The time I bought excess airtime
As technology is ruling the world, so are its other sides fighting us in different forms and from different angles. I'm saying this with respect to this week's writing prompt, which is about the losses and mistakes we've made when making transactions in the digital space. I doubt there's anyone who hasn't made a mistake when making transactions using digital apps, like making payments from banking apps and mistakenly adding an extra zero, or buying a very large amount of airtime, or even something as simple as sending a message to someone who was not supposed to see it.
Well, among my numerous oopsies, the one I would like to talk about is buying excess airtime. This used to be a regular occurrence for me because I was always fond of buying airtime in haste, and I wouldn’t even realize when I had added an extra digit to the amount.
The worst of these experiences was when I mistakenly recharged my line with fifty thousand naira. I was meant to recharge my phone with five thousand naira in order to buy a data plan, and I didn't realize when I added an extra zero (0) to the amount, and that was it. When I saw it reflected on my phone, it was as if I had been charmed, and the moment I noticed it, the charm faded immediately.
There was no way I was going to keep fifty thousand naira worth of airtime on my phone. To do what? Absolutely nothing.
I reached out to people around so I could sell it to them, but because they saw how desperate I was, they charged me a very high percentage, 40 percent. I couldn’t just settle for that kind of loss, because I was already looking at losing about twenty thousand naira. At that moment, I deeply regretted making such a mistake.
I went online and asked some friends how to convert airtime back into cash. I was given a list of apps and websites to try. I searched through all of them and finally settled for one that offered a 20% cut, which meant I would lose ten thousand naira. I accepted my loss and moved on.
Ever since then, no matter how hasty or pressured the situation is, I never rush to make airtime transactions on my phone again. Not just airtime transactions, but regular transactions as well.
On that day, I almost ran mad because that fifty thousand naira in my account was money I had been saving for a long time and had planned to use for something important. Losing ten thousand naira from it was extremely painful, but it was far better than leaving the airtime on my phone just to make calls. I would have been so angry during those calls if they had even happened at all.
Thanks!
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Airtime worth fifty thousand naira, is something I don't think I'd handle calmly. Fifty thousand is such a large sum to let go of just like that. This was a very relatable post. Thanks for sharing.
That day, I wished that kind of money was not in my wallet to have prevented that mistake from going through
Ah, I can totally imagine the panic when that airtime dropped - 50k just like that. It's crazy how one tiny extra zero can cause so much wahala. I'm glad you were able to recover some of it. Honesty, this is such a relatable experience. Thanks for sharing
That experience taught me a lesson to be careful and never be in a haste whenever I'm making a transaction like that