04/05/2026
Hi fam,
So I’m back again with another story time.
I have this amazing customer of mine. This woman patronizes me well, and one thing about me, I love giving my customers little gifts. No matter how small your order is, I always like to add something extra. It could be extra yaji, peanuts, kulikuli, crayfish, Maggi, anything at all. Just my own little way of saying “thank you for choosing me.”
Now this particular customer, I’ve been consistently adding gifts to her orders for a long time. But one thing I noticed was, she never acknowledged it. Never said thank you. Never even mentioned the extra items.
And me, I’m naturally a very appreciative person. If somebody gives me even the smallest thing, I’ll genuinely thank them. So somehow, I kept expecting maybe one day she’d say:
“Ah ah Binta, thank you o, I saw the extra yaji.”
Or,
“Thank you for the peanuts you added.”
But nothing.
I did it once, twice, countless times, still no acknowledgement.
One day, I finally asked her jokingly:
“Did you see the extra things I added?”
She replied:
“Oh yes, I saw them.”
And that was it.
No thank you.
No reaction.
Nothing.
At some point, I decided to stop adding the extra gifts. Not out of anger, I just genuinely wanted to see if she even noticed them.
So for about three different orders, I stopped.
Then one day she called me:
“Ah ah Binta, I no see peanuts.”
“I no see kulikuli.”
“I no see yaji.”
And I was shocked.
So you noticed all along?
I just laughed and told her jokingly:
“So all these times you saw them, you never even tell me thank you.”
And her response was:
“Ah, I thought it was a normal thing now since I patronize you well.”
Honestly, that response threw me off balance a little.
Now I want to ask:
Am I overthinking this?
Because personally, I feel no matter how small a gift or kind gesture is, a simple “thank you” costs nothing. Appreciation encourages people to do more.
Vendors in the house, have you experienced something like this before?
And customers too, what do you think about this situation?