The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay?

I was renting a flat in Gaborone since January 2022. The initial lease was for 1 year which was subsequently extended twice to January 2025. In September 2024 my employer wrote me a letter of transfer from with effect from 1 October 2024. On the 23rd September 2024, I gave the property administrators one calenda months' notice to terminate the lease agreement with effect from 31 October 2024 and provided them with the letter of transfer from my employer. I vacated the premises on 26 September 2024 and in October 2024, I repainted the flat as per the lease agreement at my own cost and carried the required maintenance. I paid the October 2024 rent and paid my water bill and then applied for termination of the water account which was in my name. The property administrator then informed me that my lease agreement had no termination clause and I am liable to pay rent for the remaining period of the lease should they fail to get another tenant. They even asked me to look for tenants as well.

I need your advice in this matter. The administrators have sent me statements for the 3 from November 2024 to January 2025, which I am reluctant to pay since in my view I gave adequate notice to vacate the premises and terminated the lease.

You don't need to be a lawyer to understand that this all depends on what's been put in writing. You sent me a copy of your lease and they are correct, there is no termination clause. Also, in both the extensions you had to the lease, it said that the previous conditions would continue. Realistically, I think you're committed to the end of the lease period. It might be worth trying to find another tenant who can take it over from you but it's critical that you keep talking to the property administrators so they don't think you're trying to evade your responsibilities.

The lesson from this is that whenever you sign a lease, no matter what it's for, whether it's residential or business, always insist that there's a termination clause. And always read the lease agreement thoroughly. And then read it again. If necessary, talk to someone who knows about these issues who can advise you on whether the lease is reasonable for both parties.

It's been patched!

I need your help. I bought items at a furniture store in November 2023 a set of sofas and a king double bed. When sweeping I realized that one single sofa seems it has been patched. Meaning might have teared and was patched. The other one the staples are visible and around the staples the fabric is already tearing. I called them and sent the pictures of the sofas. They sent someone to look at them and said they'll help even today they are not helping.

No, this is not acceptable. You are being mistreated.

Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act says that a:

"consumer has the right to receive goods which are of good quality, in good working order and free of defects". 

A sofa that has been patched clearly isn't "free of defects", is it?

But I'm not surprised. You told me the store you'd visited, and they have some history of ignoring the rights of their customers. I contacted them about another consumer's complaint and they assured me that they only offer a warranty of three months on the goods they'd sold. I'm sure by now that all readers of The Voice know that the law says a consumer can return faulty goods within six months, not three.

I think it's time I contacted this store and remind them again about how they need to treat their customers.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

What do I owe them?

Greetings, may I kindly request advice.

My story is, I hired this company to do a deck for me. They quoted P45,000 and required me to pay 50% deposit to commence work, which I did in July 2024. They then did a deck frame but could not complete the job. In October they confessed they have difficulty with cashflow and asked me to pay the remaining balance so that they finish the job. I did but they did not complete the job.

It's been 5 months waiting but still no progress. I now don't know what best action to take. Please advise. Thank you.

I think you need to escalate this situation and give them a deadline. They've done some work already so they deserve to be paid for that but they need to understand that they can't just abandon this project without consequences. Tell them that they must either complete the job or refund you a suitable amount. They must understand that if they fail to fix this problem, you'll take legal action against them to recover the money they owe you. Then, if they fail to fix it, you can go to the Small Claims Court for an order against them for the money you paid them, minus the value of the work they've done so far.

This is an example of how it really helps if you have the agreement in writing that explains when and how they will get paid for the work they do. You'll then have evidence to use if you start legal proceedings.

I'll also contact them and see if they can avoid any unpleasantness.

Who broke it?

I don't know how you can help with this one. I bought an 86 inch TV on Friday for P22,000. It was switched on and everything seemed alright. It was when I got home and switched it on to find out that it had a crack on the top left corner. This is so surprising in that the TV never fell nor mishandled at any point in time, even the road I used had no bumps and it was tightly secured on the bakkie. I'm so devastated since I bought it for cash and they can't believe my story. I don't know what to do at this point. I might go mad.

I'm really sorry for how frustrated and disappointed you must be. After spending all that money, it must be incredibly irritating.

I suspect that once you took the TV from store it became your responsibility to care for it and the store will then deny any responsibility, particularly as the TV was working before it left the store.

It's probably no help to you but this might have been different if you had paid the store to deliver the TV and install it for you. That way they would have taken responsibility for any damage that might have been caused while it was being delivered. It might have been worth a few hundred Pula to avoid this difficulty.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Is the shipment real?

There is someone in Australia who sent me luggage through a certain shipping company. Now they want me to pay $550 before the luggage could leave Fiji. Please help. Is it genuine or they are trying to scam me? They are saying I should deposit $550 to release the shipment.

I hope you've realized by now that this is a scam?

Readers of The Voice will be familiar with this sort of scam because we've reported on it many, many times. The tragic thing about this particular scam is that there's an emotional, sometimes even romantic element to the scam. People are left poorer but also heartbroken, embarrassed and ashamed.

These scams usually start with conversations with a stranger on Facebook or other social media platforms, someone charming and flattering. The targets are almost, but not always women and often women struggling alone with children and with modest incomes. The scammer portrays himself as someone mature, single, not rich but financially stable and always in a country far, far away. The conversations will start as friendly but will very quickly develop into something much more meaningful. Very soon love will be expressed. Plans for the future will be discussed.

Of course this is all a scam. Very soon after the victim has fallen for the scam one of two things will happen. Sometimes both. The first option is that the scammer will claim to have a crisis. Maybe he's had an accident and has been admitted to hospital or has been the victim of a crime and he's lost access to his money. Either way, he'll need money and the victim, who by this stage is in love with the scammer, pays up. The second option is a shipment. As a gesture of his devotion, he'll send a parcel containing new phones, a laptop, jewelry and cash. But, like in your case, there's a shipping problem. A customs official somewhere will apparently stop the goods and demand a fee to release them. However, whatever story is being told, that's what this scam is all about. This "advance fee" is what the scammer is seeking. And if the victim pays, there will just be more and more demands until the victim realizes the terrible truth.

The only solution is to block the messages and move on. And don't believe anything total strangers tell you again.

A scam update

A few weeks ago we reported on another scam where the victim believed she had made over P4 million through Yellow Card. Her relatives all recognized that she was being scammed but they couldn't persuade her to stop paying the scammers money. When we covered it here in The Voice, she'd already paid over P200,000 to them including P90,000 she borrowed from a family member. Despite everything her family and friends told her, she sincerely believed that she only had to make a few more payments before her millions would be released to her.

My advice was to keep trying to persuade her in a non-blaming, loving way but it didn't work.

She kept paying. In the last few weeks she's paid them another P10,000 and it's likely she'll keep paying them until she runs out of money and relatives to borrow from.

I've agreed with the victim's relative that we now must involve law enforcement. We all know that a serious crime is being committed and it's our duty to inform the Police. Just like we'd call the Police if we saw thieves breaking into our neighbor's house, we have a neighborly responsibility to let them know a crime is being committed and we need them to step in. Maybe someone in a uniform will have more luck than we've had?

I know it's easy to be dismissive of this situation and think she's been foolish but imagine it was your Mum or Granny. Wouldn't you want action to be taken to protect her from herself?

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

They sold me a fake!

Long story short, I bought a toner cartridge from a store on 9th May in Gaborone. The toner is for an HP Laser Jet and is for my small printing jobs at home. When I bought it; I still had my remaining toner but since I live in Selebi Phikwe and this particular toner is not available there; I decided to buy and keep for future use. On Thursday the existing toner runs out, and I'm not worried since I definitely have the backup. Now imagine to my dismay, the printer is not 'reading' the toner. It gives a 'supply memory error' sign. So I decided to ask a technician to take a look if maybe the printer was the problem but he says the toner cartridge is counterfeit and showed me the difference with the original. There were visible size differences to the toners since it wasn't a genuine product.

I went to check the receipt since I had it after all this time, and on their receipt is written a disclaimer that they do not accept returns of toners and cartridges! Meaning that even if I had realized same day that they sold me a fake toner, their silly disclaimer says I cannot have my monies back when they are the once who are selling fake toners. Imagine a huge company making huge profits fraudulently off hard working Batswana. My P1047 for the toner that went to their pockets was not fake, why should I be stuck with their fake toner and P1047 poorer while they line their pockets with my money??!! This can't be right.

Anyway, I needed your advice on this. I realize from May has been a while, but their disclaimer would still have applied same day so I don't think the duration matters; but their selling of fake toners is very offensive and they should be told off. And imagine if they have a whole warehouse full of fake toners to sell to unsuspecting citizens then hide behind a disclaimer of no toner returns!! Bollocks!

I agree with you entirely. This is bollocks.

It really doesn't matter when this company sold you the cartridge, or what warranty they offered, this is much more serious. They haven't just broken the Consumer Protection Act (which they certainly have), they're selling illegal and fake products. I think you should contact them and ask them to explain themselves. I'll do the same. Hopefully they'll be too scared to argue and will either replace the cartridge with a genuine one or will refund you. However, whether they do or not, we also need to report them to the Police and to the legitimate HP representative in Botswana. Counterfeit goods aren't just troublesome to the real manufacturers, they're a problem for consumers as well.

Can I get a refund?

Kindly assist me here. I bought bails from a supplier in Commerce Park Gaborone at the end of June 2024 amounting to P3,500 only to find out that one bail I was given something that I did not want. I wanted to buy ladies coats but I was given fashion jackets. I was advised to return the bail to the store by the owner but I was not refunded. They said they will try to sell my bail for me to be paid back my P1,750. There is no clear communication on my payment, I am always calling to check on how far with the payment but I am not getting a clear answer on that.

It's been 5 months now and I haven't been paid or given any feedback and my business is suffering since July 2024. Looking forward to your positive feedback.

I think this is a very good example of where agreements need to be in writing. I've heard from so many people who buy these bails online but are then disappointed when the goods arrive.

The good news is that when we chatted you told me that the supplier agreed in a message to refund you. I think the best thing to do is to message or email them saying that unless you get a refund within 7 days you'll go to court for an order against them. If they fail to do this you should go straight to the Small Claims Court with all the messages you've saved and see if they can assist you.

I'll also contact them and see if I can influence them.