Construction is a jungle. If you’re a rookie builder doing a project or setting up your home, it is very easy to get scammed by brokers who promise to help you save on cash. If you’re a wildebeest in the jungle, hungry lions will feast on you.
But how do brokers scam unsuspecting builders under the guise of cost saving? Contractor and transporter Caroline Gikunda addressed this as follows:
“There are a times you helplessly watch as your client is being fried by brokers.
We so much focus on the price that we over look the most important aspect of quality and the right quantity and measures.
Times and again, I have received calls from my clients with “Huwezi nipunguzia hiyo kokoto??? Shetani Bin Nyoka anasema ataniletea na elfu tatu chini”
Running a yard by the highway, you will be approached by the brokers. “Mama…Tunaomba tukukatie tonnes tatu hapa kwako utuangalilie chochote”!!
Poor client…the broker is selling off your 3 tonnes on the highway, and since you don’t have a weigh bridge at your site, you are likely to believe the original loading receipts that reads 16tonnes. 3000 off your price, 7500 off your load.
Others will compromise the quality of your ballast by mixing the 1/2 inch, 3/4 with half the load of chips. Only some very enlightened clients can tell the difference.
We have come across scrupulous traders mixing river sand with filling sand and soil.
How eight men scammed Safaricom Sh. 500 million through Fuliza
We watch helplessly as the client is inclined to the cheap prices. Do your business with genuine transporters.
It’s common sense that a broker who is hiring a truck from me because he doesn’t own his, will hardly offer prices lower than myself.
If you are very careful with the price, please be equally careful with the quality and the quantity.