Anyone who asks me how I ship things into Nigeria from the UK/US get an automatic referral to my MallForAfrica Review. They have been f**ing amazing to me (some may say otherwise sha) thus me ranting about their services may come as a shock to some of you whom I’ve referred to the service.
Ever since I started shopping with them, I’ve had this recurrent problem where my packages are literally never delivered to me in person here in Sokoto. Despite the package always carrying a CONSIGNEE ONLY tag, DHL Sokoto delivery personnel never call and text to alert one of a pending delivery. They just come to the hospital and dump the package with whosoever they see on seat.
This is how packages get missing or stolen and drama now starts. Konga Deliveries always calls, emails or texts before making a delivery same as FedEx/RedStar (which MallForAfrica started using of recent) BUT with DHL you don’t hear a word until you walk by a colleague and he tells you, “Ehen, DHL dropped a package for you”. That’s how someone signed for a DHL package on my behalf and forgot until 2 days later.
One of my last orders seemed to be delaying but I decided to stay calm. When 15 business days had elapsed with no sign of my order, I emailed the customer care department on the 1st of March and was told that the package was clearing customs. Since I didn’t hear from them again, I emailed them early this morning only for them to call me back hours later saying that my package had already being delivered and signed for by one of my colleagues since the 27th of February.
You can just imagine. That one received a package and forgot to alert me for a week plus until I called him asking if he had signed for one of my orders.
I live a very private life. I don’t like people in my business at all. That’s how if one of my packages contained something scandalous and the person who signed for it was idiotic enough to open the package, my gist would travel far and wide.
I believe oyibo people sue for this type of f**kup.
I have complained several times to MallForAfrica and DHL about this issue but nothing has changed. In fact the first time I picked up an order at DHL’s head office in Lagos, it took like 20 – 30 minutes before I left their office as they were verifying my identify and stuff. The oga there sef even warned me that if I come to pick up a package with my work ID next time, I would not be attended to (Na Drivers License, National ID Card or International Passport only). When I commended him on this security check and complained about the lack of it in Sokoto, he simply told me Sokoto people never open eye so anything goes.
========================
From what I’ve observed there seems to be a communication breach between MallForAfrica and their delivery partners as I don’t understand why packages that have been delivered since are still showing Shipped Out Of USA. It’s like they take their sweet time to update things once they leave the US/UK warehouse.
The other day I emailed them about one of my orders that had just clocked 15 business days and I was told the order was clearing custom only for me to get a call from FedEx the next morning that they were waiting for me to sign for the order in the hospital. There’s absolutely no way that package would have cleared custom and arrived Sokoto by 9am the next morning.
There’s need to work on the exchange and update of information between all parties involved
(This 15 business days I keep talking about is their delivery timeline and they’ve always kept to it except in situations beyond their control)
Reason For This Rant
I’m scared of the service packing up like Circuit Atlantic >> ShippyMe >> Zaposta due to the activities of thieves and lazy peeps in the system. With 19 orders down, when it comes to shopping for stuff in the US or UK, MallForAfrica is unrivaled in my opinion. I LOVE the service and would love to continue using it till infinity…..unless something better comes along sha. lol
The Way Forward
- All packages must be delivered to and signed for by the customer only UNLESS he/she states otherwise in writing to MallForAfrica. An SMS alert or 15 seconds call alert isn’t too much to ask.
- If DHL isn’t willing to call or sms customers like Konga and RedStar before delivering a package, then may I suggest that we be given the DHL tracking numbers as soon as our packages are shipped out of the US. That’s how the likes of MyUS.com does it if I remember well. This way we can know exactly when to expect our orders at our doorsteps or just walk into the nearest DHL office and pick it up ourselves.
- Whosoever is supplying the customer care reps with information, needs to be on point. They can’t be dishing out fake info to customers to get them off their backs.
I wish MallForAfrica the best sha. #RantOver.
You can watch my quick tutorial on shopping DHL Africa eShop here
You’ll also like:
Please share this article to help others. Thanks