The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Dear Consumer’s Voice #1

I wonder if you can help me understand this Baariz product which I understand heals HIV/AIDS which I am NOT sure but i have had someone who testified was healed by this product. How true is it about this Baariz Tabs??

The Baariz "treatment" is complete nonsense. In my view it's no more than a scam. A very dangerous scam indeed.

On their web site they clearly claim that their product can “cure” HIV but they give no actual description of what their product actually is other than it "has herbal origin" or that it is a "magic drug".

In fact they give no idea of how their product is supposed to work and no real evidence of it actually doing anything. There show what look like test results on their web site apparently showing that people have gone from being HIV+ to HIV- but there is no reason to believe that these are genuine. Also, the references to scientific studies refer to "in vitro" tests of various substances having "anti-HIV" properties. "In vitro" means "in glass", in other words in a test tube or petri dish. That’s nothing remotely like a human trial.

There is a reference on the Baariz web page to a clinical trial in humans but the results are no more than a single graph. That's not evidence, that’s just a made-up pie chart. There appear to be no other trials of their product done by unbiased qualified authorities.

Finally, and without wishing to seem like a conspiracy theorist, if this really worked don't you think the big pharmaceutical companies would have taken this up by now? Not for humanitarian reasons, but simply to make enormous amounts of money? Despite what “alternative health” campaigners say, the pharmaceutical industry is always the first to buy up anything that will make them lots of money, including a “cure” for HIV/AIDS.

Finally, anyone thinking of bringing Baariz to Botswana should be careful. Advertising such products contravenes Sections 396-399 of The Penal Code and they could end up in prison!

Dear Consumer’s Voice #2

A few weeks ago I called a cab company because I needed a cab to get me from school to my sisters house. One of their cab drivers collected me. When we got to my sisters house, I paid him P50. The charge for their cabs was P25. He said he did not have any change. We asked people around my sisters complex and they did not have change either. As I was going to need a cab later in the day, I told him this and he agreed to pick me up later. When I called him later he made an excuse about having to transport another customer and I either had to wait for an hour or find other cab. I took the second option. I told him that I’d need transport the next day from school and he agreed to pick me up. When I called, he had another excuse and said he’d drop the money off at my house. He said this about twice to no avail. For the next couple of days, I was fed a list of excuses. About 2 weeks later my mother called him and demanded the money and he said he would give it to me that Monday. He didn’t because he “wasn’t working” that day (after saying he was). I called the cab company and told them about this problem twice but they aren’t taking me very seriously and I’m quite annoyed. I feel its not fair that they take advantage of me in this manner. Can you help?

Clearly this is not good enough. I can understand how frustrating this might be for you. Some may say it’s only P25 but that’s not the point, there’s a principle at stake. You are owed the money and are being consistently lied to by the driver. I suggest we talk to the manager of the cab company.

Update. We spoke to the manager. He fixed it. The P25 refunded and an apology was delivered.