I am not trying to avoid legitimate charges. I simply want to understand how these amounts have been calculated and why the declared values of my used personal belongings have increased so significantly.
I cannot afford to pay ₦907,908.23 in charges for these old, used and sometimes faulty devices. This was completely unexpected because I genuinely believed I was simply sending my own used belongings to my family in Nigeria.
IF YOU WANT TO SEND AN ITEM TO NIGERIA FROM ABROAD DON'T USE FEDEX. I REPEAT DONT USE FEDEX.
I've always had a couple of old phones that I wanted to send back home but never got the chance. This year, I finally decided to send them to my dad and siblings. I also came across two oddly cheap gaming laptops on eBay. They were used and had faults but were still functional, so I bought them and decided to send them back home to my brother and sister. My cousin also gave me two of her old phones to send to the family.
I have even gone down the rabbit hole of other Nigerians having similar experiences online, including discussions on Nairaland and social media, and I have found many complaints about people's experiences with FedExNG, Customs and NDLEA. There are also allegations from some people that customs valuations and charges can be inflated or excessive. I cannot personally say that those allegations are true, but after what has happened with my packages, I can understand why people are frustrated.