Hi Richard! I need help with getting my refund. I purchased my sister an iPhone XS on June 8th in Palapye. The phone started experiencing various problems a few days after the purchase. It would just shut off when in use but with a high battery percentage level, and after turning on, it would refuse to connect to WiFi. Additionally, the phone battery would die at 20%. After that, we returned it to the shop in Palapye so they could fix it. They then sent the phone to their main branch in Gaborone for repair, they had it for 2 weeks. My sister was extremely inconvenienced by this because she had nothing to use for weeks.
The same issues persisted after it had been repaired. Additionally, it returned with a battery life warning that wasn't present when it left for repair. The only thing that had changed is that battery would now die at 5% rather than 20%.
When we returned it to the Palapye shop, they advised us that a technician in Gaborone would need to fix it once more. On July 23, 2023, we took the phone to the store at Rail Park, we were told to return on July 24, since the technicians were not available. On the 24th, I informed the store manager that I no longer wanted the phone serviced. She then informed her boss, who informed her that he cannot issue a refund because the phone has a scratch. Their boss refused to meet with me so that he could completely explain why he is unable to issue a refund. He was not even in the store, instead, he was talking to his manager in the parking lot.
Enough is enough. I respect your patience but now it's time for action. As readers of The Voice will know, Section 15 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that consumers are entitled "to receive goods which are of good quality, in good working order and free of defects." Section 16 (2) goes on to say that a consumer can return goods that are faulty within 6 months and receive one of the three 'R's: a repair, a replacement or a refund. However, it's up to the store to decide which they offer. The store can decide to repair the faulty item instead of immediately offering you a replacement or a refund. Importantly for you, it says very clearly that if a supplier repairs a faulty item and the same problem happens again within the next 3 months, they lose the right to repair it again. At that stage they can only offer us a replacement or a refund. Maybe it's time to remind the store about this?
Where's my refund?
I went to a shop in Palapye on 24th July. I brought my shoe for resizing, what surprised me was that you pay before your shoes can be attended. I asked them why is it so they told me is the policy of the shop. Then I asked her, what if I'm not satisfied with your service, they said I will be refunded. I paid that P100 cash. I was told the service will take 5 days, so they will call me when they are done.
I waited for the whole week, no call. Then on Saturday 29th I went to the shop to check on the progress. I was surprised to be told that they are still waiting for the machine for resizing from Gaborone, something I wasn't told at first. As I was on my way to SA I decided to take my shoes and ask for refund. I was told I will be refunded, up to today there's no refund of P100. I called again today, to my surprise I'm told the refund takes a month to be done and its only done in Gabs.
I know we can't expect miracles from stores but there are certain things we have a right to expect. One thing is "timely performance and completion" of services we pay for. Section 14 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that. It's very simple, this store should have told you how long your shoe resizing should take. If there were delays then they should have told you that as well because the Act says they must give you "timely notice of any unavoidable delay".
I contacted the store. They were very apologetic and processed the refund immediately. I just wish that more stores reacted so quickly.
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