The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Why won't they refund me?

I have a problem and I need your help please. I bought an iPhone 11 with my little sister about 2 weeks ago from a store in Game City and now the phone doesn't charge and sometimes it switches off while it has battery like when its on 76%. My sister went to the store to ask for a refund and return the phone and they told her the only do refunds within 7 days of purchase. They said she should come the next day because they can't refund her also before asking the technician what the problem is.

Can you help us get a refund from the shop because we don't trust them anymore and my sister needs to buy a phone.

There's often some confusion about when and how a consumer can return an item. Some stores allow customers to return an item simply because they've changed their mind about the purchase. That's probably what store means when they say they only do refunds within seven days of purchase.

More important is what happens when something is faulty. Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act requires a supplier to offer goods that are "of good quality, in good working order and free of defects". However, as everyone knows, this doesn't always happen. Section 16 of the Act describes what a supplier must do when a faulty item is returned to them within six months of purchase. It says that the supplier can consider one of three options. They can attempt to repair the faulty item, they can replace it, or they can refund the customer. But it's important note that it's their choice which of these three options they prefer. The store is entitled to attempt to repair the phone before they consider a replacement or a refund.

However, there's something more important here. Why isn't this phone working properly? Did the store tell you this phone was new when you bought it? An iPhone 11 is a perfectly good phone, but Apple stopped producing it more than three years ago. Maybe it's been sitting in a store for the last three years, but it's worth checking if this phone is actually second-hand. If that's the case and the store didn't tell you, they're in trouble. I'll get in touch with them and ask.

Must I pay?

Kindly help me to understand something about my furniture. In 2022 I bought a couch which I failed to pay and they ended up collecting it back to their store and they sold it. To my surprise they say I must come and pay the remaining balance.

I asked them are they returning the couch they say no we have already sold it but I have to clear what I have started. So I am unable to take loans, they blocked me in other furniture stores and my name is blacklisted due to the couch that is taken back. Please help me to understand.

The most important thing to understand about hire purchase is that it's a terrible way to buy things. If everything goes well and you make every payment, the worst thing that happens is you pay up to twice the cash price of the item you're buying.

Unfortunately, very often things go wrong. If you miss a payment, that's when you discover that you don't own the items you think you bought. They still belong to the store. That's why they can repossess them whenever they have a reason to do so. The next thing you discover is that when the goods are repossessed, you still owe the store the money. You'll even owe them penalty fees, debt collection charges, and possibly legal fees when they try and recover the money from you. You'll also find yourself registered you with a credit reference bureau, which will make it a lot harder to get credit elsewhere. The best thing you can do is talk to the store about how much you owe, how much you can afford to repay each month and then sign an agreement with them.