Saturday 29 May 2021

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my profile?

Good evening Richard, Kindly advise me on this. I had a business dealing with a particular graphic designer to design my company profile a month ago and he said I should pay the amount in full which was P600 but I told him I only had P500 in which the P100 balance will be paid when he delivers the document.

The gentleman has since started giving me excuses when I ask him for the document since I had told him that its urgent and he promised it would be ready in a weekend. As we speak it's more than 5 weeks and my concern is that I don't know the offices of this gentleman and he doesn't take my calls anymore. He picks and listens or just leaves it to ring until it cuts and he texts to say he will call and never calls. I am asking what do I do when I am treated this way. I have his names and his business names if you may need to know them. Kindly assist me with urgency you may seem fit. 

I have good news and bad news. Let's begin with the bad news. It looks like you found someone completely unreliable to develop your company profile. The sort of person who takes your money and then does nothing for it. The sort of person who then refuses to take your calls. The sort of person who you can't rely on. 

The lesson here is that even for a relatively small transaction like this, you need something in writing. It's 2021, so it doesn't need to be on paper, it can be just an email or a WhatsApp conversation but it must be a permanent record of what was agreed.

The good news is very simple. I contacted the graphic designer by WhatsApp at 1:33pm and at 1:35pm he messaged me saying that you'll get your profile in two days. Let's see if he keeps his word. 

Update: He did.

Where's my mattress?

Good afternoon Mr Harriman. I bought a bed on September 25th. The bed started getting uncomfortable and springs being easily felt on the mattress after a month of use. I reported the matter on December 4th and was told that they would place an order for a new mattress set to replace the one I had bought. On January 16th I visited the store after they never got in contact like they said the will. And they said I will have the mattress before end of February as the delays were caused by closing of the manufacturer because of holidays. On March 27th I went back to the store where I was told they cancelled the order because a certain lady who apparently shares the same surname with me said she the problem was the base not the mattress without checking our details and names. She said she will correct the mistake and we will have the bed replaced latest by 15th April which it never did. On April 20th I got a call confirming that they will come and change the mattress. The following day they said the bed hasn't arrived and she will see to it that it gets here. Friday 14th May I called them where I was assisted by a lady I didn't get her name saying she will talk to the managers and get back to me before the end of they day of which they never did.


What a mess. Just how difficult is it to get you the bed you're owed? Is it really that difficult for the store to contact their manufacturer, place an order for a replacement and then get it delivered to you? I don't see how it can be that difficult.

Section 14 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that when consumers obtain services from a supplier, they have "a right to … timely performance and completion of those services (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay".

The Act doesn't say exactly what "timely" means but I think we can all agree that your experience hasn't been 'timely' at all. Your bed started to fail in October 2020, you informed them in December, and it's taken them five months to attend to it. That can't be seen by anyone as 'timely'.

I'll get in touch with the store and see if they need a calendar. Maybe that will help them keep track of time.

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