Lagos is a city that will humble you, especially when you’re looking for a house.
It doesn’t matter how organised you are, how well you plan, or how much sense things make on paper. The moment you start dealing with house agents, Lagos introduces you to a completely different operating system.
In this edition of Lagos Hustle Diaries, we meet a customer support lead whose entire job is keeping things calm, professional, and resolved, no matter what comes at her. By day (or night), she manages people’s problems with patience and precision. Outside of that? She is navigating a city that creates new problems faster than anyone can resolve them.
From bizarre house agent encounters to everyday moments that feel too unreal to be scripted, her story captures a different side of the Lagos hustle; the kind you don’t always plan for, but somehow learn to laugh through.
Because if Lagos teaches you anything, it’s this: sometimes, the best way to survive the chaos is to turn it into a story.
1. Before we get into Lagos agents and customer complaints, tell us about you. Who are you outside of work, and how did you find your way into customer support?
Mercy: My name is Mercy, and outside of work I’m a bedrotter and netizen. I recently started as a customer support lead after I lost my previous job.
2. As a customer support lead, your job is literally to stay calm, solve problems, and keep people happy under pressure. Lagos, on the other hand, seems designed to test all three. What’s it like existing in both worlds?
Mercy: Lmaoooooooooooo. It is crazy, and I’m running mad almost every day, which is why I cut my hair off when I got the job. But seriously, good food, great K-drama, friends and family have been doing a great job in keeping sane.
3. What does a typical day look like for you, from work to navigating Lagos life? At what point does the chaos usually start?
Mercy: My shift starts at 5:30 pm and ends at 1:30 am because I work with an international client with a different time zone.
As a lead, I ensure my agents arrive at the office early enough for calibration, and I monitor their conversations in real time. I also come in whenever there is an escalation. I review customer reports and ratings for each agent just to identify improvement areas.
Right now, we’ve all transitioned to a remote setting, which is even crazier, because now I have to make sure my agents don’t sleep off at night. So, back to your question, the chaos starts at 11 pm because that’s when they get tired and start to fall asleep, and I don’t blame them.
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4. Let’s get into it. Everyone in Lagos has a house agent story. What’s one experience you had that made you pause and think, “Yeah… this city is not normal?”
Mercy: I think it was in 2023, when an agent took my friend and me to a fungus-infested, waterlogged, dilapidated house (I almost cried that day) and said that when we pay, the landlord will start building our own part of the house.
The second one was when I went to check out a mini flat, and they said it was going for 2.2m yearly and 3.5m as the total package. This house didn’t have a cabinet in its kitchen, no water heater, the wall painting was bad, the floor tiling was ugly, so please, what am I paying 2.2m for?
The third one was when an agent advertised an apartment for 2m and said it was for young professionals and students. I died that day because where students wan see the money, where me wey be young professional wan see 2m for a small house.
These agents lie a lot, too. They’ll tell you the house is close to the bus stop, but when you’re going to check the house, you’ll be asking yourself if it is Benin Republic you’re going to or Ikweji’s country.
They’ll also tell you to pay a one-time inspection fee, until you get to their office and meet another agent claiming to be an inspection supervisor, and his own pay is 20k (their mouth is always quick to call that 20k).
You asked for one, I gave you like 5. Shey you see say me sef no normal? Blame Lagos ooo.
5. If you had to rate Lagos like a customer experience, what would the review say? Where does it excel, where does it fail, and would you recommend it to a friend?
Mercy: Lagos is an interesting place. I’ve lived in Osogbo before, and I couldn’t make it a home because Lagos kept calling me. I think Lagos excels when it comes to opportunities, fun places, networking, and nightlife. It fails in regulation and maintenance; things are just done anyhow without anyone getting checked.
When it comes to recommendations, I wouldn’t say yes or no because it really just depends on what the friend wants and priorities, but what I’ll say is that come live in Lagos for like 8 months to a year and then decide if it is for you or not.
Read: Lagos Hustle Diaries: From Poetry to Marketing with Joseph Awujoola-Kalohun
6. You handle escalations for a living; difficult people, impossible situations, tight timelines. Has Lagos ever out-escalated you? Tell us about a moment where even your professional patience had absolutely nothing left to offer.
Mercy: Lagos tests me every day, even as someone who doesn’t go out a lot. But wait first, wetin concern professional patience with Lagos? They are worlds apart o. Shey na Agbero I wan dey follow talk “work ethics” abi “mutual respect”?
Abi na Lagos house agents I wan dey tell “integrity at work” or “project timeline”?
Lagos no send professional experience. You give the city what it wants and deserves.
7. Between work deadlines and the madness of the city, what keeps you sane? Is it humour, denial, group chats, or just accepting your fate?
Mercy: Hmm. Family, Friends, Prayers, social media, K-drama, music, dance, and yeah, accepting your fate because shey you get choice before? I plan to go out more at night once things settle down for me because I felt good the times I’ve been outside at nights.
8. Do you ever find yourself tweeting or joking about Lagos experiences while you’re still inside the chaos? How do you turn real-life frustration into something funny or relatable?
Mercy: This is a skill every Lagosian has already even without “dipping” it. I feel like the song “I’ve still got joy in chaos” was for Lagosians. The spirit inspired the singer because of Lagosians prayers.
9. In the middle of everything, what are those small Lagos wins that genuinely make your day?
Mercy: I don’t think I have any tbh. I only have personal wins.
10. Complete This Sentence: “Lagos is…”
Mercy: Lagos is a wonderment.