gave him a quotation for the german floor
80ton of granite
8tippers of sand
132 bags of cement
and workmanship 200k

So the above was my reply directed to the guy. That was why I said even if they give him
a quotation of 50k, they are most like to eat up the money!!!! So he shouldn't be encourage
by and cheap stuffs from them.
So not like the advice quoted is for everybody. But I still stick with "TRUST NO ONE"

brabus:

I HATE people who can't trust themselves or other people with passion. DIY as if that will stop shits from happening.

There is no need to start hating yet bros.
No hate anybody now atleast!!! Its once beaten 5k times shy
Remember them no dey catch fool from a wise man twice(on a particular thing)

What I'm saying in essence is that, there should be a limit to how we trust people
if I must give anyone a huge some of money to do some certain things for me
I need to have an eye on the person.

Now take for instance the guy complaining of the 6m
what if that was supposed to be all the money he did ever make in abroad
Can you defend all your statement and refund his money to him? of course not!!!


When I'm not around, I can trust some people with certain things. And even with those
thing no matter how small, I put an eye on them.
Things like construction have got no paticular amount.
There is a 3bedroom home roofed in my neighborhood. The woman building it
gave her husband 700k to give to the carpenters and supervise the work
The man just gave all the money to the carpenters. without supervising anything
till date nobody is living in the house yet. because of the work done.
because the carpenter bought pieces of aluminum and useless wood for the job.
I mean if people can do such things to people around them, how much more
people so far away!!!!
I have list of endless stories of people who have suffered from such fate!!!
Is it the story guy that the house was built but not in his name?
or the one that they jaxed when he came back?
Or the ones that were killed?
Or the once that have spend millions with little work done?
DIY reduces it far far!!!! Even bible defy us from trusting our fellow man!!!
Man will always disappoint!!

[i]Again what is there to loose if you keep your money till when he have a chance to comes around?[/i]
Why take so much risk when you can 100% avoid it? It's a norm in naija. Sorry to say, I trust only one thing, and its name is nothing!!!
And like I said earlier the best things of life are free to all - Water, Air, Sunlight etc. . . .

In one my blog about Nigeria and system of governance, I titled a post "Is Corruption the problem or just an excuse? Every Nigerian wants to become a President, Builder, Contractor, Mechanic, Engineer, Supplier before they can fix things, sacrificing the need for a professional. Madness, I call it! What will the story be if this guys is saying I paid XYZ building consultant to build me house and what I'm getting I'd crap sh*t. By now, we will be advising him to press charges! A simple contractual agreement is off no importance to most people. They feel there's no need for lawyers, agents, contractors, consultants - Stupidity! Why do we have to blame ourselves for another persons stupidity. No need to waste my precious time on this!

Let the guy show us the pic of the land, the breakdown of the N6m and level of work done so far! But if I you ask me, what is it that makes a man pay N6m without anything to show for it - I'll tell you its STUPIDITY!  and NOT TRUST!

Am Alone:

There is no need to start hating yet bros.
No hate anybody now atleast!!! Its once beaten 5k times shy
Remember them no dey catch fool from a wise man twice(on a particular thing)

What I'm saying in essence is that, there should be a limit to how we trust people
if I must give anyone a huge some of money to do some certain things for me
I need to have an eye on the person.

Now take for instance the guy complaining of the 6m
what if that was supposed to be all the money he did ever make in abroad
Can you defend all your statement and refund his money to him? of course not!!!


When I'm not around, I can trust some people with certain things. And even with those
thing no matter how small, I put an eye on them.
Things like construction have got no paticular amount.
There is a 3bedroom home roofed in my neighborhood. The woman building it
gave her husband 700k to give to the carpenters and supervise the work
The man just gave all the money to the carpenters. without supervising anything
till date nobody is living in the house yet. because of the work done.
because the carpenter bought pieces of aluminum and useless wood for the job.
I mean if people can do such things to people around them, how much more
people so far away!!!!
I have list of endless stories of people who have suffered from such fate!!!
Is it the story guy that the house was built but not in his name?
or the one that they jaxed when he came back?
Or the ones that were killed?
Or the once that have spend millions with little work done?
DIY reduces it far far!!!! Even bible defy us from trusting our fellow man!!!
Man will always disappoint!!

[i]Again what is there to loose if you keep your money till when he have a chance to comes around?[/i]
Why take so much risk when you can 100% avoid it? It's a norm in naija. Sorry to say, I trust only one thing, and its name is nothing!!!
And like I said earlier the best things of life are free to all - Water, Air, Sunlight etc. . . .

This one shocked me! You mean you can even trust anyone, after saying that the only thing you can trust is nothing? Can you please explain the contradiction?

brabus:

In one my blog about Nigeria and system of governance, I titled a post "Is Corruption the problem or just an excuse? Every Nigerian wants to become a President, Builder, Contractor, Mechanic, Engineer, Supplier before they can fix things, sacrificing the need for a professional. Madness, I call it! What will the story be if this guys is saying I paid XYZ building consultant to build me house and what I'm getting I'd crap excreta. By now, we will be advising him to press charges! A simple contractual agreement is off no importance to most people. They feel there's no need for lawyers, agents, contractors, consultants - Stupidity! Why do we have to blame ourselves for another persons stupidity. No need to waste my precious time on this!

Let the guy show us the pic of the land, the breakdown of the N6m and level of work done so far! But if I you ask me, what is it that makes a man pay N6m without anything to show for it - I'll tell you its STUPIDITY!  and NOT TRUST!

Seconded.

Am Alone:

@ all this is not my full statement. A guy was obviously duped by if family for
close to 6m. The first 3m he gave them to start is 4flat of 3bedroom was consumed(his brothers).
Even the land before he bought it he asked them if it was a solid soil and they said yes!!!!
but after he paid, he said story changed from solid to swampy.
So now he said the property has been left abandoned after he sent a friend of his to go and
check the site on his behalf all the way from Togo(he took care of the expenses). The friend
sent him pictures and video of work don @ the site. Which was done when he paid a second 3m
to his sister. This was as old as 2005. They gave him a quotation for the german floor
80ton of granite
8tippers of sand
132 bags of cement
and workmanship 200k

So the above was my reply directed to the guy. That was why I said even if they give him
a quotation of 50k, they are most like to eat up the money!!!! So he shouldn't be encourage
by and cheap stuffs from them.
So not like the advice quoted is for everybody. But I still stick with "TRUST NO ONE"

Now this is why I love nairaland, we are quick to jump to conclusions here without hearing from the other party. There was one very funny incident on nairaland family section some years back, a woman was moaning her fate with her husband and accusing the whole world of being against her, and guess what happened next, the husband found out about the thread, registered, logged on to the same thread and opened a can of worms about the lady, a friend of the lady collaborated the husbands tale and more people got interested. In the end, it was found out that the lady was wrong.

I think the picture of the site will help us make better inputs in this matter.

brabus:

@Spyder880, word! Ordinarily, if I told anyone on Nairaland that I lost my N97 phone bought at almost N100k while trying to satisfy a client and had used his money to buy a replacement. Would anyone have believed me? That I lost 2 tires while looking for lands and had to use his money to buy new ones. Won't you see me as a 419?

Everybody wants it FREE and yet some people are still not satisfied. They want you to give updates every day and night on the internet and mobile phone as if your service provider give such. That's my problem with Nigerians especially those away because you think everything you heard from your folks are lie. The fact that you are building a house does not change the world and if you're not mean - you'll agree that people got ill, die, buy fuel everyday, loose their jobs, and all sorts of bad and terrible things happen.

For instance, while trying to satisfy my client, I decided not build a shed, sink a borehole and do some other things to the detriment of the labourer - a fellow Nigerian. Until you pass through the same experience - you'll always think life is a bed of rose.

That's the reason why I say builders cheat owners and owners cheat builders.

Going forward my service will now be charged accordingly. Take it or leave it.

Its like a case of you sending a man to buy you a cow, if its too small - people will complain! If it is too big, they will say, for him to come up with something like this, he must have made a lot of money. Why nah? I HATE people who can't trust themselves or other people with passion. DIY as if that will stop shits from happening.

Building will qualify as one of the most thankless jobs in the world, you can never charge up to what you will suffer in the field as a builder. Sometimes I help the workers out with the job because am afraid of hiring more because of the feelings of the client.

I will tell all of us a story, a man who built a house for my dad 25 years ago approached me to handle my job some years back. He told me stories of how close he was with my old man. I nearly handed the job over to him till my mother appeared from the inner rooms and saw the man, she frowned and said nothing till the man left, then the bombshell started. My mum told me of how this man defrauded my late dad and finished all the money meant to build our village house. She was so bitter I changed my mind and called the man and told him I cannot give him the job.

But looking back at that incident now from what I am experiencing, it seems the man may be right. Builders always bear the bad name for what they sometimes didn't do any wrong in.