Where's my package? UPDATE: Safari x2 - Becky joined the fun

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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:28 pm

OD just forwarded this to me:

Quote:

hello sir how are doing?i really want to tel u the most painful part of it is that the last time i wen to contonou i was really disappointment and i really waste my money,time,effort,energy and the most part part is that i did not see the agent and the service over there is too bad and this time around i really do not to waste my time over there,pls sir i really want u to be there as u see my mail on ur box and i want to be sure of what am coming for in contonou and i want to know if this is a game or not and if it is a game let me know becas am coming toomorrow and i wqnt it fast and i want to be through as early and it is a very serious journey for em qand it is not easy for me and am so dispress and i do not want to be disappointment again time around sir,all i ned is for u tob at the airport beside the custom office by 2pm or 3pm dear.

Poor lad - wasting all that time, effort, energy and money....best of all causing pain and depression ... of course it's not a joke...this is very serious...

Standing by the custom's office - I sure hope he looks or acts suspiciously Twisted Evil

I think a broken printer would be the perfect excuse Smile

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:21 am

Ivana,
I love reading about a lad who is in pain and depressed.
I hope he has even more pain and depression from your character.

Elite Baiter Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 1006

What a wimp! Pain and disappointment indeed! One day and night and he talks of wasting his time, energy and money!? Little does he know what it could have (and should have) been if only he hadn't been so lazy. Hope you can get him on round two.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:40 pm

Looks like safari # 2 has been postponed till Friday due to "a flat tyre".

These emails are after a flurry from him that he sent early today to see if the agent was still there. He seemed excited when I replied back to him. His IP in these new mails showed an IP of the US, so I tried to find out where the flat took place to see if he got over the border or not.

Quote:

i told u earlier that the car i was in had a flat tyre and right now as am taking to u that i have go back to the park and there is no car that is going to contonou today that is i will be coming to contonou tomorrow and right now am the park in nigeria dear and it is still tomorrow morning that i can see a car sir ,so pls sir i beg u with the name of god to wait for me tomorrow afternoon sir.

Always willing to aid a customer, PD's agent replied

Quote:

I will inform my supervisor of your problem and request to him that I be here for tomorrow to help you when you arrive. I will then leave right after I have help you so you please mst be quick.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:38 am

Looks like the "flat tyre" has been repaired!
Ivana, please place another Safari

in your sig line, 81.91.235.152 shows he is back in Contonou Very Happy

lad wrote:

helo sir am in contonou sir i will like u to meet at the airport and right now am at the cafe in contonou so tel me now that u are coming and tel me what u are wearing sir.pls sir be fast and am waiting for ur reply now.

Hope this doesn't take too long as my agent has to get back home today.

agent wrote:

Sir you are early i didn not expect you for a few hours. I was checking my mail at this cafe from mails of my wife when I see yours. I will go back to agent Martins office and print you check and bring it to you sir. I will be there in 1 hour.

Ut oh, this machine isn't working. Does anyone know how to clear a paper jam from a check printer??? Laughing

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 7:21 pm

Those check printing machines can be so temperamental at times. This one sprayed ink in the face of the agent and he was rushed to the hospital. It's possible he may be blinded. A new machine is needed, but another one can't be delivered until Monday. On Monday it will be discovered the ink got on box of the blank checks and destroyed all of them since the ink had all weekend to soak through the box. New checks have to be ordered which will take a few days to arrive. Upon arrival it was noticed the printing company made an error due to the rush job and the new checks are no good.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:17 pm

I love the way you think girly Smile

Actually the new parts will take 4 - 6 weeks for delivery...

So I assume this will set him up for a trip to Abjua (sp?) if he wants it sooner?

I love it 3 safari attempts in 1 week - 2 of them confirmed Smile

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:06 am

@PRS, that would have been perfect if the previous agent didn't go to the hospital!

@Ivana, last I heard 4-6 weeks was the word. Unless the part is out of stock, then it may take longer.

And yes, I will now work to redirect him to Abuja. No border crossing involved so he should be happy.

While trying to research how miserable the trips must have been (even for it being so close), I found this post about someone else's recent experiences going between the countries.

Quote:

#200 and the Nigerian Nightmare
The Author By Lee | January 21st, 2009 | Comments 10 Comments »

I have been unable to get to the Internet for several days now and have been ridiculously busy after leaving Ghana overland into Togo for a night in the capital Lome. I had a quick tour of Africa’s biggest fetish market which features such lovely accessories as dead birds, monkey testicles and skulls of various animals for the voodoo loving Togolaise to enjoy. Not so much for me. After leaving Lome, I entered Benin which was the 200th country on the Travelers Century Club list and it was a very proud moment for me. Crossing overland at the beachside border crossing was very cool and was something that I have been working towards for a long time and capped off a year in which I have visited over 60 countries.

Benin in and of itself has little to offer in terms of must sees, much like Togo. However, I did take the time to head from Cotonou to Ganvie to take a boat tour of the famous stilt villages where all people live on huts built on stilts over the water. All movement between the houses etc. is done via pirogue (a dugout canoe). It was cool to see and I decided after getting some unfortunate news from back home that it would be best not to spend the night in Benin and try to get to Lagos, Nigeria where Africa’s biggest city would have better transportation and communication options. So that’s what I did.

Crossing into Nigeria at the Sema border crossing with Benin at night is like walking into a nightmare. First, everyone at the border tries to shake you down for every last cent you have. These people are incredulous and they lie and cheat and steal to get a little dash (bribe) from border crossers. I have had an incredible amount of experience crossing borders as you’d imagine and have dealt with corruption many times in my travels but never to the extent of which I saw in Nigeria.

There were people just hanging out near the border station in plain clothes who decided they wanted to be passport or visa inspectors apparently on the spot and threatened to get the police if I didn’t subject myself to their scrutiny. They would look at my visa and say it wasn’t valid or it wasn’t current. Obviously, it was and I calmly would show them the dates and prove it to be valid. When they realized they couldn’t bully me into giving them money they would start asking for it and stopping the charade and I would continuously say no very firmly.

Eventually, they were shocked or something that I wouldn’t give them any money because I guess most people do. The worst is the people who say they are drug enforcement agents and that I have to give them money so they don’t tell on me for having drugs. Well I don’t have drugs, never have, never will and said they are welcome to check my bags as much as they want. They would decline and then just simply ask for money. This would continue with the guy who stamps your passport as he would sit there with your passport in his hands and ask for money pretending to hijack my passport. After I say no very loudly and threaten to call the police with my cell phone he gives it back…another good move is to ask for a receipt which of course they will never produce and scares them.

After about an hour of intense grilling from the corrupt idiots who work the Nigerian border, I then have to deal with negotiating a taxi price into Lagos which is about two hours away. The only taxi available is a car that shouldn’t be on the road and looks like it has been in 10 accidents and has basically no windshield and 400,000 kilometers on it. But this is Africa and that type of thing is normal here so you do it with no qualms because you have no alternative at that time of night.

Driving the Nigerian highways is like driving through Armageddon. The roads are attrocious and there are people everywhere and no street lights anywhere. The drivers drive 200 miles an hour and there are police checkpoints literally every half mile or so and they were lit by roadside fires on each side so you couldn’t mistake them. You can’t even imagine how annoying it is. These checkpoints serve as a way for the police to extract more dash from tourists and drivers. My driver was a real piece of work and generally would skate through the checkpoints until we actually got to Lagos and the police yanked him out and asked for papers and of course he didn’t have up to date papers and was forced to shell out a quarter of what I paid him.

Driving in Lagos and the city itself is like driving through one of those visions of the future that makes the world look like it’s going to end. Lagos is simply put, the worst place I have ever been. Everyone is trying to rob you blind in all directions. The pollution, traffic and police are brutal. The police are almost all criminals apparently working the streets to protect and serve but trust me they are only serving themselves.

Additionally, I had no place to stay but knew the area I wanted to stay in that was close to Air France and the general area that is supposed to be safest in town, called Victoria Island. What a hellhole first of all and secondly, the hotels were like $500 a night. I literally walked into this hotel, very basic, and asked if they had a room. They said yes and I was relieved because of the nightmare day I’d had getting there and all I wanted was to sleep and relax. They said the room was $500 and I nearly hit the floor laughing but they were serious. Long story short, I ended up staying at this no tell motel in the middle of a really crap area for like $100…amazing.

Not to harp too much about how awful Lagos is but the airport deserves some mention as well. First, the population of Lagos is nearly 20 million people and the UN says in ten years it will be the most populous city in the world. This is ufortunate because it is a big problem and cannot possibly sustain that amount of people. The airport is a nightmare of epic proportions. They tell you to get to the airport between four and eight hours before your flight in order to be sure you get to check in. I got there about 5 hours before and was unable to get a good seat and ended up in the middle seat because as they said, I should’ve got there eight hours beforehand. Amazing. The airport is also overcrowded like you can’t believe and there is complete chaos the whole time and nobody who works there does anything. That is very similar to a lot of places I have been on this trip but in Lagos, they are very rude about it. The bottom line is that I will not be going back to Lagos any time soon.

I was fortunate that I was able to get out a few days early because I may have had a heart attack if I had to stay there any longer. I was able to get to Paris yesterday to watch the Inauguration of Barack Obama with people from all over the world cheering and clapping and it was a really touching moment that anyone who watched will not soon forget. It is once again OK to be an American traveling and I am proud that he is my President. We no longer have to say we are Canadians to avoid the inevitable tirade about how much they hate Bush and how he has destroyed the world.

Paris is such a treat and I am sorry I have to leave but have a lot to do back in New York before I go to Mexico next week. I was very happy I got to go the Hemingway Bar in the Hotel Ritz and had dinner in Montmartre last night which is one of my favorite places on the planet. I just had lunch in Paris and will be heading to the airport shortly and will have dinner in New York tonight. I am a little sad because this trip was wonderful and was a true epic. I will reflect on it and write some type of summary soon. Thanks for all your emails and take care.

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:19 am

^^^ wow after reading that it makes you want to go out and start a few safaries

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:57 am

Thank you for finding that -- highly amusing about the border crossing...I wonder if it's as bad for natives than tourists, or if it's even worse Twisted Evil

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:55 pm

I only hope that his journey is similar.

He finally got home and emailed PD.

Quote:

sir i really wnat to tel u that it is not good at all i really experienced bad thing in my life an di have will never go to contonou againand u are giving me excuse for ur printer sir thatis not good at all well i will like to tel u that pls do not issue to another check sir and pls do not issue another check to me becas i can never go there again and i will never afford to go there becas am fed up and if u know that this is a game pls send me the money through western union or bank transfer sir.

Let's see if we can get him on safari # 3.

Quote:

Sir I have read your file account and I understand what you are coming from. According to the file the printer was disfunctional and it will take at least 6 weeks for the replacement parts to arrive. If you do not wish to wait until the parts arrive you may instead choose to pick up your check in Abuja, Nigeria. Would that be a better alternative for you sir as we are not able to do a bank transfer at this time.

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 8:11 pm

Well he contacted me all miserable today since he hasn't been able to collect his money.

He told me to write customer service. I saw there had been at least 2 conversations between james & customer service this morning.

He said to tell them he could only get western union or a bank transfer (surprise where did this bank come from?)

So being the good girlfriend I wrote customer service, got my response, and explained to him that they had paperwork and needed a positive ID before funds could be released.

He told me that he just coudn't go back to cont. benin and I mentioned there was a place called ajuba or something that they said he could get the check from.

He told me "I can not ok", I was surprised and told him that 3k was A LOT of money.

He told me he'd talk to me later & logged out before I could say " good bye"...

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:51 pm

The lad has been in contact with the PD office a few times today trying to get us to post him the check. Sorry, it doesn't work that in the case of fraud (since he let someone else 'steal' his package). We've given him a 2 week limit on being able to get the check, and seeing as he already blew 1 of them in Benin he'll have to hurry to Abuja to get there in time if he really wants the money!

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:29 pm

Yesterday PD told my lad about travel expenses being reimbursed.

He wanted me to write PD Customer Service to see if they could mail (post) the check to him.

Of course, they couldn't, but I told him they told me that travel expenses were reimbursed.

He wrote me today asking me what "travel expenses" were. I explained that would pay him back for things like a bus ride, or a taxi ride, food, gasoline, snacks, hotel and mentioned that my boss pays me for my time when traveling. I then told him to make sure he saved his receipts.

Juan's stalker Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 1423

Hehehehe

I can just see him holding all his little receipts together.
Of course he will have to mail them to PD.
The most expensive way possible because scans just wont work.
They need the originals for proof because of fraud. Twisted Evil

Master Baiter Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 108

He He travel expenses reimbursment ... Twisted Evil

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:05 am

There were about 10 e-mails back and forth to PD today.

Now he wants his cousin to pick up the check WITH HIS ID.

This brings up the question, was he behind the theft to begin with?
Giving someone else his ID so the signatures wouldn't match...

One thing that just hit me -- a couple posts up he said something about a bank wire, if he won't safari is there a way we could get his bank info and turn it into Alan. It's not a typical 419 scam, he was just begging a lot, so I don't know if that really falls under "fraud" by definition.

The various angles he's trying makes me think he's seriously thinking about the money. I'm hoping he's staying up during his sleeping hours fretting about it

He says he's broke (but they always lie) and he is very lazy.
So he just may not want to make the trip if he can.

I mentioned that 3,000 was what an average nigerian made in a year, and if it were a year salary on the line for me I'd travel anywhere in the States to get it.

I figure he'll either end up going back on safari, or he'll spend the rest of his life thinking how close he was to 3k - either way is good to me Twisted Evil

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:01 pm

Now he's hitting me up for $150 to make the trip.

Said that the airfare is $150 exactly. Like anything is that exact.

I looked up the distance (400 miles in a straight line) and told him I traveled further than that just to VISIT with my sister - he was complaining since it would take 13 hours.

Told him he should take a bus or car since it would be cheaper and he didn't like that idea at all. I told him I was not going to pay for airfare when a bus would work just as well.

He told me to collect the money on my end, explained that I couldn't, only the receiver could - he had no clue what that meant, so I explained only the person it was sent to could collect.

He told me to sue the company - I explained they were trying their best to HELP him, he was the one not cooperating.

He told me to contact the FBI and again I told them they would be of no help since the company was doing exactly what it should do.

Since he seems determined to not make the safari, I have other plans in mind for him Twisted Evil

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:13 pm

The last day to pick up the check was sunday, PD extended it to monday.

The lad is trying to tell me he has until Friday and wants me to gather the $150. I borrowed the money and sent it to him with the M7CN format...he clicked over 300 times this time, last time it was like 16.

Since he knows that he has lost the check, he's hitting me up for cash again, lying all the while to get it.

Now he wants me to send the WU to someone in Kentucky, I told him it took the same secure format from Tennessee, so who ever got it would have to do the same thing. He didn't care about that (lazy lad).

He's been bouncing back and forth about giving me his bank info - one min he is willing to give it to me, then he decides WU would be faster. I try to explain that a bank transfer is immediate.

Either way, I'll M7CN the kentucky person on Thursday - I can't get back to town to WU until then. Make sure they can't get the "number" (frustrate your lad option) so it'll be too late to send him the money anyway.

That way I can take the money back out on Saturday and he'll have no new excuse for me to send it - I had to borrow this money and have to pay back the people I borrowed it from.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:22 am

Ivana,

The Kentucky person is likely a victim. Did you forward the info onto the mods?

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:07 am

I haven't gotten the info on the Kentucky person yet, but that info will be passed on appropriately.

He has tried several times to get me to open a bank, cash checks, etc. so it wouldn't surprise me that he has someone that is willing to do a simple money order receiving and sending.

I will use the M7CN S3CUR3 with the frustrate your lad option clicked so they won't be able to get very far.

That wouldn't be you, Becky, in Kentucky is it?

Elite Baiter Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 1006

^^^^No...but then I think this lad is so clueless that he may think I'm in Kentucky. Very Happy

Friday must be a big day for him...he's pushing me to send him money by this day as well. Now whether he gets it depends on how good he is at M7CN S3cure.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:39 pm

He's seen M7CN S3CUR3 before, a couple times now - first time was 16 clicks before he gave up...second time was 300...

Which is why he wants me to send it to some chick in Kentucky, apparently they don't use secure there. And he wants HER to do all the work.

So feel free to secure his ass away.

I told him some of the states are using it, but not all. But by year's end all of the states will be using it.

So using the tool will fit right in with what I've been telling him Twisted Evil

Oh there he is now, gonna go chat Wink

Juan's stalker Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 1423

Awww he's so lucky to have you ladies Twisted Evil

.

You both give him so much love and attention.......

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:10 pm

I love the torture that you are putting him through. This guy's stress level must be through the roof, especially with missing out on his insurance check. Laughing

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