Chicken Man 2: Triple Safari: Togo, Mali. Guinea

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Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

It looks like the Mali holiday is starting off on the right foot. A frantic message to intervene regarding hotel reservations. I thought this had all been taken care of?

Quote:

Hello Larissa
i am presently at the Sheraton hotel in Bamako where Mr mike told me he already booked for a room for me.
I got to the Sheraton and they couldn't find any reservations or bookings for me or in Mr mikes name.
I had to beg the hotel staff to use their computer to quickly reach out to you.
please let Mr mike knows i am stranded as i have know place to stay..If he can call the sheraton hotel let him do it quickly before they rqn out of patience.
i will be here waiting for your urgent action.
say my regards to Mr Francis,

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:19 am

This is awfully poor timing for the lad. Mike needs to get on a business call with the Chicago office before they leave for the day, and these sorts of things take a while. He'll just have to hang tight, and I've told someone from the finance group at the LA office to call him and clarify things. That could take a while, or maybe not happen at all. These things just kind of happen, you know. A shame his first night in Mali is being spent in a hotel lobby.

From the lad:

Quote:

AS YOU KNOW, I AM STILL AT THE HOTEL LOBBY OF THE BAMAKO SHERATON HOTEL IN MALI.
THE HOTEL COULDN'T FIND MR MIKES BOOKINGS IN MY NAME. SO,I AM STUCK STRANDED IN HERE. AFTER A THREE DAYS BUS JOURNEY I AM NOW FEELING SICK AND HUNGRY AND KNOW WHERE TO SLEEP.
THE HOTEL SAID IF INDEED MR MIKE MADE THE HOTEL RESERVATION THAT HE SHOULD SEND THEM A COPY FOR VERIFICATION, YOU CAN SEND THE COPY TO MY EMAIL AND I WILL SHOW THEM.

WELL, LET ME KNOW WHATEVER THE PLAN IS.

LUCKY GOTTOH

That message was from half an hour ago. And from me:

Quote:

This is very strange. I will have to check with the accounting department to see if the payment went through. I need to get on a business call to Chicago in a few minutes before they get off work, but this is very unusual. You're sure that nobody there remembers "Mike Neuberry" calling them roughly 10 hours ago? I was under the impression that whoever I called in the morning would have handled it. This is extremely unprofessional service! I will tell the accountant who was supposed to have handled the payment to double-check that everything went through. Sometimes with our financial systems there are delays, and we wouldn't want anything to happen with a double booking, but I will give him a stern tongue lashing. I wouldn't be surprised if the people who worked the afternoon didn't work the evening, so the problem could also be on the hotel's end. Like I said, I have stayed in many Sheraton hotels in the past and never had these issues with bookings!

I will check back in roughly an hour once I have finished the business call, and hopefully by then the finance team here will have figured out what the issue was. What was your phone number again for Mali? I may have someone here call you while I'm on my call.

It may be late for Mr. Samara, but sometimes having a local handle these things works better; I would get in contact with him. I will not stand for this unfair treatment of you by the hotel staff! Tell them you demand to be compensated.

Cheers!

His trip is off to a great start.

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

Flustered, the church lady tries to stay calm, and piece together what has happened. Naturally, she starts with the lad not following "the plan" and arriving at the airport, but rather, jumping on a bus with and arriving unannounced at a bus terminal. (Whose fault is this?)

Knowing full well he made no arrangements, she is able to ask if he did. Then, having laid the blame, retreats into her confusion and acknowledges the recent terrorist murders have really had ripple effects thru the company.

Quote:

I have just read your note and am so sorry this mix up has happened. I can only make reference to the instructions I received from Francis prior to his hospitalization. So let me write this out so I have a clear understanding here. I beg your indulgence in this as I"m still in shock at this news.
* I thought that you and either Mr P******* or Mr Sa***** were to coordinate plans to meet in Bamako and be personally taken to the hotel? That was my understanding.
* when you took bus transport in lieu of air, they obviously would not meet you at the airport but somewhere else. Did you arrange that meeting with either of the gentlemen?
* I am not sure who is in charge of these arrangements, only that Mr P***** had confirmed them to Francis. With his passing, who is your contact with the shipper? I apologise but there are managers, supervisors, agents, customer relation specialists, etc I am confused.
* one message I saw said a supervisor named Chris had spoken to you on the phone, so I guessed all was well.

Please coordinate with the shipper and I suggest you copy your message to all contacts so they are all aware of this issue. I will contact my local agent Walter, and alert him to this so that if you apply pressure there, and I get Walter to apply pressure from here, the company will feel it and take action. I do believe Mr P******* death has truly taken the wind from their sails.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:15 am

Two messages from the lad. I'll be honest, as I always am with him, and not respond until my "business call" is over. By then it will be far too late to get anything resolved with the payment.

Quote:

Ok, i had to call one of the hotel receptionist to read your reply,
The Hotel is still not sure of the bookings because they have not verified it yet on their system! perhaps a payment copy from you should resolve this.
As for a phone number, Sorry none of the hotel staff wants to leave his/her phone numbers. But if you insist,then maybe you check online to get the hotel phone numbers you can use and call.

I didn't ask for their number, I asked for yours. Oh well. Yet another reason to delay. And of course I personally don't have the payment copy, someone else will, but they've already gone home for the day. I just made the call and passed it on to someone else to take care of the mechanics.

Quote:

My major concern now is where to lay and sleep for the night, although its 1am here, i cant risk walking around town now.
Even though my eyes are sleepy, i am still buying time using the hotel internet and hoping daytime comes quickly.
Even as daytime approaches gradually, i pray and hope before morning time that i truly gets a place to lay my tired eyes and body::gosh, three days on the road is not a joke.
Try your best and do something Mr Mike.

Lucky Gottoh

He sounds like he can wait a bit longer. Technically it's been an hour since my last message to him, but business calls often go long. Lots of things on the agenda, and if we get off topic and have some friendly banter, the lad can wait.

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

The lad writes to our church lady again. Seriously though, short of feeling sympathetic, what can she do? But, she will listen. Sometimes in times of crisis, we don't need "problem solvers" we need good listeners. She can at least be that. No wonder her grandchildren love her so much.......

Quote:

Hello again Larissa,
I will answer your questions one by one;

1: Yes, indeed me, the late Mr P****** and Mr S***** did coordinated plans to meet in Bamako and be personally taken to the hotel.
2; Yes; i did informed Mr Francis and Mr P******* that i cant afford cost of flying to Bamako,so i was the person who opted to take the bus, and then Mr P*******shall meet me anywhere i am when i arrived Bamako.take me to an hotel for rest and then the next morning i get the package.
3: Mr P***** is the one in-charge of this arrangements,he even sent me a email on Tuesday saying hes packed his luggage's and hes on his way to Africa to meet with me when i arrived in Bamako, Mali..but unfortunately,he never made it through. There is a Mr Mike N*****,a colleague of Postomier, hes incharge of P**** Logistics customer care,he lives in the US, He is also aware of my trip from Nigeria to Mali, you can say Mike is the customer relation specialist..Theres also another one called Chris B******, i think hes the head of Customer care world_wide,hes the supervisor. he called me while i was in the bus going to Bamako.

I am working well with the shippers and so far, i haven't find happiness because exactly what happened in Togo last week is gradually playing out again..now,i just arrived from a three days trip to Bamako and all i need to worry about is having to find a place to lay my head. As i was coming by bus I had informed Mike and then Mr S***** arrival, i told them to send me their Bamako office location or phone numbers to make things easy for me but they never did.i use one of the bus passenger/ friend phone to send email,i dont have a phone of my own because the Togo police took it from me to bail myself from troubles i had with a taxi man when i couldn't pay for his services by taking me to somewhere where the Ghanaian P****logistics deliveryman asked me to see him. its a terrible encounter i had in Togo and i cant easily forget in my life.

While on my way to Bamako,i informed Mike, and also told him i need a place to sleep and eat..He got back saying i shouldn't worry that hes booked an hotel for me at Sheraton Hotel in Bamako, Unfortunately when i got to the hotel and the hotel couldn't find my name or his name on their computer,i felt sick immediately.

Although i have contacted Mike about it, he says hes surprised,that he will look into it. Now time is 1;36am, i have spent almost four hours at the hotel lobby waiting for either Mike or S**** fix things up,but yet know solution still.

I am trying to get myself busy while using their computer,iff the hotel eventually throw me out i wont be surprise,then,i will now have to sleep the street again.

I have a sick wife and kids i left at home in hope that my coming to Mali will be swift,sooth and easy but look at what i am going through again.

Larissa writes back

Quote:

I am so sorry this has happened, and what a tragedy because I know Mr. P******* assured us all of his disgust at the Togo incident, and he fired people in his anger. I mean no disrespect here but he would be turning over in his grave if he knew of this. So let us see how to fix it!
1. You will please forgive me if all the names confuse me of all these people. However, it would seem this Mr Salmonella is the man to speak to, since he is Mali based is he not? I have his email, do you need that contact info?
2. This "Mike" gentleman is prob. a fine man but I"m not sure how effective he will be from the USA. We need someone on the ground there in Africa to take charge here.
3. Just so I am clear, you have no phone? How are you able to send emails? I don't personally use a phone for this sort of thing, but do have a computer at home. I have an old flip phone for personal use which my grandchildren laugh about, but that is another matter. How are you able to message?
4. The Mali location is new I'm told and they have all sorts of new state of the art technology and such almost up and running. They should be able to pin point your location and send a driver to get you and take care of your immediate needs.

This is a miscommunication no doubt made worse by the recent death of Mr. P******. There will be no repeat of your ordeal in Togo! I am going to make inquiries and get things rolling at this end. Try to get comfortable and rest while others take it from here. Your recent travels must have exhausted you. Rest as best you can and I will get results as soon as I can. With the time zone differences we have a bit of a challenge but we will figure this out, for your sake and for Clyde's.

Please though, do not send appeals to Francis right now. I would consider it a personal favour as I promised him I would take care of this and have failed both you and him. I will work hard to fix this.

Hopefully her personal appeal to not tell Francis, will help build a bond of trust between Larissa and the lad.

*****************************************

Sometime later the lad writes a last message to Larissa, the key line for me was

Quote:

Whoever Mr S***** is sending apart from hotel money,must also bring food for me.

DO THIS FOR ME THEN I WILL THANK YOU .

I am logging off now.. going outside of the hotel to find a place to sleep

Larissa wrote the note of course, outlining the issues and concluding her note with

Quote:

I just rec'd a message from him that the hotel he went to had no confirmed reservation and he is now somewhere outside in the middle of the night in a strange country, where they have the obnoxious habit of speaking French.

I don't care who does it, but someone in your Mali office has to step up and help this decent and loving family man out of his dilemma.

Nothing builds a team faster than offending someone's language and culture and her reference to French may or may not be used against her.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:25 am

Yesterday 23.19 - Lucky wrote to Baba... he's not happy. Laughing

Quote:

I AM STILL WAITING AT RECEPTION OF THE SHERATON HOTEL IN BAMAKO,MALI.
AS YOU KNOW, THERES KNOW HOTEL BOOKED FOR ME AT THE SHERATON HOTEL BY MR MIKE,SO IT MEANS I AM STRANDED.
THE HOTEL SUGGESTS THAT YOU SEND THEM A FULL OR PART PAYMENT IF I AM TO SLEEP HERE TONIGHT.
OR BETTERSTILL, GET ONE OF YOUR TRUSTED STAFF WHO STAYS AROUND THIS AREA TO COME AND PICK ME UP, I CAN STAY WITH YOUR STAFF TONIGHT IF YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE SHERATON HOTEL SITUATION.

I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR URGENT ACTION.

LUCKY.

Today 01.50 - Lucky to Baba and Mike:

Quote:

I told you i dont have a phone right now,so checking my email will be difficult when i leave this hotel.
but incase you dont get an email from me please try call the hotel, or send someone to the sheraton hotel and drop your message with the receptionist on duty.
I shall go out now and find a safe place to lay,i shall manage come to the hotel again in the morning.

Lucky

02.41 - One hour later, our "No Lucky" guy wrote to Baba again:

Quote:

Mr Somoila ..Please send someone to me first thing in the morning to rescue me.

I shall be within the Sheraton Hotel premises; let whoever you are sending ask of me at the Sheraton Hotel receptionist.i shall drop a message of my whereabout with them.

2. Whoever you are sending to me must be equipped with hotel reservation money to secure my hotel accommodation at the same Sheraton Hotel. for helping me by letting me use their computer internet,its will be ungrateful of me to stay in another hotel.

3; Whoever you are sending apart from hotel money,must also bring food for me.

BUT INCASE YOU ARE NOT SENDING ANYONE THEN LIAISE WITH MR MIKE BY BOOKING A ROOM FOR ME AT THE SHERATON HOTEL.HOTEL NEED TO SEE A PAYMENT VERIFICATION BEFORE THEY CAN ALLOW ME INTO ANY OF THEIR ROOMS;

I am logging off now.. going outside of the hotel to find a place to sleep for the night

Regards,

Lucky Gottoh.

03.41 - Larissa, that old woman from the church, writes to Baba and Lucky:

Quote:

Dear Mr Somoila:

My name is Larissa, a colleague of Francis who was our church's contact person for sending a package through your company's services, to Mr Lucky Gottoh. We have been part of what they call an email chain as my name appears frequently in the "cc" portion of the message.
I write to you to ask your immediate and extended assistance for Mr. Gottoh who has traveled from Lagos in Nigeria, to Bamako in Mali to collect what we call a Courtesy Package from our church. A previous attempt at this in Togo resulted in much chaos and confusion, with the result that Mr. Claude Postumierre fired people in the Accra office and shut down operations there pending a review.

To demonstrate his sincerity and determination to make things right, Mr Postumierre was en route to meet personally with Mr. Gottoh in Bamako to handle this situation. Sadly, his senseless killing has prevented this.

However, Mr Postumier's death occurred while Mr Gottoh was in transit. Now he has arrived in Mali to find no one available to help him. I realize with Claude's death he cannot honour the arrangements, but surely there is someone there who can? I do believe people have been affected by Mr Postumierre's death and his "take charge" approach has left a void. It is understandable. But we must rise above our grief and help Mr Gottoh!

It is my understanding that the arrangements were to meet Mr Gottoh and take him to a hotel at company expense. He was to given some compensatory funding related to the Togo episode, and then, at his convenience, either have the package brought to him or be taken to the secure warehouse to pick up the package himself.

I do not know his arrangements for returning home, but Claude was going to assist with whatever Mr. Gotttoh decided.

I just rec'd a message from him that the hotel he went to had no confirmed reservation and he is now somewhere outside in the middle of the night in a strange country, where they have the obnoxious habit of speaking French.

I don't care who does it, but someone in your Mali office has to step up and help this decent and loving family man out of his dilemma.

04.40 - Mike, to Baba and Lucky:

Quote:

Mr. Gottoh,
So here is the current update (I am back at my condominium now and watching TV):
-I am still unable tonight to get into the system; I received an email from one of the accountants that they are able to get in tomorrow morning, but they cannot do that remotely. Once they get into the system, probably around 8-9 AM my time (3-4 PM your time), we can figure out what happened in the system, whether the payment never made it out from our system or was held up somewhere along the way.
-As a plan B, I sent an email to the local manager to see if you can stay at one of their employee’s houses. I am not sure if this will be able to be arranged smoothly, but you will have somewhere to rest and recuperate. Even if they are off work until the manager comes back, someone will hopefully be able to receive you.
-I will not be as available as I normally am tomorrow evening and Friday morning, so if there is urgent business then I would encourage you to contact someone more local.
-I am trying to work out arrangements to see if I can find more people in your time zone, or closer to it, who can manage these day-to-day operations. I am doing the best I can here, but my being unavailable for your morning and early afternoon is starting to prove an inconvenience for both of us. I plan to still be available to coordinate and offer advice, but if someone were available to tag-team with me we would be available for all the time you are awake. Don’t get your hopes up, as that will probably be finalized by the time you get your package and return home.

Once again, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. The hotel issue will hopefully be resolved in time for tomorrow night. I am sure things will only improve from here.

Cheers!

===

What a wonderful night for our lad! Laughing

===

05.51 - Directly from Tripoli, manager Baba wrote to all:

Quote:

Bon matin mes amis,
Once again, I am unpleasantly surprised that the Nigerian customer Mr. Motana did not have the wisdom to coordinate with me before leaving home. For me, such behavior is odd and extremely idiot!
In the name of the Prophet Mahommed, our dear client traveled for 3 days and now he is alone in Bamako? And we did not know this and nobody is ready to wait there? Unacceptable!
Insha'Allah, I hope I will finish today all the formalities relating to the post-mortem repatriation operation of our former colleague Postumierre and I will be able to return to Bamako at night or later tomorrow morning. Along with Qesha, our colleague in Morocco, I will spend another last afternoon in Tripoli and then we will come home. Qesha's help and his relations with Libyan Tuaregs have been tremendously important these days.

It seems that the terrorist group that attacked the restaurant where Claude was killed is subordinated to a group called Boko Haram and who are terrorists located in northern Nigeria and southern Niger. The Tripoli Police Officer (Inspector Anondo Ebierre), who was in charge of this case, was very surprised to learn that Claude had to meet with a Nigerian businessman, and there are now some assumptions (of course ridiculous) about an alleged link between Mr. Motana's arrival here and the terrorist attack in Libya. In any case, I and Qesha worked perfectly with Mr. Ebierre (the police inspector) and provided all the details we were asked for. We retrieved all of our client Mr. Motana details (his full name, his address, the scanned copy of his document ID, etc.) from our computer system and gave them to the Tripoli police to check. I'm sure everything will be fine!

I did not understand yet if our client stayed at the Sheraton, or if he wanted me to send someone to meet him. The delivery of the parcel and the compensatory payment will only be made when I will be present in Bamako, but Mr. Motana may temporarily stay in the house of one of my drivers. Of course it will not be as comfortable as a hotel and probably the French language barrier will be impossible to solve, but Mr. Motana will be able to rest and relax until we solve the problems. If the idea is agreed, I will ask you to let me know. I will try to check my messages regularly, although here in Tripoli there are quite big problems with the GSM network signal.

Votre ami,
Baba

- The Libyan police already have a written report stating Lucky's full name and copy of his ID papers. I'm sure our idiot will be delighted to correspond with the police inspector in Tripoli. Laughing

- I'll try to make the idiot go somewhere outside Bamako, where one of the local drivers lives. Another bus trip (or taxi? Laughing

) will be something unforgettable for our little idiot. I'm so sure! Twisted Evil

===

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

Our lad wrote to Larissa in the wee hours of the night. 3 lines stood out from his missive.

Quote:

I just read your write up to Mr S*****, its splendid. lets hope he does something fast. (I am sure he will, he is a man of action....)

all these are what i went through in Togo,i got to Nigeria and my siblings mocked at me,i became a subject of ridicule. (What? People made fun of you for chasing rainbows in Togo? Imagine your homecoming this time.....)

Thank you for the wonderful write up for Mr Somoila. (It is just part of the work the Outreach Committee does every day for the church....)

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:47 am

^^^

Please edit the name of manager Somoila. Google's watching us. Laughing

FIFY- Connie
===

07.26 - Lucyk writes to mr. Baba:

Quote:

Dear Mr Somoila,
I slept within the premises of the Sheraton Hotel, Bamako.
If your driver is coming please let him come inside the Sheraton Hotel reception desk and ask for me,i should be inside the hotel internet room, i hope your driver comes here early enough.
Meanwhile i am sorry to hear about the death of Mr Postumierre,..Mr Claude ,Mr Mike and Mr Francis are the people that are communicating and making arrangements with regarding to my trip to Mali, I am sorry i did not informed you before embarking on the trip, well,i felt i should not bother you until the bus is closer to Mali for i know the bus ride may take as long as two days or three days so,i felt when i am almost around Mali then will i inform you. besides that,i never thought about loosing someone as Mr Postumierre which resulted in you moving to Libya while i was still on the road. What made this worst is that i could have told you of my coming but i know longer have a phone i can use to communicate to you perhaps i would have written you while in the bus.
Also, you mentioned about the Libyan police assuming my linkage to the Boko Haram Terrorist? That is laughable.. i dont even have a photo of Mr Claude neither do i know what he has gone to Libya to do,i even searched the internet to see if i can get a news of the Libyan Terrorist attack yet i found nothing.;But nevertheless,let me clarify this fact to you, Yes Boko Haram is a Muslim Terrorist extremist group which terrorizes northern Nigeria,they only operates in about Four Northern states of Nigeria, They hate western civilization, white people and Christians and i am from the southern part of Nigeria where we have majority as Christians, As a Nigerian from the southern part of Nigeria, we dare not go to the northern part of the Nigeria for fear of getting killed by this terrorist group. For me,i think the Libyan police does not know what they are saying, but unfortunately Mr Claude is not alive to tell us how it really happened.

Please let your driver come inside the Sheraton Hotel, he should ask of me at the reception, that the man that came last night and has been in the internet room.
Or betterstill let him cal the hotel on 20705252

Lucky Gottoh

08.39 - One hour later, Baba responds:

Quote:

Mon ami, of course I also argued that the connection between you and that terrorist group is unlikely and that, of course, it is just an unfortunate coincidence. In any case, the Libyan police officer (Inspector Eberre) said he would check your criminal record with his colleagues in Nigeria. So, I do not think there will be any problems. Do not worry about it!

As far as your unexpected coming to Bamako, I'm convinced that everything would have been organized if I knew about it. Anyway, let's see what can be solved locally. Because I temporarily suspended the work at our local office, I will try to accommodate you in the house of one of my drivers who lives near Bamako. But you'll have to get there, because our delivery vans are locked in our car park at the warehouse. Until I come back to Bamako, nobody has access to the warehouse (you know very well what the security of parcels means, and I do not trust anyone!).

So, I will contact Habibi (the driver who lives near Bamako) and I will return to you with all the necessary details; exact address and travel directions. You will stay at his house until I will return to the city (at night or tomorrow morning). He is Muslim and speaks only French and some local dialect, but I will explain him everything he needs to know. You will receive shelter and food. That's all I can do now. Is it okay for you, do you want me to handle this?

I have one last question; how is it possible to get on the road without spending money and a phone call with you? Especially because it's a very long journey. This is something unimaginable to me.
I'm waiting for your answer and the confirmation that you want me to arrange your accommodation in Habibi's house.
Ton ami,
Baba

===

More fun with the moron... he wrote to Baba (only to him):

Quote:

Sir,
I have not eaten throughout yesterday and because i do not have any money with was the reason i couldn't checked into an hotel on my own.
Now you are telling me to go meet your driver around Bamako a city that doesn't speak English? No,that doesn't make sense; so, i think the driver should be the one coming over to me instead of me being the one looking for him.

Baba is amazed Laughing

and does not understand how Lucky can be so idiot... Mike, Chris are in CC. Laughing

Quote:

Mon ami,

Please repeat, because my English might not be perfect, and I will not quite understand all of your words.
Do you claim that you are now in Bamako, somewhere near the Sheraton Hotel?
And do you claim that you came from Nigeria without any money and without a functional phone?
Is that the meaning of your words? Let me understand you.

Avec amitie,
Baba

===

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:27 am

Chris wrote:

Dear Mr. Gottoh,

You arrive in Mali unannounced and totally unprepared, without any money or means of communication, yet you seem to blame our company for your current predicament.

I have already told you before that I am not a fan of the preferential treatment you have been receiving, and your recent communications are not exactly changing my mind.

Also, it's quite remarkable that the Tripoli police department have some suspicions about a possible connection between you and the death of Claude. If it were my decision I would recommend the package be frozen untill police investigations have been completed.

I am watching this situation very closely, but I am sure that Baba will take care of things.

Kind regards

Chris Bacconne

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:22 am

09.30 - Ohh dear... our boy is sad. Laughing

Quote:

yes, i came from Nigeria. and i am inside the sheraton hotel right now
I came here yesterday without money and food,
I dont have phone too.

10.16 - My manager Baba responds:

Quote:

Mon ami, everything is clear now.
I'll talk right now to Habibi and I'll immediately send him to come directly to the Sheraton Hotel and take you from there. He does not have enough money to pay the room to the hotel, but he'll get enough money to pay for your meal. It's awful to stay hungry for so long, so please go now to the hotel's restaurant and order something to eat. Habibi will pay for your food when he gets there.

Probably in 1.5-2 hours he will be present at the hotel. Please send me a photo of you now, in the Sheraton's lobby, because Habibi knows how you look and who he needs to meet. Explain the situation and ask someone from there (maybe the receptionist) to take a picture of you and send to me. Habibi will go into the lobby and ask at the reception where the restaurant is. He'll come straight to your table. I will inform him of all these things and he will know what to do. Habibi has a large family and I am convinced that you will feel great as a guest of his house. Hospitality is something that local people in this area are proud of.
Ton ami,
Baba

===

- Of course, Habibi will not be able to come to the hotel because he has an accident yesterday and is immobilized with his foot in the gypsum.
- The city where Habibi lives (Kati) is less than 20 km away from Bamako ... a small distance for an experienced traveler, like our dear lad Lucky. Laughing

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:31 am

Is our friend mouthing off at the Director of Customer Relations?

Quote:

Sir,

What are you insinuating? that i killed a man i never met before in my life?

Besides, i understand hes supposed to meet me here in Mali and deliver my package in person, Will you kill a man who wants to give you something?

I heard the sad event happened in Libya,so how am i supposed to know he had to passed through Libya while i am on the road for three days in West Africa traveling from Nigeria to Mali isnt the same route, Libya is far north.

And, i was trying to meet up with the deadline which was Wednesday yesterday,i was surprised to hear its been extended to this Friday obviously because of the ordeal i went through in Togo with your deliveryman.

Besides, what do i stand to gain by killing Mr Claude.And for what purpose?

I think i demand an apology from you for thinking such negativity against my person, and you dont even care about the stress i went through on the road just to get here; the hunger,and having to sleep on the street just to receive a package you could have easily given me in Lome, Togo.

I wish Mr Francis is well enough to read this maltreatment you are putting me through.

Lucky Gottoh

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:01 am

^^^ LOL! He's very angry. Why? Laughing

10.26 - Our boy, to Baba:

Quote:

Sir,
I dont have a phone to take any photos and, i just asked the receptionist, they wouldn't allow me access to their phone.they said its against Hotel laws.
I remembered the photo i sent from the bus yesterday so i had to trim it and i have send it, please see attached.
I am still wearing the same clothe since yesterday, If Habibi comes he will get me at the Hotel business center where i am using their internet as means of communication.
If i leave this HOTEL,i will not have a means to communicate with you or anybody again,so thats the reason i am here.
(My note: The fact that he does not have a phone is an excellent recipe for disaster.)
I look forward to seeing Habibi

Baba's reply:

Quote:

Okay mon ami, I'll send that picture to Habibi and I'll ask him to come after you.
Meanwhile, go to the restaurant and eat something good. Habibi will pay for your meal.
Baba

===

- I will return with bad news over 45-60 minutes... so our idiot will have time to eat something good. Laughing

===

11.06 - Lucky to Baba:

Quote:

ok... i will be waiting for him here.
Thank you.

Dear Lucky, all of us we wants to wish you Bonne appetite! Laughing

===

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

Wow.....you cannot make this stuff up. I have mentioned I'm running a parallel bait with this lad, where, far from being a reformed thief and lover of chickens, he is still trying to steal money from my character. In light of the lad's current situation, he concocted a cover story to squeeze money from my nursing student in England.

Quote:

I am writing you this mail because i need your help, i just got a message from Mali that my son Henry was knocked down by a car.
Henry was rushed to the hospital and the doctors ran a test and found 34 of his bones got broken, so they needed urgent money to start treating him urgently.I got the news and i was heartbroken, i dont have money here because i have just paid some mortgage and this news came too sudden for me to run around and raise money.
I have called his sister,my daughter in Toronto shes been able to send 2800dollars but what is needed is 3000dollars, i thought about you and was thinking i should approach you to help.
I remembered you said you are saving some money, i dont know but could you please borrow me 200 from inside what you are saving for the Affidavit? I shall collect my salary in five days time so i will give you back, if you can help me with 200 i will add 100usd and give you back 300 in five days time from today.
You shall need send the 200 to Mali, thats in Africa.
The receiver is a friend to my son, his name is LUCKY G***** but he doesnt have a valid ID so; when sending it do not indicates he picks it up with an ID
Heres the recipient info again.

The lad mentioned his phone and i.d. were confiscated in Togo...so is that why the "recipient" cannot produce it to collect money? Amazing how these lads weave their stories for us! Anyway, I think it is time my other character showed some compassion and does everything in her power (short of actually helping) to assist him.

This parallel bait does not change our lad's holiday plans in Mali, but it sure illustrates how ill prepared for travel this guy is. He still has to get home!

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:43 am

11.38 - Baba to Lucky... sad news. Twisted Evil

Quote:

Mon ami, I have some bad news.
Habibi fell yesterday from a ladder in his backyard (he was trying to fix something on the roof) and now has a ugly sprain at one of his ankle. He has his foot immobilized in gypsum and he can not move. He is waiting for you at his home and has already prepared one guest room for you. You will love Habibi, because he is a cheerful man and has a happy family. They are good people.

Travel indications: Less than 15 km away from Bamako is the small town of Kati. If you get there by train from Bamako Railway Station, you have to get off at the first stop. It's free, no charge. If you go by a taxi, then in 15 minutes you can get to downtown of Kati. On the right side of the main road are some gas stations and on the left is the central market of the city (Le Grand Bazaar de Kati). Right behind the bazaar is the Mosque. Habibi's house is adjacent to the mosque on the left side, about no more than 20 meters from the main intersection. A large house with a gray-brown roof and facing a fairly visible playground. Habibi's children are playing there, along with the other children on the street.

If you go there by taxi, then ask the driver to take you to the door's house, so that Habibi can pay for the transportation service.
If you go there by train, then you have to get off at Kati Railway Station (the first stop after Bamako). From the railway station to Habibi, you'll be about 10 minutes away. The Mosque is on the same side as the train station and anyone can tell you how to get there. Habibi is at home and awaits you at any hour. He was informed that you must get there tonight.

Right now I have to go to the High Commissioner to complete the report on the repatriation of Claude's body. I'll go back in the afternoon and have dinner with my moroccan coleague Qesha. I wish you success and I will ask you to confirm me that everything is ok with you and you have arrived well at Habibi's house. I'll be there tomorrow morning after I get to Bamako airport.

Avec amitie,
Baba

===

- The manager will respond only in a few hours.
- After Baba's dinner (along with Qesha - the Morocco manager), the two men will invite prostitutes to the hotel room.
- Those women will put drugs into the drink and steal the ID documents + all the money + the phones of the two colleagues.
- Baba and Qesha will remain "stuck" in Tripoli, until they can get other passports.

Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

Since the lad does not trust the shipping company people (not sure why, they have a 5 Star Service Guarantee) and Larissa is not delivering results, he has now turned directly to Francis for assistance. Francis is recovering from surgery and Larissa had asked the lad directly NOT to contact him. The lad did us all a favour and ignored that.

He wrote

Quote:

Mr Francis,
Can you imagine i am being accused of killing Mr Clyde?
Is this another plot to deny me access to my package again? (why would he think this?)
This was the same tactics they used in Togo,.. I must confess that i am tired of this childish delivery scheme that is not realistic. (This is all very real...)
Please if you people are fake then tell me and i will walk away, this was the same thing the Ghanaian police told me when that deliveryman keeps jumping from border to border expecting me to run after him and now this, (can you really trust a Ghanaian border guard???)

I dont understand why a delivery company can be twisting and turning things that are supposed to be done smoothly. (It boggles the mind, doesn't it?)

To think i have a hand in Clydes death is crazy, it doesnt make sense because this was a man treating me fine and urging me to make the trip just to encourage me not to miss the deadline date, And now that he got killed they are linking it to me.
Just to meet up the deadline date i had to travel for days, and now that i am around i had to sleep the street. And you expect the dead to rest in peace ?
This is so absurd and unacceptable.

(It might all be absurd, but it is quite acceptable......)

Larissa is fuming since the lad wants to drag a sick man into his troubles after having been asked not to.

Quote:

I am trying to sort this mess out and agree with you that this is absurd about you having a connection to Mr P****** death. How anyone could put such ridiculous thoughts in a note is beyond me. If nothing else, you were on a bus in another country while he was waiting in a restaurant in a distant country. There is no connection, but that will not stop gossip. I always liked this saying "Gossip is the only substance that gets thicker the further it spreads." Keep that in mind as you remain stoic in the face of adversity.

I asked you yesterday to NOT involve Francis in this matter right now since he is just back from hospital but you are sending him messages contrary to what I asked! Not only does this reflect poorly on my handling of this situation, but it puts Francis in an awkward position where his health may not be up to the challenge and stress of a remedy here. I have read that you got on a bus and headed to Mali to meet Mr P******* but did not communicate this till after the fact. You went without funding or resources or even a communication device. That is poor planning Mr G*****. Did you not follow Mr P******** suggestions to establish the Mali connections first? I see you did not follow my request regarding Francis either.

Please, let Francis rest and let me shake things up at the local office with Walter and see about helping you. However, you must stop acting impulsively and start following protocols.

At some point Francis will read all these messages and despite his sedation, will respond in his plodding manner. He might even ask for the lad to recap things again, just so he is clear on the events taking place.

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

The lad is now relieved because assistance is on the way. I just knew someone would help him eventually.

Quote:

I am sorry larissa, i was forced to forward those mails to francis
because of the situation of things, please dont be angry with me. i
will not involve him for now,i promise.

meanwhile i am now going away from the sheraton hotel premises to meet
mr samailas driver somewhere in the outskirt of bamako..,this mean
that i will know longer be to be sending you mails because i had been
using internet network from the hotel,

i am also going to the drivers place to eat and rest well,
mr samaila said he will fly back to Bamako tomorrow
morning.so,hopefully when he comes i get my package and i will let you
know once i got it,

hopefully i leave bamako tomorrow

It is a relief to know he will be taken care of prior to Mr. S getting back from Tripoli. Larissa realises she is overwhelmed and apologises to the lad for over reacting. Of course her mood might swing 180* in her next message but for now, the lad feels comforted and reassured.

Quote:

I am sorry if I over reacted, but I just want Francis to rest easy and let him know I can handle this. That was selfish of me wanting to appear "professional" in his eyes while you go through the wringer there in Mali. Please forgive my being obtuse.
I am glad some arrangements have been found for you. It is amazing what people do in crisis and some rise to the occasion! There are a lot of bad people in the world who lie, steal and cheat. But then you write that a stranger has shown kindness and I know that there are good people in Mali! Indeed, good people around the world.
Did you know that of our 3 Outreach recipients, you are the most personable and kind? Well you are. Our winner from Guinea is a close second, though right now he is immersed in family health matters. Our Niger recipient has thanked us but has largely gone silent. We try to build friendships as we help people, and hope this will continue.

Anyway, rest up and we will see what Mr Baba has organized to get you safely home.

What could possibly go wrong now? I bet Casablanca is looking pretty good right now............

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 28 Oct 2018 Posts: 90

I think Larissa should let the lad call Francis directly on his cell. With the warning that he is still a bit woozy from the sedatives. Oh, and he goes by the nickname Lenny...

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:17 pm

This was sent to Chris. I think the lad is angry:

Quote:

I read through your letters again and i almost cried; I can see that you dont know me and you are just concluding things without proper facts.
Nevertheless; I shall answer your question one by one.
You said i arrived in Mali unannounced and totally unprepared, without any money or means of communication, yet you seem to blame our company for your current predicament.
My Answer is; I am not totally blaming your company but the few bad eggs like the Ghanaian deliveryman i was to supposed to meet in Togo who after deceiving me he was waiting for me at the border,still went ahead to opened my package without my authorization and since then,hes been playing hide and seek with me telling me to meet him here and there,and despite the fact that i entered Togo without money,i had to pay through my nose by owing taxi drivers that took me to wherever the deliveryman location is,and each time i get to his location,i wont meet him because he will say hes already at another location and still expects me to meet him there. He did this four times,i went to those four locations and never met him,the last location was at Atakpame in Togo, its more than 200kilometers from Lome the state capital, i still went there and yet didn't find him there; i couldn't pay the taxi man the agreed 200usd to took me to Atakpame, in anger the taxi man dragged me to the police station to collect his money, and because i couldn't pay him the 200usd,the police locked me up,then they freed me by having to take my phone to replace the money i was owing him.

Mind you, I only came to Lome with cash covering the hotel bill for one night,yet i got nothing from the deliveryman despite my pleas for him to send me money from my compensation entitlement,he refused giving me many excuses why he cant send money;so when i attempted seeing him wherever he says he was, instead he was the one running away from me, i was thrown out of the hotel and had to sleep the street of Lome for five days.

In the second paragraph you said.,I have already told you before that I am not a fan of the preferential treatment you have been receiving, and your recent communications are not exactly changing my mind.

My Answer. I am not asking for preferential treatment;;first i understand the package came to Morocco and i was expected to go collect the package in Morocco, i couldnt afford the flight fee and Visa fees to Morocco , i pleaded to Mr Francis, Claude and even the Church to send me money to make the Morocco trip and since none of them were willing to help,i sat home while the remaining beneficiary went to Morocco and successfully got their package;;;few days time Mr Francis encouraged me to find a way to get my package and since it was clear i couldnt go there, they arranged for the package to be brought closer to me,i chose Lome in Togo and they agreed they can bring it to Lome, not until the Ghanaian deliveryman spoiled the whole thing by deceiving me while i ran after him from border to border.... After the failed Togo delivery,i resigned interested in claiming the package that almost ended my life in Togo; yes i slept the dirty streets of Togo and it wasnt funny as i got stranded with know money to go back home to Nigeria but God intervened by sending my junior brother who sents me money to return to Nigeria last week.While i was in Nigeria my two kids and wife got sick,i told Mr Francis and he told since the Ghana delivery didnt work,then what if they move the package to Mali that the company have a good office in Mali where i would be treated fine. he encouraged me to go and last week Saturday claude told me the package was now in Mali and i should hasten up that the package will soon expire on Wednesday which was yesterday.
I had to sell my senior brothers 42inches brand new TV to get the money ready for my Malian trip.
Because i didnt have a phone,i had to leave early that Saturday,i got to the park at Benin Republic and was told the bus to Mali only moves on Sunday,so i had to wait and sleep at the park that Sunday...Then on sunday the bus started moving. I hqd been on the road since Sunday till Yesterday when i arrived Mali.

I didnt checked my email or write anybody because i have know phone of my own to communicate, my mind was set on arriving here early enough so that i wont miss the deadline date set for me.
It was when the bus broke down somewhere in Togo that i summoned the courage to borrow someones phone to check my email and there i saw alot of messages,some from Claude telling i should get back to him if actually i was coming to Mali, some other mails from Mr Francis wanting to know where i am because he knows i took a bus,other messages from Larissa and Mr Mike,they all want to hear from me if i was coming or not, but how could i write them when i dont have my phone? i was just praying that the driver of the bus get the bus moving fast so that i will be able to meet Claude because he let me know he will be coming to Mali to welcome me and there i was in the middle of nowhere in Burkina Faso as our bus broke down the second time again...i borrowed a phone from another passenger to check my email and there i read about Mr Claudes sad news that he got killed in a terrorist attack.
And you,because a terrorist group from my country killed someone in Libya you are linking it to me? Thats absurd and i am very disappointed in you for saying that.

Also, it's quite remarkable that the Tripoli police department have some suspicions about a possible connection between you and the death of Claude. If it were my decision I would recommend the package be frozen untill police investigations have been completed.

To Answer that. i have nothing to fear, afterall a blameless man has nothing to fear. The police can do their investigations its there work, BUT you sitting down there and thinking it has something to do with me is sickening.
If a terrorist group from your country strikes in a foreigner in another country, does it also translates that you are also a terrorist?
What happened to Claude is unfortunate and coincidental, that doesnt mean you should start accusing or pointing fingers to the wrong person. WHAT YOU DID IS.YOU ARE ACCUSING AN INNOCENT MAN.

Lucky Gottoh.

It's always great when lads recount their troubles. He is going to have a lot to write about when we get to the compensation segment.

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Mar 2015 Posts: 1916

I think I must have missed something somewhere, but why does Babe refer to our Lucky lad as Mr Motana?

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:41 pm

His full name is Lucky Gottoh Motana. Well spotted !

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Mar 2015 Posts: 1916

👍😁
Thanks!

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:22 pm

13.32 - Our dear lad wrote to Baba:

Quote:

ok i will be going there by taxi
Meanwhile if you do not hear from in the next 2hrs it means i have gone to meet habibi
I expects to see you tomorrow

===

14.47 - Our boy is back to the Sheraton lobby and writes to Mike, Baba and Larissa... He's sad, very sad! Laughing

Quote:

Mr Mike,
Yes a PLog driver was supposed to pick me up at the Sheraton Hotel premises but i am told he couldnt make it through because of foot injuries he sustained yesterday.
Mr Somoila then gave me an address to go locate the driver at his house..well,i went there but not even close because the driver that took me there took me to another place.i had to draw the attention of some traffic police officers i met on the road,the police told me taxi man was taking me to place zhich is completely different from the address given to me, taxi tries to collect his money but the police chased him away,,the police then stopped another taxi for and they gave next taxi-man the direction..he drove for 10min and asked me to come down<i dont understnad why he did that but i had to obey to avoid annoter problèmes.
I had to trek back to the Sheraton where i am currently is,
Since i dont know the road especially having to comuincate with french language is hard, i am right now inside the hotel lobby,
I will suggest Mr Somoila sends someone to meet me at the Hotel instead of me going to look for them

Lucky Gottoh

MUHAHAHAHA! Laughing

- he will stay next to the hotel until tomorrow, because the computer there seems to be his only means of communication.
- tomorrow, he will learn (from Mike or Chris) that the two managers (Baba and Qesha) have been drugged and robbed by two local prostitutes in Tripoli.
- of course this means that Baba can not get to Bamako so quickly... declarations must be made to the Libyan police, other passports must be issued, etc.
- I hope we can keep the idiot there over the weekend.
- the final of this side of story will be "written" by Joojoo, who will be present on Monday (or Tuesdays) at the Bamako PLog warehouse and will ask for the parcel... with a copy of Lucky's ID in his hands, Joojoo will talk on the phone with the manager Baba (still in Tripoli), and Baba will decide to let one of his assistants hand over the parcel to "the fake" Lucky (Joojoo).

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:28 pm

Hooray for reliable taxi services..haha the story basically is writing itself Very Happy

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:56 pm

Once again, the lad gets himself into trouble. Sometime next week when the dollar chop is attempted (it doesn't have to succeed if we still think the lad has mileage in him), the taxi drivers will be implicated in the vast conspiracy to defraud the lad.

While the lad is starving in Mali, Mike and the finance team are having adventures with tech support. I received two messages from him within the last hour, not including the one which was already posted:

Quote:

Hello Mr Mike,
I am yet to hear from you regarding the hotel bookings..you sqid you were going to check what went wrong at your account department and am still yet to get a reply from you on the issue.

Yes Samara tried fix me up with his driver but unfortunately the driver couldnt come to the hotel due to injury but instead i was asked to go meet him at his house.
I tried going to the drivers house twice but couldnt locate it because of language issues..bsides that the taxi driver who said he knos there took me to a wrong place, it was the police that rscued me, for this reason i had to return to the sheraton hotel lobby, i still feel dizzy qnd hungry.

lucky

And:

Quote:

i am feeling dizzy qnd hungry mr mike,
cont you just book the sherqton hotel, even if for one night.

Lucky

His spelling is getting worse, and he's suddenly quite fond of the letter "q".
Mike responds somewhat unhelpfully:

Quote:

Mr. Gottoh,
Most people are in the office now, at least theoretically enough to figure out why the payment didn't clear. We are going to try a reset of the system to see if that fixes anything, also given that someone else reported not being able to send a payment to Rio De Janeiro. It's strange: some payments are going through, some aren't, and there seems to be no pattern to it. The reset will take about an hour, and from there they will be able to figure something out. This isn't my responsibility generally, I'm just involved because it concerns you, but while I do other work and try to coordinate with the local manager on what to do next they will figure out the system issues. I told them to call the hotel again if they need anything, so if they do that and get the hotel on the line I'll tell them to talk to you as well. Please keep me informed. We may call company tech support in Europe later to see if they have any advice if the reset doesn't work.

Cheers!

This issue won't get resolved until at least tomorrow. The lad responded just now:

Quote:

ok, i am still waiting at the hotel

The people at the Sheraton must love him.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:04 pm

^^^ "... The people at the Sheraton must love him..."

Ohh, no doubts here! Laughing

He is dressed in the same clothes he left home on Saturday.
Do you realize how it smells now? Laughing

Baba will not write anything tonight ... he is convinced that Lucky has already arrived at Habibi's home so he has no need to check the messages... tomorrow morning, the manager Baba will be left without passport, phone and money. He will be stranded in Tripoli. Laughing

===

16.12 - Lucky to Baba:

Quote:

Sir
I need you to send me Habibi phone numbers so that somebody call him to understand the director properly.
i am still at the sheraton hotel.

Lucky

As I already said, Mr. Baba will NOT check again his messages on this night. He will be busy with some local "beauties" in Tripoli. Laughing

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