On the Road to Nairobi Episode I – Shopping in Kampala

After three hours on a small 12 seater van that was meant to seat 8, we arrived in Kampala.

We needed to grab dinner and purchase some food before we boarded our night bus to Nairobi around 7 PM. The drive was scheduled to take 13 hours so having some snacks seemed like a good idea. In downtown Kampala, there is a shopping outlet area with a cluster of several stores. The largest of them is called Nakumatt store which resembles a miniature Wal-Mart. I am guessing that this store’s size would be roughly a quarter of a Walmart’s.

Once we had arrived at the store, I remembered that I needed calcium pills to supplement my diet. This is because a typical Ugandan meal consists of rice, matooke (mashed plantains), potatoes, sweet potatoes, beef or pork with sauce, cassava, and sometimes eggs.

Food is very carb heavy and lack protein - but most importantly calcium is missing in their regular diet. You will see many elderly Ugandans who suffer from osteoporosis and other bone – related ailments…

Going back to the Nakumatt story, I found some cupcakes, macademia nuts, and water. I also found a bottle of 30 calcium pills imported from US that cost 30,000 UGX which is $15 USD. Nearby store employee explained that taxes and transportation costs just made things very expensive. Worse, the pills only amounted to 30% of recommended daily dosage which meant I needed to take 3 a day. But I decided taking 1 a day should be sufficient so I grabbed two bottles.

After paying for the items and exiting the store, I ran into Scott, my fellow intern, who offered to give his extra calcium pills. So I decided to return one bottle and keep one just in case I needed some extra pills.

Here is where things got screwy. I went in and approached the employee at the Returns store counter

Me: Hi. I am looking to return this item that I purchased 5 minutes ago.
Employee: (Grimacing) What’s wrong with the item?
Me: Nothing. I just realized I don’t need two bottles and need just one.
Employee: (After some hesitation) Ok. We can refund this item. I’ll go ahead and issue a store credit.
Me: Actually, I’ll take cash since I don’t live in Kampala and it is very unlikely that I’ll need to spend 30,000 UGX…
Employee: That’s store policy. We can’t give your money back.
Me: No, on your receipt it only says that returns after 7 days are invalid. I don’t see any prints about store credits.
Employee: I can’t help you – talk to the manager over there.
After five minutes:

Returns Manager: May I help you?
Me: I need to return this item.
Returns Manager: What’s wrong with it?
Me: There is nothing wrong with it. I have too many pills and I just need one bottle.
Returns Manager: Did you open it?
Me: Does it look like it’s opened? (Already getting riled up) The plastic band is still attached.
Returns Manager: Ok… Let me issue a store…
Me: Nope I don’t need a store credit. I don’t live here. I don’t need to buy 30,000 worth of stuff from here.
Returns Manager: It’s policy.
Me: Policy only works if two parties agree upon a condition and both parties are aware of the condition. The whole credit only policy is news to me. I don’t see the policy announced anywhere and it’s not on the receipt.
Returns Manager: I understand but it’s policy.
Me: Nope, you are not understanding me. I have been told about this policy five minutes ago. Unacceptable.

At that point, another guy in green lumbers in and talks to the Returns Manager rapidly. I got really pissed and decided to repeat my story. I told him I won’t leave until I got my cash back. I emphasized my position with some nice language illustrating my frustration.

Green guy seemed to get irritated and walked over to a counter without a word and grabbed the money and handed to me.

Lesson #1: Don’t take things for granted or you will find unnecessary drama.