January 10,2023

Cyril Pinheiro, a Lagos-based car dealer, has narrated how the key fob of his Toyota Corolla got missing after shipping the car through Grimaldi, the agency responsible for the releasing of shipments at Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML), Tincan Island, Apapa, Lagos.

Pinheiro told FIJ that it was not the first time his car parts would be missing with Grimaldi and that he would not let it slide this time because his Toyota Corolla car with the shipment number S3-22652166 was declared non-running with an alternative sensor key provided by the agency after it had been declared running in the US.

“I import cars as a side hustle. I deal a lot with shipping, especially with Grimaldi. There is a trend that when you ship in cars from the US, because basically that is where I ship in my cars, things would normally go missing from your cars. There was a time when I had an extra bumper go missing. There was a time I imported a Toyota Corolla, the sports edition, and all the paddings got cleaned away,” Pinheiro said.

“In August 2022, I imported a Toyota Corolla, 2009 model, shipped through Grimaldi, from the Port of Baltimore in the United States of America. Now, my friend who bought that car in the US made sure that car was in good condition, albeit partly damaged along the rear. The car could drive perfectly and normally. I was there when my car was coming out of the dockyard so that I would not begin to suspect my clearing agent on a missing part of the car.”

Pinheiro, who was shocked after his car was declared “non-running” by the agency, was charged extra N6,000 as a non-running fee and an additional N2,000 for forklift.

“I learnt Grimaldi declared the car non-running because the key fob was not working. I knew Grimaldi was not saying the truth because my friend personally snapped and sent me the complete key fob of the car, with all the buttons and everything tied around the steering compartment,” he said.

“What the guys did was to replace the key fob with one dead black key. The key could not start the car. That was why I think they declared it non-running.”

Pinheiro described how costly and challenging it was for him to get a tow vehicle and obtain a temporary car key simply because the one provided by Grimaldi was not working.

“I got a tow vehicle because at the time there was work ongoing on the Marine bridge. Then I got a temporary key for N15,000 at Tincan that could at least start the car. I knew I was still going to spend more money to do the actual key fob, which I actually did for N35,000. That is N58,000 spent unbudgeted in this era when clearing of cars cuts throats,” he said.

On September 5, Pinheiro wrote an email to Grimaldi, stating his displeasures and asking for a refund of his money.

“Five days later, I wrote an email to Grimaldi. My point was: how could a car that was certified as running by Grimaldi in the US be declared non-running in Nigeria? The same Grimaldi. You picked up a car in one condition in the US but it got to Nigeria and found it in another condition,” he said.

“If it was something mechanical, it would have been understandable, but they declared it non-running because the key fob was missing. It meant only one thing: the people who certified it in the US met the car with its key fob because they must have driven it into the dockyard, and it got to Nigeria without the key fob. I want them to take full responsibility for the charges of N58,000 I paid to bring the car back to life.”

Although Pinheiro sent a reminder email correspondence to Grimaldi on September 21, he did not get any response until December 6.

Without prejudice,” said Grimaldi, “we regret the unfortunate incident of the missing key, and we have almost concluded our investigation on the matter.”

“In the meantime, kindly furnish us with an original copy of the replacement invoice as soon as possible.”

Pinheiro told FIJ that he had sent the proforma invoice but that he was yet to be refunded his N58,000.

“I’ve sent two follow-up emails but have not received any response from Grimaldi. Absolutely nothing. This is why Nigerians do not take matters up, because at the end of the day, the matters just drag, and you give in,” he said.

At press time, Grimaldi had not responded to the email sent by FIJ on Saturday