December 25th was Christmas Day for many but not so for Jennifer Nwankwo and her younger siblings. 18-year-old Jennifer and her two brothers have been waiting for their Christmas wears since the 21st of December last year.
Though Christmas has come and gone, the parcel containing their fancy wears which was taken to ABC transport office, Ogui Road, Enugu, since December 21st, over one month, is yet to reach them.
For Jennifer and her brothers, there was no Christmas. There were no new dresses, shirts nor trousers. From the first day their aunty, Mrs. Chioma Iwu, gave hint of the Christmas wears, they waited with baited breath, hoping and praying it arrives fast so they will be gaily dressed like most other children.
Alas, it was not to be! ABC cut their expectation short; aborted that dream. Their aunty had laboured to buy those wears. She strived to make sure that her niece and nephews had a good Christmas. She took the parcel, which was destined for Owerri to ABC Enugu. After being correctly registered, she was issued a waybill receipt with numbers 745932ENU/ORI. The parcel was booked by Ikechukwu Nwawuke.
According to Iwu, she was assured the parcel would get to Owerri the next day. “In fact, I was told that ordinarily the parcel would have gotten to Owerri that same day but because of the busy season it would arrive on the 22nd so I passed the information to my niece in Owerri.”
On the 22nd of December, Jennifer and her brothers excitedly rushed to ABC office at Plot 9 Egbu road, Owerri. “When I got there, they requested for the waybill number, which I presented. They confirmed that the parcel had been delivered from Enugu and received in Owerri.
“They made me to wait for over two hours searching for the parcel. After about two hours, they said I should come back the next day as they could not find it because of the full warehouse. Disappointed, I and my brothers left,” narrated the teenager in tears.
“I came back the next day and was given the same response. I came back repeatedly before Christmas because those were our Christmas clothes. By then, my brothers had become hysterical. However, the parcel was not found,” lamented Jennifer.
Continuing, Jennifer said on the 5th of January this year, she had to lodge a formal complaint to the manager. According to her, the manager asked her to come back in three days time; that she would personally search for the parcel. Meanwhile, all this time Jennifer, a student, bore the financial burden of repeatedly travelling to ABC office.
“Coming back three days later as the manager advised me, I was informed that the parcel was missing and the amount indicated as the value of the parcel and the money paid for freight (N1,150.00) will be paid back to me,” narrated the teenager who is still seething with anger.
“ABC ruined Christmas for me and my brothers. I spent over N10,000 on transport for over eight times I travelled to their Owerri office. Sometimes, I made other expenses as I wait for hours for them to find my parcel.”
Boiling with anger, the embittered girl said that though the staff were polite, “the warehouse is so disorganised. Some customers I met there complained of having to wait for days and hours before collecting their parcels. A certain woman I met said it was her second visit to the office and the package she was expecting was for her daughter’s marriage that week.”
Efforts to speak with the Owerri cargo manager, Frank, proved abortive. Several calls to him were not answered nor returned. Text message to him were also not acknowledged. However, a top management staff in the Enugu office who pleaded anonymity described the situation as unfortunate.
“I do not work in the Owerri office so I cannot say what happened to the parcel but it will likely be in the warehouse. I do not think someone stole it.”
On compensation, “the company will deduct the value of the parcel from the salary of the staff that received the package and pay the owner of the package. The amount paid for the courier of the package will also be borne by the staff that received the package. The company is not going to pay for any other thing and that is why we insist that customers indicate the value of their package.”
However, in a case like this, involving this student and two pupils, having denied them of a good Christmas, do you not think the company should compensate them instead of just paying back the value stated in the package and cost of freight? What of other debts they incurred travelling to ABC Owerri several times in search of their package without any success?
A crisp “no comment” was the response of the Enugu top staff to that question.
Further calls to the complaint line, stated in the waybill receipt which is not toll free, were answered by a staff who simply identified himself as Joseph. Insisting there was no need to divulge his full name, he declined to provide contact details of the Public Relations Officer or any of the top management staff.
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Jennifer and her brothers are just three out of many people that their Christmas was marred by haulage companies and Online stores. We ran a story previously of a popular Online shop that delivered Christmas tree to a customer, three days after Christmas. Meanwhile, the customer ordered the Christmas tree well before Christmas.
A visit to some of these cargo companies like those in Jibowu Yaba, Oshodi Lagos, is very discouraging. Customers’ packages and goods are strewn around one corner of the compound in the open. Peeping inside the ware house, one wonders how anybody will be able to identify stuff or even how the contents of a package will remain intact and unscathed.
Until companies are forced to fully take responsibility by considerably compensating people like Jennifer and her young siblings, experiences like theirs will continue.
- Please, we shall appreciate it if you share your own experience with us.
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