Many customers in Jos are now at loggerheads with traders following the proliferation of fake and substandard phone accessories in most of the markets in the metropolis.
Benue/Plateau Trust reports that constant disagreements, that sometimes lead to brawls, have become noticeable between roadside sellers of phone accessories and customers mostly around Ahmadu Bello Way, in Jos, where a high concentration of such vendors are found.
One of such disagreements,which occurred at British-America junction, had a female customer engaged in a heated debate with a phone charger merchant at the junction. The lady had accused the seller of selling a fake product to her while he insisted that he had tested the product in her presence before selling it.
Benue/Plateau Trust gathered from those who patronise these road-side phone accessories sellers that a number of the products, particularly phone chargers are ”fake” and only work for a short time.
Mary Yusuf, who fall victim to a fake charger at Old Airport junction said the chargers only worked for a few days or in worst scenario cases even burn when connected to electricity. Other times, Yusuf said, the chargers worked during testing before purchase adding that, “upon reaching home, the charger could stop working or you may find that the charging process is very slow.”
Our correspondent, who observed this development, has also noticed that the number of roadside sellers of phone chargers are growing rapidly in Jos, and have become a common sight in almost every nook and crannies of the metropolis.
Speaking on the dangers of fake chargers, Eddy Samson, an electrician said if the charger does not match a phone, whether fake or original, it will charge the phone slowly adding that with high voltage, such a charger could lead to a fire incident.
A road-side phone accessories seller at Ahmadu Bello Way, Aminu Muhammed, told our correspondent that he often displayed the various categories of phone chargers, adding that some of the chargers are local while others are imported.
Mohammed said the local chargers, which people refer to as fake, do not last long but said some customers prefer the local ones because they are cheap.
According to Mohammed, the local chargers cost as low as N300 while the imported ones cost from N1000 and above adding that; ”any charger that is less than N500 is most likely to be a local charger and nothing spectacular should be expected from it.”
While advising customers, who buy cheap phone accessories, to endeavour to buy quality ones, Mohammed said he has never had a misunderstanding with his customers because he usually tells them the truth about the various categories of chargers.
