By Ishaka Mohammed
Carlcare Nigeria is the official customer care support for Infinix, TECNO, itel, and Oraimo users in Nigeria, offering after-sales service (repair, technical support, etc.).
I have known the company for a long time but only had a reason to seek its service on Saturday, June 8, 2024, when I realised that my Infinix SMART 5 phone lacks a particular feature: OTG.
The USB On-The-Go (OTG) makes it easy to connect your smartphone with devices like flash drives, game pads, digital cameras, microphones, etc. Since my phone doesn’t support OTG, I couldn’t connect it with a wireless microphone.
Consequently, I made a reservation to visit a Carlcare service centre in Kaduna. While filling the online form, I wrote this: “My phone doesn’t support OTG, so I want to find out how I can still use it with a wireless microphone.” I screenshotted the reservation page, proceeded to the service centre and explained everything to a receptionist, who consulted an inner room and made me pay N4,700.
After making the payment, I waited for over an hour before retrieving my phone. I tried to connect the microphone again, but nothing changed.
When I complained to the receptionist, she told me that the phone doesn’t support OTG. Then I asked her to explain why I had to pay to be told what I already knew, but she instead claimed I paid for “sub-board”.
As far as I was concerned, I didn’t know any sub-board. All I needed to know was the possibility of using my phone with a wireless microphone.
We kept exchanging words until it became clear that I wouldn’t get a refund, so I snapped the payment details and left.
I thereafter expressed my grievance to the company via Facebook, phone calls, email and X (formerly Twitter), but the responses were unfavourable. In fact, despite my explanation and supporting documents, I was told via X that I paid for the sub-board.
I thought of leaving the matter, but I couldn’t do that because the company could cheat me or another person in a similar manner in future.
I mentioned the issue to a patriotic Nigerian on X. He gave me his phone number, listened to me on the phone and warned Carlcare Nigeria in an X post to do the needful or be ready for action.
Within 20 hours after the post, I received calls from four different agents (of Carlcare). They all apologised, and the last one sent me my money.
You see, I made fruitless efforts for about six days (June 8 to 13), but Barrister Uthman Isa Tochukwu used a single X post to solve the problem within a day.
Although he clearly mentioned that legal consultation is not free, he helped me recover my money pro bono (without asking for payment).
I’m glad to have recovered my money but even thrilled that this encounter could deter the company from attempting to cheat other prospective customers.