Must I pay?
Good day Mr Harriman I have a question.
In 2020 my then boyfriend bought me a car and I had an emergency and ended up pawning it with a pawn shop. When you pawn your car they change the bluebook to their company name. Things went south and I gave him back the car. He sold it to somebody who gave him half the money and said he will pay the remaining balance so that the pawn shop is paid and he gets the blue book. He failed to pay the remaining balance. I paid two instalments and waited for the money but the person who bought the car never paid. So the debt is still in my name. I acknowledge that.
So here is the issue. They are saying I should pay the whole amount. I have no problem doing or making arrangements for that debt to be cleared but after I clear I get the blue book back in my name. Now they are telling me that the blue book has been collected from their office and it has been change to another person. I don't know who that is. I never sent anyone to collect the blue book. They should have not given out the blue book because I was still owing them.
They are saying the individual who gave out the blue book is no longer their employee. How does an employee give back a bluebook of a car that's still owing? How do I go about this?
I'm really sorry to hear about this. It's a complete mess.
The pawnshop industry is a very dangerous place for consumers. It preys on people who are desperate to raise some money and who either don't understand how it works or they're too desperate to notice or care. It's also an industry with a lot of characters who are uncaring and suspicious.
I'm sure you understand that you made several mistakes here, as did several other people. Your first mistake was to hand back the car to your former boyfriend when the bluebook had been given to the pawnshop. It was also a mistake for your former boyfriend to try to sell it and to accept only partial payment for the vehicle. It was another mistake for the buyer to take the car without the bluebook. The pawnshop then made a mistake when they gave the bluebook to some other person. Who was this person they gave it to? Was it the person who bought the car from your former boyfriend or someone else?
I think the best thing you can do it to meet with the pawnshop managers and discuss what it's best to do. Without doubt you'll owe them money and you have to understand that you'll never get the car back. You should also contact NBFIRA who oversee pawnshops to see if they can offer any advice. They might be interested in investigating the pawnshop to establish how they could have been so careless.
Must I pay 10% for the delay?
On 12th July I placed an order with a local company to import a gadget for me and made a down payment of P1500. They promised to have delivered the items in a few weeks and it's currently more than 2 months. Recently I requested that if the product hasn't arrived within their stipulated ETA I should be refunded so I can order with a different company. They are now charging me a 10% cancellation fee and I find it unfair because of the lost opportunity. This gadget was for a project I lost because of their delay. Can you help me get my full refund?.
I think we need to educate this guy on Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act. This says that when "a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to … timely performance and completion of those services". It also says that a consumer is entitled to "timely notice of any unavoidable delay".
I'm sure we all understand that delays happen but it's important for suppliers to take responsibility for managing any delays and for keeping us updated. I think it's simple. In this case he failed to do this and HE needs to take responsibility and not mention any silliness about 10% penalties. Let's both tell him this?
Consumer Watchdog is a (fiercely) independent consumer rights and advocacy organisation campaigning on behalf of the consumers of Botswana, helping them to know their rights and to stand up against abuse. Contact us at consumerwatchdog@bes.bw or find us on Facebook by searching for Consumer Watchdog Botswana. Everything we do for the consumers of Botswana has always been and always will be entirely free.
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