On October 15, an Abuja resident who asked to be simply identified as Hassan, purchased a generator worth N854,000 from Chinedu Oliver Okonkwo, owner of Thermocool Edushines Electronics Ltd., a major dealer in Thermocool products in the country’s capital.

After the purchase, Okonkwo issued Hassan a warranty, with an agreement that the generating set would be repaired free of charge by his company in the event that it developed a fault within a one-year window period.

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During the transaction, Okonkwo also assured Hassan that the warranty issued to her was just a formality as the machine was expected to work for several years “without developing a single fault”.

On November 22, however, and after spending just a month and seven days with Hassan, the generator developed a fault.

When Hassan returned the generator to Okonkwo based on the warranty he had issued, and with the hope that he would repair it without requesting for any further payment, he reneged on his earlier promise.

‘SHOW YOUR RECEIPT!’

“When we returned the generator to him for repairs, we could not immediately present the receipt he issued to us in October, to him. This was because my boss, who was in possession of the documents, was not in the country at that period,” Victor Arigu Nallah, one of Hassan’s employees, told FIJ.

“When he (Okonkwo) realised that we could not immediately present both the receipt and the warranty issued for the generator, he insisted that we would have to pay him N27,000 for the repairs.

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“Despite confirming that he could still remember us at the time we came to purchase the generator from him, and even after presenting the warranty he gave us to him, Okonkwo said presenting the warranty was not enough as we would have to pay that money.

“I also told him that when my boss returned from her trip I would bring the outstanding receipt to him but Okonkwo insisted that the warranty I presented was not enough.

“He said the generator would have to be repaired under a ‘work pay’ arrangement.”

THE STORY CHANGED AFTER 48 HOURS

When Okonkwo refused to repair the generator without sighting both the receipt and the warranty issued on it, Nallah said he left the machine with the dealer and promised to return with both the receipt and the warranty once his boss returned from her journey.

“When my boss returned two days later, she gave me the receipt and I returned to him (Okonkwo) with all the documents he was adamant on sighting before the repair could be carried out,” Nallah said.

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“But I received a shocker when I got to his office and he told me that he had already repaired the generator and that I would have to pay the N27,000 he had earlier requested for. This was after I had told him not to touch the generator until I returned with the receipt and warranty he demanded to see.

“I immediately sensed mischief in his actions. This was a man that told me that he would not repair the generator except I presented the receipt together with the warranty or pay N27,000 for repairs.

“Why did he then repair the generator without waiting for me to return with the receipts or without first calling me to let me know he was about to repair it under the ‘work pay’ arrangement he had suggested?”

When both Hassan and Nallah insisted that they would not pay the N27,000 Okonkwo requested for the repairs because they were not carried along, the dealer held on to the generator and chose not to release it to its owner.

“He has continued to hold on to the generator for a month now, since November 22, insisting that we must pay that money” Nallah said.

OKONKWO’S STORY

When FIJ spoke to Okonkwo on phone for comments on the matter, he said Nallah had not said “the entire truth”.

“He told you the truth but not the whole truth,” Okonkwo told FIJ.

“The generator is truly under warranty. The day the generator was bought from us, they (Hassan and Nallah) were taken through the entire procedure. In the event that the generator developed a fault, she was supposed to bring it for repairs, showing her receipt and warranty.

“Your access to warranty services is dependent on the receipt you provide and it must show that you are the actual owner of the generator. This would have to be presented alongside the warranty.

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“Unfortunately, when they brought the generator back to my office, they said they could not find the receipt, they also did not bring the warranty form. I demanded for these two documents to be brought to me but they said they could not find them.

“I then told the person that brought it (Nallah) that it can still be repaired, but it would be under ‘work and pay’ service. He then told me that I should give him two days to go and look for the receipt.

“I waited for two days but they did not come back with it. I then told them that there was no way they would abandon their generator with me because they could not find its receipt. What do we do next?

“The man then told me to go ahead and repair it on ‘work pay’. So, I put the generator on ‘work pay’ and the company (Thermocool) repaired it. When the generator was fully repaired, I contacted them to come and carry it.

“When the man (Nallah) showed up, he returned with the receipt he had been looking for. I had to tell him that it was late to be presenting any receipt because it had already been repaired under ‘work pay’ and it has gone on record.

“This payment has to be made. What you can do now is to keep the warranty form and the receipt in case the generator develops a fault again. And they began to argue with me. The fact still remains that the receipt and warranty came late and the generator had been repaired under ‘work pay’. There is nothing we can do in that instance.

“That was how they abandoned the generator with me since then.”

THE ACTION OKONKWO DID NOT DENY AND THE QUESTION HE DID NOT ANSWER

When Okonkwo was told that both Hassan and Nallah said he was the party that chose to hold on to the generator, he did not deny the alleged action.

“How can I release the generator to them when the money has not been paid?” Okonkwo said.

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“They have refused to pay. When I went back to the company to let them know what was going on, the payment was reduced to N20,000, but they still would not pay the money. Till date, I have not seen them. Nobody seized their generator.”

When he was also asked why a newly purchased generator would suddenly develop a fault under a month, Okonkwo said “he does not have an answer to the question”.

“I would not know what the problem is. I am not the person that repairs. Mine is just to see to sales. There is a section that repairs generators when they develop faults,” Okonkwo said.

“When I was told what the problem was and what it would cost to repair the generator, I rightfully communicated it to its owner. I am not in a position to answer this question now.”