The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my builder?

Please help me follow up with this builder. In 2022 I gave him 3 jobs, roofing for my farm house, landscaping design and doing a staircase and decking for the house. The roofing has been completed but with some gaps to completely close the house. ⁠I gave him a supply and fit job to do a deck, staircase and exterior door to access the outside space. He did some work in December 2022 and disappeared.

After extensive follow-up he came back in July 2023 and a bit of work on the staircase and the door and then disappeared again. After several follow ups he requested me to purchase further materials, which I did (I have now spent more than the contracted amount) but he has still not completed the work. Last week, he agreed he should finish the house. He requested for some more material but has not done the work as promised. I gave him a deposit to do a landscape design and never even got a draft. Richard, please help me follow up so he can complete my work.

I know for a fact that there are some excellent builders. I also know for a fact that there are others who are unreliable, incompetent and even a few who are dangerous.

Let's be charitable and assume this one is just one of the unreliable ones. However, unreliability is no excuse. It doesn't matter what difficulties he was having, he had an obligation to keep you updated and then to do the work you've paid him for. It's not complicated, is it?

I contacted the guy and he responded very quickly. He promised that he'll visit you and complete the work within the next couple of days. Please let me know what happens?

How can I spot a scam?

We all remember Ecoplexus from last year. Some of us remember Eurextrade from more than 10 years ago. Both of these scams took tens of millions from their victims. This year we had the Miracle Farm scam which luckily quickly collapsed. All involved scammers recruiting people we know to steal money from us. That's part of the tragedy of these scams, they make normally good people into criminals. The bad news for the people who "knowingly join" these scams is that Section 9 of the Consumer Protection Act says that they are as guilty as those who promote them.

Unfortunately, the scammers haven't gone away. They are still actively recruiting people into newer scams. So how can you tell if something is a scam? Here are some ways to help you decide.

Firstly, ask the person who invited you to join, why they did so? Did they do it because they're a kind person who wanted to share their "opportunity" with you? If they say Yes, then you know it's a scam.

Next, ask them if the scheme is a registered company. If they say it is, ask for proof. Then check if it's true. If you don't know how to check, ask us.

Ask them how their scheme creates profits. People marketing a real investment scheme will talk about share or commodity prices, dividends or the income a company can expect from selling products and services. People marketing a scam can't do that. They'll talk about cryptocurrency or forex trading, Bitcoin mining or they'll say it's a motshelo or 'gifting' scheme. If you ask them how profits are generated they won't be able to answer you.

People promoting a genuine investment will welcome questions but scammers will very be defensive and ask you why you're asking so many questions. "Just trust me", they'll say. Anyone who says this is trying to scam you.

Above all, scammers will make incredible claims about how much money you can make. They'll tell you that small 'investments' can earn huge profits. They'll also ask you to invest more and more money, encouraging you to 'upgrade' to higher levels with promises of even greater profits. That's a sure sign of a scam.

Finally, remember this simple truth. Anyone who invites you to join their money-making scheme wants to make money from you, not with you.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my refund?

Hi Richard please help your sister out. I bought a bed from a furniture store. I used it for three months and the base broke. I went back to report the issue. The assistant manager showed us the letter where they say they should replace the bed. The letter was in October last year and I did complain before. Richard I spent the whole year sleeping on the floor and my records shows I was paying them nicely. Last week I went to Gaborone head office to complain more. They took a week again to come back to me. They told me that they want to give me another bed and my reply to them is I don't want anything from their shop. I want them to refund me so I can go buy somewhere else. It looks like they won't refund me.

Almost every day I wonder how some companies survive. So many of them seem to have absolutely no understanding how to deal with customers when things go wrong. They also seem to have no understanding of the laws that protect consumers.

Section 15 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". In other words, the things we buy should do what they're meant to do. A bed should be suitable for sleeping in and shouldn't break.

However, sometimes things go wrong and Section 16 of the Act deals with this. It says that if goods are faulty we can return them to the store:

"within six months after the delivery of the goods".

It then says that the store can then choose to:

"repair or replace the defective goods or refund the consumer the amount already paid".

Although the Act doesn't say how quickly a store must do this, I'm sure we all agree that 6 months is too long. Your bed should have been replaced or repaired within days, not half a year. I'll contact the store and see if they can move a little faster than this.

Can I get a refund too?

Please help me on this issue. I bought a couch last September for P7,000. Then in December 2023 I realized that it had torn stitches. I called the shop to tell them and they came to see it and said the person who fixes such is on a holiday so they'll come and fetch it in January 2024. January passed but they never came. I went back to them on the 5th March and met with the manager and they said I should bring it to the shop. I refused till the manager ruled that they will collect it. They collected it on 6th March then on 7th the driver called and said the supplier insisted I should come collect the couch and wash it before they fix it. Then I said No I didn't buy the item from a supplier but from them and coming to recollect it will be a cost on me. On 8th April I did a follow up and they said they've long asked me to come collect it and wash it. I don't know why they can't at least return my money because I bought it cash not even on high purchase. I talked to the manager and he says he will give me feedback during the day and on the 12th April I called again then they said the manager is busy. Please help me Sir.

How can this be so complicated? As far as I can see, the situation is very simple. They sold you a couch that started to fall apart and they should have fixed that quickly. Their accusation that the couch was dirty is a distraction. Their job was to sell you a couch that was usable and to fix it if it wasn't.

However, there's good news. I contacted the Country Manager for the chain of furniture stores and his response to his colleagues was very simple. He told them that "This is poor customer service" and demanded immediate action.

Please let me know when they contact you.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my deposit?

Kindly assist here. Last year, I made a deposit at a store so I could lay-bye a Sony Soundbar. When I went to settle the balance, I was told that the soundbar is out of stock, and that their policy was to NOT keep lay-byed items in the premises until they are cleared off. I asked them to refund the deposit I had made, but they insisted that they'll order one for me, and that it would arrive within the week. Mind you, last year's "Black Friday" special was still on, all over town. I went back to them 10 days later, and I was told the exact same thing, that "it's not in stock" This was around the 7th of December 2023.

I asked, yet again, to be refunded and they told me to submit my bank statements on some, "it's protocol" and I complied with their tedious 'protocol'. I was assured that I'd get my money "in a week or 2. I went back to them around the 19th, and then every week since then, and each time, I was told a different story. Promises were made to me each time, and not a single one was seen through. Long story short, my refund has been pending, and it has been 4 months now. I relocated, so I don't go to them as often but I call them every week, and I'm just told "We'll get back to you!" which they never do! With that, kindly assist me?

This is intolerable in so many different ways. Firstly, my understanding of a lay-bye is that the item is reserved for you until you've made the final payment. It might not be the exact item you saw in the store but somewhere there should be an identical item for you ready to pick up. It should be quite simple. But not in this case.

I think you were right to demand a refund and it shouldn't have been a complicated thing for them to process. Yes, there should have been some paperwork to complete, confirming that you really want to cancel the deal and for them to process whatever they need to do but I can't see how it would take more than a few days at the most. It's 2024, I'm sure they have the technology to do this. Even if they don't and they're still operating with pieces of paper and pencils, it shouldn't take more than four months to give you your money back. I'll contact them.

Update: They tell me your refund has already been processed. They'll call you.

Can I cancel the policy?

I need your help please. we were approached by an insurance broker and he was telling us about their life cover and investment policy so I got interested but he didn't mention that he is the broker for a particular insurance company which I realised later. I emailed him telling him to cancel the policy because I don't wany anything associated with them because they once did something not good to me. So he didn't reply and I called him and he told me it is not possible to cancel and I will cancel after a year. I told him I will approach the insurance company and he told me they are going to refer me back to him. I realised yesterday when i received my payslip that they have deducted without even enquiring from me. Please help me I want to cancel this policy please.

I think this will be easy to fix. The insurance company will understand that the policy was incorrectly opened and I'm certain they'll close it as soon as you speak to them.

The bigger issue is this broker. He simply can't be trusted. There is a common misunderstanding about the difference between an insurance broker and an insurance company. The most important difference is that the broker works for YOU, not the insurance company. It's the job of the broker to find the right policy for you, a policy that meets YOUR needs. Clearly this guy is working for his own interests and is making up stories when he says you can't cancel the policy. That's simply a lie. Insurance policies have a cooling off period that NBFIRA insist upon. I think we both need to alert NBFIRA that they have a rogue broker to deal with.

Update: The insurance policy has been cancelled.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my ring?

Hi Richard. Kindly help. In December I ordered a custom ring from a store and they said total cost is P11,900. I paid the required 50% deposit of P5,950 on 12th December 2023 and was informed of an 8 week waiting time which I was comfortable with as the wedding was on 05th April 2024. In March because of their prolonged silence I enquired about where my ring is and all they told me was that it is in shipping and they promised that it would be ready for collection on 22nd March 2024 which was not the case.

In all these its always too difficult to get any response from them. As we continued to probe, they decided to send us a temporary ring as the wedding date approached. I tried to show them the importance of having my actual ring on my wedding day and as usual it was always difficult to get any response or updates. They did say they're having a customs issue and that they had to submit invoice and other documents and I questioned why they had not done that all along to no response. I now decided I want a refund because I am convinced the ring does not exist and sent them both an email and whatsapp message and they only respond after countless follow-ups of asking them to treat this as urgent. Looks like they are not willing to?

This is completely unacceptable. It's also enormously insulting.

It's a constant surprise how badly some people operating in the various industries supporting weddings can behave. Almost every week we hear from people who've been badly let down when they've ordered wedding dresses, catering, cakes, transport, furniture and jewellery like you. I really don't understand how these shady suppliers can forget how important the date is. These are not events that can be postponed. They also often cost vast amounts of money.

I'm happy to contact the company and see if they would like the public to know how badly they treat customers on such important occasions.

Must I take defective chairs?

Good morning sir. I would like to raise a complaint against a furniture store in Mahalapye. I bought chairs for P33,000 from them on laybye and finished paying in August 2023. Upon settling the balance, the manager insisted we got chairs from the display since he felt lazy to travel to the Palapye warehouse to collect our chairs, which we turned down because we felt like the ones on display were used hence we wanted brand new ones. He then agreed to give us new ones. After delivering the chairs we found defects. I got hold of the sales lady who promised to report the issue to the manager so that they replace. So when the time to replace came, the manager took us back to the display chairs issue which we rejected.

Ever since then the manager keep on saying I'm coming to change the chairs but he never delivers. Even the same broken chairs, none of the staff came to see what we are talking about. Now we have broken chairs in our living room and we scared that they want to tell us that the chairs have been with us since they never came to recollect them. Unfortunately the info we get is that there is no head office and every shop handles its issues which means we go back to the same people who are giving us attitude whenever we are there. We are frustrated because of this issue to the extent of trying to get hold of the regional manager, the same people gave us the wrong number. Please assist us sir.

Again, this is completely unacceptable. Whether it was a purchase by cash, hire purchase or laybye, you deserve new chairs. Not second-hand, used, repaired, defective chairs or former display models. You deserve what you paid for. New chairs.

I also think it was very unwise of the staff to tell you that they have no Head Office. Because they do. And I know the General Manager. Very silly of them. I'll contact the GM to tell them how badly their staff behave.

UPDATE: The chairs were delivered before I got a chance to contact Head Office. But they still need to know.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can I get my money back?

Hello Mr Richard. May you please assist me. This situation is about forex trading. There was a certain person who trades for people and he did trade for me. We entered into an agreement that my funds will be given to me after 22 days. This was last year around June. He did make the trade as per the agreement. I put in $100 and up to now he is giving me the round around to give me my money. A service was done but playing around now to give me my money. He said he made $287 plus he was going to add a bit more for the delay he caused me. He has registered his trading as a company with CIPA. I have the contract we signed and all the conversations. He keeps saying he will send my money but up to now it's just stories. He kept giving reasons like BURS was auditing the company but still giving me the run around. Now that this is a registered business I believe he needs to stop playing these games and pay me. Please help?

The starting point here is that this guy can't be trusted. I suspect he's been lying to you since Day 1.

What many of these so-called forex trader gurus do is simply to pretend to be trading for us. They create impressive looking statements and web pages that appear to show massive profits but in fact they just take victim's money and kept it for themselves. Everything you see is fake, all constructed to encourage you to "invest" more and more money with them. They're like muggers that persuade their victims to be mugged over and over again.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you'll get your money back. The only chance will be if you contact the Police and lay a charge against him. The good news is that the Police are becoming much capable and willing to take on crimes like this.

Have we waited long enough?

Hello Mr Richard. I'm asking if I may get help from somewhere. My issue is that my mum insured her mum at her bank and their waiting period is 5 months. Mum opened the policy on the 13th February 2023 and they started to debit the money on the 26th March. Her mother passed away on the 27th July and they refused to do a claim saying she not qualifying.

Is it possible?

Unfortunately it is.

Firstly, I'm very sorry for your loss. Whenever you take out an insurance policy it's critically important that you read and completely understand the terms and conditions. Anyone who has seen an insurance policy will know that the T&Cs can be very long, very complicated and difficult to understand. However, it's the job of the insurance company or the broker or agent that sold it, to explain the things that really matter. One of the most important thing that matters is the waiting period that most policies have. Whether it's a life insurance policy, a vehicle policy, a funeral plan or a medical aid, it's incredibly important to completely understand the waiting period before you can claim.

I contacted the bank and they told me that the "policy commencement period is valid 30 days after the 1st payment and in this case the first payment was deducted on 26th March therefore the 1st month of the policy is effective from the 26th April counting 5 months therefore by July the Policy waiting period had not lapsed".

Unfortunately, according to the small print in the policy, your grandmother passed away only 4 months after the commencement date so they don't need to pay anything. I'm sorry I don't have better news.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay them?

Hello sir. I want to understand something. I was owing a certain clothing store in Gaborone a certain amount of P3,000 but all of a sudden I was called by a certain man saying he is from a certain company sending me their account numbers saying I will be then paying to them the sum of P4,000. When I enquired asking I realised the clothing store have sold my credit/debt to that company but the thing is I'm forced to pay that P4,000. My worry is I have never made any agreement of P4,000 with that company. I don't even know myself what is the right way to go about this?

Unfortunately, there's very little you can do about this. If a company has a debtor who has owed money for a long time without making repayments, it's common practice for them to sell the debt to a debt collector. It's then up to the debt collector to collect as much as they can from the defaulting customer.

The good news is that debt collectors are often a little flexible about the amount they want from you. I spoke to one who even offers a discount to customers who come forward and cooperate. However, the bad news is that debt collectors don't ever give up. It's their job, it's how they make money and they are very good at it.

You also asked whether it's ok for them to collect the money when you never made any agreement with them? Yes, it is ok. If you look back to your original agreement with the clothing store you'll find that it says that they can pass your debt to debt collectors when they choose to do so.

I suggest you contact the debt collector as soon as possible and negotiate a repayment plan that you can afford and that they can accept. Please do it sooner rather than later.

Where's my phone?

Greetings Richard. Kindly advise me here. My younger sister bought an iPhone X 64 GB from a shop by laybye. When we went to clear the balance and collect the phone we found out that they sold the phone she laybyed and offered us to take iPhone X 256GB and told us to top up but we refused to top up so he gave us the latter phone.

After some weeks she found out that the phone has a software problem and it's not even connecting to wi-fi and she went back to the owner to tell him the phone problem and then he said that she will bring the phone for exchange when he receives new stock on Monday. The day arrived but he said stock didn't arrive and he said the next Monday. The next Monday it was the same story and when we spoke to him again he said stocked arrived but there was a different phone and no iPhone X.

I think it's time to say goodbye to this store. Clearly they're incapable of selling you a phone or perhaps even of running a business properly. Firstly they broke their contract with your sister by selling the phone they were meant to have put aside for her and for which she paid them in full. Then they gave her a faulty phone that couldn't do a basic thing like connect to WiFi.

And now they can't even deliver what she paid for. Obviously it's up to her but if I was in her position I would tell them it's over and that I want a complete refund.

I tried contacting the store but I don't think they're interested in responding but together I'm sure we'll get them to respond eventually. Then they can think about doing the right thing.

Update: I messaged the store and their response wasn't very helpful. They said:

"Which one you talking about

And who are you ?

I’m talked with customer

I’m not talking with 3rd person"

But then they did talk. They called me, shouted at me a bit, demanded to know why I was involved and suggested it was wrong of me to contact them.

Eventually they calmed down and promised that your sister will get her phone in 10-12 days.

They said that they told your sister that the phone was refurbished, and not new as your sister thought. I explained that the law is very simple about selling used items as new but they claimed not to know about this. I told them that Section 13 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that a supplier who:

"offers used goods shall inform a consumer that the goods sold are used goods by ... placing a label on the goods that indicates that such goods are used goods; and ... placing a notice on the invoice issued to a consumer"

It goes on to say that a supplier that fails to do this:

"shall be liable … to a fine not exceeding P50 000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both"

Maybe they won't do this again?

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Have I been scammed?

Please I need your help there is this investment company called Enterprise Botswana. Firstly they asked me to invest P1500 into my trade account and in three days I will withdraw my profit. Then after that they said I should send P6200 due to the increasing in signals and my account should be upgraded. I sent that money to a bank account holder. After some hours when I tried to withdraw on my trading account they sent an email saying I should send P5400 for the USA Sort Code and also P4600 for the funds to be converted to my local currency before it can be credited to my account.

Now they are not communicating and I've been trying to get hold of them. Have you dealt with a similar case? Are there chances of me getting my money back?

Unfortunately, I don't have any good news for you. I think you know by now that you've been scammed.

The way they operated is typical of scammers. They start by offering you rapid and fantastic profits from a relatively small "investment", in your case P1,500. On their Facebook page you'll see many screenshots of payment notifications suggesting people have earned huge profits, some as much as P500,000. It's important to know that these are all fakes,, no such payments have ever been made.

The next step is what this is all about. The scammers then start demanding more and more money from you to get these fake profits. The problem is that the victim is so convinced that the enormous profits are real that they willingly pay over the smaller amounts to get the big prize.

Realistically, there's very little hope that you'll get your money back. I suspect the scammers have either withdrawn and spent the money or transferred it overseas. I contacted the bank that holds the account you mentioned and they're investigating but I suspect they'll find that the account belongs to another victim who handed control of it to the scammers. You also need to contact the Police. You've been the victim of a crime and you spoke to at least one person in Botswana who was involved. They need to be investigated.

They gave me a second-hand phone!

I bought cell phone last year in December. On Friday last week it woke up with a message on the screen that it's an unauthorized device and I must take it back to the seller or exchange it. It took me a long fight with them to understand me. Later on they said I should top up and get another phone so I did so. Then today I just realized that it's a second-hand phone with contacts inside. I didn't know they can sell second hand phone to me. What procedures should I take right now because they are so rude even if I go back to them with it they will tell me stories.

This store is wrong in so many different ways.

Firstly, they sold you a phone that was "unauthorized" and failed to address that problem properly. Instead of replacing the phone or refunding you they demanded that you spend even more money to get a phone that worked. Then they sold you a second-hand phone without being honest about it.

Of course there's nothing wrong with selling second-hand, refurbished or used phones. They just need to be honest about it and give us a choice. But in this case they seem not to care.

The correct procedure is quite simple. Take the phone back and tell them that the law, the Competition and Consumer Authority, Consumer Watchdog and readers of The Voice are now on their case.

Do they really want to argue with us all?

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay?

I need your assistance. I found out at my bank today that I was blacklisted by a furniture store. I have returned the bed I bought with high purchase from them on the 14 October 2022 letting them know that I am out of employment at the time. They now say I owe the amount P6,609 though they say they sold the bed too. I talked to the accounts dept who informed me that I owe more than P8,000. They say though I returned the bed they were still charging which was not what I was informed. I was told to return the bed so that the debt would stop accumulating. Please assist me. I need to know if this is right or wrong.

Unfortunately, some of what you've been told is right and some is wrong. The bad news is that there is no good news. You almost certainly DO owe the company a lot of money.

One of the many horrible secrets about hire purchase is that the goods you receive and the money you owe are not connected. It's called 'hire purchase' because you are hiring the goods until you pay the final instalment. Only then have you purchased the goods. Until that time the goods still belong to the store.

What this means in practice is that if you fail to pay your instalments, the store can immediately repossess them (because they still own them and you don't) but you will still owe them the hire costs for the remainder of the period you agreed to. Some stores will sell the repossessed goods and deduct the money they get from your balance but others don't even do this. Either way, you'll still owe them a lot of money and that amount will only increase as they add interest and penalty fees.

The best thing to do is to speak to the store as soon as possible and try to negotiate a repayment plan that you can afford and that the store can accept.

And don't buy thing on hire purchase again. It's much better to save money and buy things for cash.

What should they do?

Good day Richard. I have a situation here, I bought a Tecno Pop 7 phone from a store in Game City about a month ago. After a system update the phone had a technical glitch, it went on Device Lock mode, I couldn't access anything. The instructions on the screen explicitly said I should return to the seller which I did. I went to check on them to get a status report or a replacement phone since I don't have a working phone at the moment.

I asked the owner of the store to replace my phone with another of the equivalent amount or to reimburse me with the amount I paid so that I buy a working phone, but he refused stating that according to the Consumer Protection Act, they are allowed 21 days to fix the phone but their warranty terms did not state this.

Richard, I need help with this matter urgently because I am greatly inconvenienced. I was not given a courtesy phone and I feel I am being taken for a ride. Please advise on the way forward.

Unfortunately the store is correct. The Consumer Protection Act does indeed say that the store has a right to attempt to repair a faulty item. In full, it says that the store can choose to repair it, replace it or to refund you. But it IS their choice which option they prefer.

However, it says nothing about a 21-day period, they're making that bit up. The Act suggests that there must be "timely performance and completion" of any services but it doesn't mention a particular time.

Something the store might not know, or perhaps chooses not to tell you is that if they repair the phone and then the same problem happens again within 3 months, they lose the option to repair it. Then they can only replace it or refund you.

Together, let's educate the store on what your rights really are and suggest they hurry up?

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

I want my locks!

I went to a tile shop to buy locks for a normal steel door frame that they costed me P3,420. When I got home with the locks my carpenter realized that the locks are big for my door frames also the locks are for wooden door frames. But during the transaction the sales rep did not mention that the locks are for wooden door frame therefore I feel deceived because of no transparency. They also did not explain to me about the refund policy of 15%. 

Kindly look into this matter before lot of people fall into the trap. I even gave the shop chance to find locks that are suitable for my door frames they refused. My intention is to get the service not a refund.

Unfortunately I don't think I have any good news for you.

When we buy goods from a supplier we're entitled to goods that do the job and that are correctly sold. If they sell us something that's faulty we have a right to return the goods and the supplier can choose whether to offer us a repair, a replacement or a refund.

A supplier also isn't allowed to lie to us about what goods can do or if they're suitable for a particular purpose. They must be honest about that. But this is the tricky part. It's up to us as customers to ask if the goods we buy are suitable for our needs. For example, if we buy a laptop we need to ask the salespeople whether it's the right model for our needs. If we buy building materials we need to ask similar questions. If we buy door locks we need to ask them if they're the right locks for our doors.

My understanding from when we spoke on the phone is that you didn't ask them about this. You selected the locks, paid for them and took them home. It was only later, after your carpenter tried to install them, that you discovered they were the wrong type.

We need to ask this. Did the store do anything wrong? Did they mislead you in any way? Did they sell you faulty locks? I don't think so. The good news is that the store has said they can take them back, even though they don't have to, but the bad news is that they want to charge you a fee for reversing the transaction, restocking them and repackaging the ones your carpenter opened. I suspect 15% is a fair price for that.

Will they pay?

Please I need help I don't know even what to do. I recently bought a car from a garage in Mogoditshane with the promise that the car has no fault. I tested the car myself and since I have no mechanical knowledge I took the car. A few days later I realized the aircon is not working so I went to the aircon specialist because I thought it's a minor thing. I only realized that I was now spending a lot of money on the car because I needed to buy new parts.

I told the garage and the guy is telling he we will give me something when he gets money so I requested for proof that I will get refund for the amount I used to fix the car but he is refusing to do so.

Please advise on what I should do in a situation like this.

I think you're right to insist that the car dealer puts their offer to refund you in writing. However, it's no surprise that he's refusing to do so. I think the best thing you can do is to approach the Competition and Consumer Authority and lodge a complaint with them. They've had some success with car dealerships and they have the power to get this guy to answer their questions.

However, there's a really important lesson here. Some of us have enough skill to give a second-hand car a good test before buying it but most of us don't. That's why it's really important to get any second-hand vehicle, no matter how cheap it is, inspected by a mechanic before you hand over the money.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

I spent someone else's money

Hello Mr Richard. Sometimes last year my bank sent P4,000 into my account without reason. I called them frequently asking them about the money but they told me its my money. I waited for 3 days without waiting for them to talk to me again but they failed. I used money on the fifth day. In May I received a call from them telling me the money wasn't for me and I have to come to their office. They told me I must pay the money back. I told them that I don't have money but they told me to pay money via instalment.

I managed to pay 800, 350, 1,000 but it still reflects that I'm owing them 4,000 in my account. What can I do?

The first thing you should do is to ask the bank why they haven't updated your account correctly to reflect the payments you've made towards the debt. That's a simple thing for them to do and they're negligent for not doing that already.

The second thing you can do is think carefully about how this situation happened. You know now, and you knew then, that the money that was paid into your account wasn't yours. I know it wasn't your fault and I know the bank told it was yours, but you knew that wasn't true when you spent it.

The best thing you can do is keep talking to the bank and repaying the money you took. They've already agreed to accept the money in instalments so it's incredibly important that you keep to that agreement.

The lesson from this is never to spend money you know doesn't belong to you. If money ever does appear in your account that you weren't expecting, tell the bank immediately and do NOT spend it.

Should he be in prison?

In August last year, a judgement in Francistown High Court was given that my brother can use his pension to pay his debt to his bank. He took all the required documents to the pension administrators and up to now they have not paid the bank. The only time they gave him updates is when he either called or when we went to the office on his behalf to follow up since he is in Francistown and unemployed.

As I am talking to you now, he got arrested by deputy sheriffs of the same bank on Monday as the pension administrator has not made a payment to the bank. He will be at Francistown State Prison until his debt is paid.

Is this a fair treatment from people who have kept his pension money and have not been able to assist him on time when he needed them the most?

No, this certainly is not fair. In fact, this is a disgrace.

I know your brother owes money to his bank, but that isn't the real problem. The bank should know by now that your brother has the money to pay his debt to them, just not now. They know that his pension will pay off the debt and it's not his fault that the administrators have taken their time. So they should have sat down with him and asked him to sign some sort of agreement that when the pension pays out they'll get their money. And then they need to be a little more patient.

We spoke to senior managers at both the bank and the pension administrators when we heard this and, to their credit, they were just as shocked about what had happened. They both recognized that they had failed badly. The pension administrators have assured us that they'll get the pension process done as quickly as possible and they also promised an investigation into why the process took so long that it led to their client spending time in prison. The bank told us they'd make sure your brother was set free as soon as possible.

However, two days later, he's still in prison. You can find out if he's released in the Consumer Watchdog Facebook group. One final word on civil imprisonment for debt. This system is being over-used and often punishes the wrong people. Of course there are some people who deserve it, those who willingly, deliberately avoid paying their debts. They deserve to face the consequences. But very often it's the wrong people who are punished this way, people like your brother. We need a new approach.

Update: The guy was finally released a few days later. He's now back home, recovering from a traumatic experience he didn't deserve. Both companies should be ashamed of how long they took to sort this matter out. 

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

More scam alerts

Maybe it's the time of year, I don't know, but there's a lot of scams around right now.

Last week we warned readers of The Voice about a scam called Miracle Farm which is a replica of Ecoplexus. Luckily a lot of people are more aware these days but people are still falling for it, depositing money into a local bank account that is being used to channel the money to the crooks running the scheme overseas.

But Miracle Fam isn't the only scam going around. There are other, including Ace Car Rental, Ceptual Trade, Crystal Queens and Forzza Odds. They all operate primarily from WhatsApp groups full of promises of massive and quick profits. They all ask for relatively small amounts of money but if lots of people fall victim to them, they still make a lot of money. You can be sure that anyone who gives them a little will soon be encouraged to pay them a lot more.

So how can you tell if something is a scam? Here are some ways to help you decide. Firstly, ask the person who invited you to join, why they did so? Did they do it because they're just a kind and charitable person? If they say Yes, then you know it's a scam.

Next, ask them if the scheme is a registered company. Hopefully they'll tell you that it's registered somewhere but if so, ask for proof. Then check if it's true. If you don't know how to check, ask us.

Ask them how money is generated by the scheme. People marketing a legitimate investment scheme will talk about share or commodity prices, dividends or the income a company can expect from selling products and services. People marketing a scam will be less specific. They'll talk about cryptocurrency or forex trading, Bitcoin mining or they'll say it's a motshelo or 'gifting' scheme. If you ask them how profits are generated they'll do their best not to answer. Because they have no answers.

Those promoting a genuine investment will welcome questions. They'll happily give you complete answers to every question you ask. However, scammers will very quickly become defensive and ask you why you're asking so many questions. "Just trust me", they'll say. Anyone who says this is trying to scam you.

Above all, scammers will make incredible claims about how much money you can make from their scheme. They'll tell you that small 'investments' can earn a great deal of money. They'll also ask you to invest more and more money, encouraging you to 'upgrade' to higher levels with promises of even greater profits. That's a sure sign of a scam.

A common trick they'll try is to show you bank payment messages. These are almost always faked but a few will be genuine because they do sometimes pay the victims a little money to make the scam seem legit. It's not, it's a criminal enterprise and the law makes it just as illegal to join a scam as it does to promote one.

Finally, remember this simple truth. Anyone who invites you to join their money-making scheme wants to make money from you, not with you.

Will they fix my TV?

Mr Harriman I need your help sir. I bought a 58 inch smart TV at a store in Tonota last year July. On the 14th December I found the screen cracked. I reported it to the manager they took it but they don't want to refund me for the television. They say its my fault I broke it while it was mounted on the wall.

I think we need to ask one simple question. Who caused the damage to the TV? The problem is it's hard to say. It's possible that the TV was damaged before it was installed at your place or during the installation. However, the store have already suggested that there's no evidence they broke it and it's more likely that it was broken while you had it. From their point of view, the fact that you took 5-6 months to report it to them supports that.

I'll contact them for you but honestly, I'm not optimistic.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

A warning – "Miracle Farm"

We all remember Ecoplexus. That scam started just over a year ago and promised people massive profits from a mysterious "investment" in solar power technology and generation. They were very smart. They used the name of a genuine, legitimate company based in the USA that does a lot of work in the solar business. But the scammers had no connection with this company. They were just exploiting the name.

I don't know how many people fell for this scam but it must have been thousands and between them they gave the scammers tens of millions of Pula. We warned people here in The Voice and on Facebook as early as January 2023 and luckily, many people took the warnings seriously. But many didn't. In May last year the scam finally collapsed but not before much of the money people had paid into local bank accounts had left the country. However, some was left here and that has since been frozen until the authorities can work out who deserves some money back. I think it's good that some people get some of their money back but personally I believe that anyone who actively promoted the scam shouldn't get a single thebe returned to them. They were willing participants in a criminal scam.

The bad news is that the scammers are back. There's a new scam that just started that calls itself Miracle Farm or Miracle Farm Capital or Miracle Farm Management and it's very similar to Ecoplexus. This time they make claims about making money in farming. 

For example, they say that if you invest P100 in peanut farming you'll make profits of P140 after 20 days. If you invest P12,000 in wheat, you'll make profits of P84,000 after 9 months. Like Ecoplexus, they have an Android app but it's all lies, just like the lies the Ecoplexus crooks told us.

These Miracle Farming scammers claim to be based in New York but the fake registration documents they send people can't decide if they're registered in New York, California or Colorado. The people promoting the scheme refuse to communicate by video or voice, just like Ecoplexus. That's for a very simple reason. They don't want us to hear their real voices because we'll spot their accents immediately.

Please don't fall for this scam and don't allow anyone you know to fall for it either. Spread the word as far as possible. The lesson from Ecoplexus is that only by standing and fighting together as a community can we beat these criminals.

Can I get a refund?

Hello Mr Harriman. I really need your help. I bought school uniform from the other lady in Mochudi and I'm not happy with her service. She gave me girls trousers instead of boys trousers and she refused to exchange for me nor give me my money back. I ended up going to police but I didn't get help. I went to the byelaw people where she took the trousers and told me that she will send my money during the day but she didn't do that till now. I posted on Facebook asking for help asking if people can buy the trousers so that I can buy the one for boys but she went to report me at the police and court. I'm waiting for the court to call me.

This is insane. This sort of business person, someone who delivers the wrong products, refuses to exchange them, promises a refund, then fails to do so and then reports their customer to the Police for complaining doesn't deserve to be in business. They deserve to fail.

I'm happy to contact this lady and suggest various ways that she can fix this issue if you like?

I think she needs to understand that she has a very simple obligation to deliver what you paid for or give you a refund. She also needs to understand that complaining in public about this sort of experience is a reasonable thing to do. Any complaints we post in public are a form of free speech, so long as they're reasonable, polite, true, not malicious and expressed in good faith. You gave her several opportunities to fix the problem nicely. She's the one who needs to be held accountable, not you.

The Voice - Consumer Voice

Where's my compensation?

Hello Richard. I kindly need your assistance. It is about my workers compensation claim that has been going on for long. The insurance Company is not committed to paying the money though I have done everything they requested. They are really failing me. I gave them the claim form last year November and they replied this year that they need me to do a second medical opinion of which I did. They keep going back and forth. 2 weeks back they wanted another medical opinion and I did and gave them the quotation. Right now they are not responding or taking my calls, a whole big Insurance company for that matter. I've spent a lot of money on transport due to this matter but no progress.

The accident was in 2020 and I haven't found help ever since then I tried everything. I tried to enquire to them once and they told me that they can sue me for placing a query at Consumer Watchdog.

This is ridiculous. You had an accident more than 3 years ago and your compensation claim still hasn't been processed? That's not acceptable. Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act says that "where 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 (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay". Clearly this insurance company, or perhaps the insurance broker used by your employer, don't understand what "timely performance" means, or they don't care. Or they just want to delay you until you give up.

I contacted the insurance company about your issue so let's see what they say.

And their suggestion that if you consult Consumer Watchdog they'll sue you? Here's my message to them. Don't sue your customer. Sue me. Go on, I dare you.

Is it too late to get my money back?

I reported a fraud case on the 12th of December 2023. We were scammed by fraudsters pretending to be from BURS and they gave us a purchase order and we then procured from the "Supplier" via EFT to their bank in SA at an amount of ZAR61,835 on 8th December. After 3 days we discovered this Supplier works with the fraudsters in South Africa. As soon as we found out it was a scam two working days after the transfer we went to our bank with a Police Report and asked them to freeze the funds before they reflected on the scammers account. They followed their normal protocol and said in 30 days they will give us a response.

I have been following up with them and they keep saying the other bank in SA says they will give them feedback and they don't even know if the funds were frozen or not. Their 30 days elapses on the 12th of Jan and they can't even tell me if the funds were frozen or not!

I'm had a meeting with the fraud department head, they said the issue was assigned to an investigator with the bank in SA and they are still awaiting their response since its 2 different banks in 2 different countries.

This is going to be complicated. I think you should also prepare yourself for disappointment.

We've seen many of these supplier scams in the last few years. It usually starts with an email from what appears to be a major state-owned enterprise like BURS inviting you to supply them with expensive products. However, the strange thing is that the invitation tells the victim which company can supply these goods. The victim then contacts this fake company and is offered a cheap deal on these products. They then transfer the money to them. That's all there is to it. The victim's money is gone, never to be seen again.

In your case you were very wise to inform your bank as soon as possible but the way these scammers work is they transfer any money they get from victims overseas as soon as possible. In the 4 days between your transfer and you alerting the bank, it's possible the money disappeared.

Let's hope you were in time.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

This phone isn't new!

On the 29th December I purchased a phone, got home and the phone was not charging and it has photos inside that I found in it and it overheats when you switch it on and that's after hardly 24 hours of purchase. The next day on the 30th I returned to the store to lodge a complaint and was told that no exchange or refund will be made. Instead they just swapped chargers and gave me a Huawei charger while the phone is a Vivo brand. Since they had already taken my money the guys didn't even want to listen to my complaint, but if you purchase a mere pie from grocery store and it's not fresh you are given a refund.

I asked them to at least change to the other one and they refused saying I should have brought a better phone instead of crying for cheap one.

I wish you a very Happy New Year and I wish this cellphone store a very Unhappy New Year. I wish most businesses, the ones that work hard to serve their customer well, the very best of luck and I hope they prosper. But occasionally I hear about companies that I hope fail. Maybe this is one of them?

It's not too much to ask to expect a product that works. The law says the same thing. Section 15 (1) 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". Simple. But too difficult for this store to understand.

Section 13 of the Act says that a store that sells second-hand goods (like a phone containing the previous owner's photos) "shall inform a consumer that the goods sold are used goods by … placing a label on the goods that indicates that such goods are used goods" and "placing a notice on the invoice issued to a consumer". Again, simple. Again, too difficult for this store.

Section 16 says that if goods are faulty within 6 months of purchase the consumer can return them for a repair, replacement or refund. The store can choose which they offer but they can't just decide to ignore their offences.

I contacted the store and they haven't yet replied to my messages. I'll let you know if they do but meanwhile you can all join in the conversation about this in the Consumer Watchdog Facebook group.

The repair didn't work!

My daughter had a problem with her iPhone on 22 December 2023 and she took it to be repaired. She was charged P800 for fixing which she paid and later given the phone same day on the pretext that the phone is ok. The next day the phone gave her the same problem. She went back to the store and the repairer refused to assist. He refused and was too arrogant. She took it to another repairer who told her that the screen which was installed is not an iPhone screen and promised to order a new screen for the iPhone.

So the first guy remained with P800 just like that. He should refund us so that we pay for the repairer who promised to order a new screen. Please help.

Another company that deserves to fail. I understand, like I'm sure you and your daughter understand, mistakes happen and repairs aren't always as easy as we might think. However, if what you've been told is correct, the first repairer is either incompetent or a liar. Or both. I don't think it's unreasonable to have an iPhone screen replaced with an iPhone screen, is it?

The good news is that the Consumer Protection Act also includes the quality of repair work. Section 17 says that a company that repairs something must offer "a warranty on every new or re-conditioned part installed during any repair or maintenance work, and the labour required to install it, for a period of three months". One day isn't enough.

I tried contacting the first repair guy but he's not answering calls or replying to messages. Maybe a call from the Competition and Consumer Authority would encourage him more?