The Voice - Consumer's Voice

My eggs!

In July I bought an incubator from a guy in Palapye. I loaded eggs for the first time and they fell to the bottom of the incubator and broke. I reported it and sent pictures and he promised to replace it with a new one the following Tuesday. In the meantime, I had fresh eggs from the farm which had to be incubated within 10 days. He later asked to change to Thursday and he now wanted to fix it, and I refused and told him to stick to our agreement.

My husband went to Palapye to return the incubator a few days later to swap and when he got to Palapye, there was no new incubator and instead he just replaced the motor on the one we were returning. I only noticed when it arrived that it was actually the same one. I however went ahead and loaded the eggs which were about to expire. Some had already expired by the time.

When I checked the incubator when I got back from the farm I noticed the exact same thing had happened. The whole bottom tray had dropped the eggs the previous day and the upper two trays were not turning properly. I immediately reported this and he promised to replace the incubator by the end of the week. After that he had stopped taking my calls and not responding to my Whatsapp messages but leaving them on read. I requested a refund because I could now see that the new incubator is not forthcoming and I was continuing to lose fresh eggs which needed to be incubated within 10 days or less.

I paid him P5,000 and was never supplied with a fully functioning incubator. I have lost more than 700 eggs so far and still counting. All I need is a refund so I can buy a new one from elsewhere and stop incurring further losses. Please help me Richard. What are my options?

Your options are simple. Section 15 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that goods must be "of good quality, in good working order and free of defects". Clearly that's not the case with your incubator. You followed the correct procedure when you returned it and allowed him to offer you one of the three Rs, a refund, replacement or a repair and he had the right to repair it. Once. The Act also says that if the same problem occurs again within three months the consumer can now demand either a replacement or refund. There's no second chance to repair something. So then he had just two options. Replace it completely or refund you and clearly he's decided not to replace it. So it's simple. It's refund time.

I've contacted him and explained the rules and we'll wait to see what he says. Maybe he likes the idea of being famous? I suspect not.

My shoes are falling apart!

I bought Timberland boots from a store for P1,200. I only wore the boot for 3 days after collecting and it was already showing signs of tearing. I returned the boot back to the shop and they took it and told me they will wait to hear from their boss who is the shop owner.

I waited and went back to them after two days and when I got there they told me their boss said he will discount it by P200. I told them that won't help as this is supposed to be a Timberland, the toughest shoe by far. I told them I would like to speak to the owner or they give me his numbers but they refused.

I returned to them again after a day after I told them I want my money back and they should tell him that but they're telling me a different story, that he said he won't discount neither would he also accept the shoe back as it looks like I misused it but the receipt are there to prove and the day I returned the shoe and it is still there at their store. The owner said he can't be contacted and doesn't want to meet up with me.

How can you help me with this situation?

I'm not an expert but I know Timberland has a reputation for producing footwear that is almost indestructible. I don't believe they start falling apart after only three days.

However, I think I know the reason why. I think they're fakes and I think this for a few reasons. Firstly, it's the simple fact that they're falling apart. Then there's the price. I checked online and genuine Timberland Shoes like the ones you bought cost at least twice as much as you paid. Then there's the final clue. Timberland told me so. I contacted them with the name of the store and they told me that this store isn't an authorised Timberland retailer. I think this store might end up in some serious trouble. They deserve it.