Mobile phones have become a human necessity. It is almost impossible to survive without a phone today.
They are essential to people in different ways as others use them for just communication while some people use them to store data including pictures, texts, videos and audios to enable them to carry their files wherever they go and many other functions.
However, according to Caren Namu, a mobile phone dealer on Moi Avenue in Nairobi - there are costly mistakes Kenyans make while buying phones without noticing the dangers.
Some of those mistakes include:
Buying second hand phones
According to Namu, most second-hand phones are either fake or damaged in a certain way and would need special repair leading to extra cost. She confirmed that almost 80 percent of second-hand phones are fake or damaged.
“Most of those phones, like almost 80 percent of them have problems and whoever buys them will spend more money on repairs,” Namu stated.
Not comparing prices
Namu confirmed that once interested in getting a phone, most Kenyans rush into buying them without comparing different prices offered by different dealers, ending up spending more than the real price of a specific phone.
“Most traders will always start with higher prices so that if the customer agrees to pay, the better for them,
“They also know a customer who has done his/her research well and will sell to them at the normal price,” Namu stated.
Taste for expensive brands
Having been in the business for 10 years now, Namu learnt that Kenyans have a continuous taste for famous phone brands that in most cases are expensive even though they perform exactly the same functions as the existing brands with lower prices.
“There are people who are just after new brands and will ensure they have them no matter the price. What they sometimes don’t know is that the brand performs just the same functions as the one they have and would save much money by just using what they have,” Namu argues.
Failure to identify the need for the phone
According to Namu, about 50 percent of customers buy phones without understanding their needs and end up picking unnecessary expensive phones. Others also buy these devices and later realize they never got what they wanted.
“The best thing to save the situation is to have a clear specification of what you need to save you money as well,” Namu advises.
Buying from unreliable dealers
Unreliable phone dealers especially in the streets of the Nairobi CBD are the most dangerous people one can engage. According to Namu, these are individuals following people in the street with phones they seem to sell at lower prices. The phones are either stolen and are being tracked by the police or are completely fake. In other words, you are being conned without knowing.
“Never buy such phones. Don’t even talk to them. Maybe the phone you are about to buy is stolen and is being tacked. Just walk to a licensed phone dealer and get your phone without any worries,” Namu advises.
