Sunday, 17 November 2024

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can I get my money back?

I bought a car Mazda CX5 for P92,000 from a car dealership in Mogoditshane on 17th October and it immediately gave me problem of overheating. The salesman said we should bring back the car so he can attend to it. I left it with them on the 18th and collected it on the 21st then travelled to Gantsi.

On our way the car started losing power and could not reach 120km/hr. The salesman said we should observe it and give him feedback. On the 25th the car stopped with me in the middle of the jungle. We called the mechanic to diagnose for us and he said it was injectors. I asked if it we can drive it to Gaborone and he said its best we tow the car. On the 28th we towed the car to Gaborone and we paid for the expenses. We left the car at the garage and collected it on 5th November and travelled back to Gantsi. The car stopped 165km to Gantsi. It was overheating and speed not exceeding 80km/hr. We called the salesman again he said we should let it cool down before proceeding with our journey. The car refused to perform and we called him again and he said we should tow the car to Gantsi. So we towed the car to Gantsi and paid P1,800.

When we talk to him to refund and find a way to come get the car in Gantsi he started being angry and told us to bring back the car and get our money. When reminding him that he is responsible for the cost he said we should use the balance of P3,000 that is left with us but we paid for towing from where we were stuck to Gantsi. When telling him that last time when we towed the car to Gaborone we paid P8,000 after negotiating with the towing company. I need help to get my money back for the car and the money we used to tow the car.


I'm not an attorney, but I suspect there's a mixture of good and bad news for you. The good news is that the car dealership said they would repay you the price of the car, the P92,000. I hope you got that in writing, even if it's just a WhatsApp message.

However, it might be a challenge to get back the towing fees. I'm not trying to defend this dealership that sold you an unroadworthy car, but it's not their fault that you were so far away from them when the car broke down.

The most important thing when you buy a second-hand car is to always get it thoroughly inspected by a mechanic before you pay the dealer. The inspection might cost you a few hundred, but it might save you tens of thousands.

What can I do?

Someone close to me is claiming to have made over P4 million through Yellow Card and is busy paying money every day saying its clearance fees, income tax and I'm told she has been doing this for over a year now. I tried to warn her but she doesn't want to listen.

The victim was told her cheque is at FedEx and was taken to BURS who demanded P19,000 tax and then returned the cheque back to FedEx after the P19,000 was paid by the victim. This other relative tells me she is owed P90,000 being the money the victim keeps on borrowing to pay for those unending levies that are demanded by various financial bodies including the IMF, which are said to be clearance fees for the money to be deposited into the victim's account.

Her debts are mounting every day because she claims the P4 million cheque is waiting for her somewhere. Unfortunately she is keeping this to herself because she thinks soon she will be P4 million richer. I found out the money paid to these guys is over P200,000.


This is tragic. As most of us will know none of what she's been told is true. She's not dealing with Yellow Card, Fedex, BURS or the IMF. She's dealing with scammers.

Thankfully, she has people like you who are skeptical and who are trying to persuade her that it's a scam. However, very often in situations like this, the victim is so emotionally committed to what they hope will happen that they can't see the truth. I think the best thing we can do is report this to the police. We know that a crime is taking place, and we need law enforcement to do their job.

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