In June, I bought an iPhone 7 Plus from a local company I had seen on Facebook that sells electronics. On June 23rd I met up with the lady and she gave a phone that was sealed and assured me that it was brand new.
At that time, she did not have any forms with her for both of us to sign the warranty card she said we would sign, let alone the receipt. We went to the nearest Internet cafe in main mall where we had met for her to print it. I signed the form and she signed later after I told her to sign because she seemed to be forgetting that we are both signing the form.
She said she does not have a receipt book with her so she will not give it to me right away but will email it or send it through WhatsApp when she got home, of which she did not to date.
On July 1st my headsets were only working on one side. She told me it was probably because I stepped on them as she has never had such complaints before. She proceeded to say that phone accessories are not covered on the warranty card. On 15th July, I noticed the flashlight was not working and thought it was just a problem for that time so I just left it as is. However, a few days later I noticed that also the back camera that was not functioning as it was just blank when I tried using it. On the 19th, I woke up to a phone that was malfunctioning as I could not hear people during calls and they cannot hear me too. Additionally, whenever I try to place WhatsApp video and audio calls, they fail.
On the 19th I went back with another complaint about all I just mentioned and all she said was I probably dropped the phone. She went on to say I probably dropped it in water even though this model is waterproof. Again, she mentioned that I was the first ever to complain about her products.
I am therefore seeking for assistance as it is clear that her herself has no intentions whatsoever to assist me and she is not responding to me anymore.
What sort of phone retailer can’t give you a receipt or proof of the warranty? What sort of phone retailer makes up a series of excuses when the phone has a long series of faults? She’s entitled to claim you dropped the phone or stepped on the earphones when there’s some evidence to back up those claims. Finally, what sort of retailer uses a company name like this one did (which I’ve hidden for now) when no such company has been registered with CIPA?
The answer is simple. A phone retailer that isn’t really a phone retailer. I’ve contacted her and asked what she plans to do to honour the warranty that the law requires she offers you.
Is this pricing allowed?
Is there any reason shops in Botswana continue to sell us stuff at the same price as in South Africa but in Pula. For example I bought a couch at P4,999 and when I went online I noticed it's R4,999 in South Africa. Is this OK? Does government allow this?
You’ve asked a really important question. I think we’ve all seen this in many stores that also operate in South Africa. The number used to show the price is either the same or very close to that shown in SA, just like in your example. Just a few days ago a member of our Facebook group posted a picture of a tub of ice cream that still had its South African price displayed. The South Africa price was R52.99 and the local price was shown as P50.95. If the current exchange rate was used accurately the price to us should have been around P41.In the past we’ve asked some of these stores why there has been such a difference. They told us that that it came from the added transport costs but that doesn’t make sense as they transport goods further within SA. They’ve also claimed it related to taxes, duties and labour costs but none of that makes any real sense.
In 2015 the Ministry of Trade and Industry said that it was an “unfair trade practice" if "the Pula/ Rand exchange rate differential is not passed onto the consumer" and they warned that businesses not doing this should "stop forthwith and failure to do so may result in their trade licenses being reviewed, which may lead to their suspension or cancellation”. I think it’s time the authorities took another look at that idea, don’t you?
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