The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay them? (Certainly not!)

In April last year, I purchased a Tecno Spark 20C phone from a cellphone dealer in Kazungula. Around October, the device suddenly went into device lock mode. When attempting to switch it on, a message appeared instructing me to return the phone to the supplier for verification, and I was unable to access any features or data on the device. I promptly returned the phone to the store and explained the situation. They informed me they would send the device to their supplier in Dubai for further checks. I made several follow-ups, but each time I was given a different explanation. I also learned that five other Tecno devices were experiencing the same issue and that mine was in a queue for repairs. They temporarily borrowed me a smaller Samsung phone that was also under repair, with the understanding that it would be returned once my Tecno was fixed.

In January 2025, the Samsung began displaying screen glitches. I returned it and they claimed it needed a software update. I updated the software, but the issue persisted after a week. I returned the Samsung and again requested my Tecno. More delays followed. In March I attempted to open a case with the police, but they informed me that consumer-related matters were outside their jurisdiction.

Last week, I returned to the shop and was informed that the Tecno had finally been repaired. However, the screen now has visible damage at the bottom. Despite that, I am willing to accept the phone in its current condition. The current challenge is that the store is now demanding that I pay P1,000 to "buy back" my own phone the same device I returned due to a manufacturer-related fault. I would greatly appreciate your assistance on how best to handle this situation.

You are being far too kind. This company is talking complete nonsense and they know it. Unfortunately, cellphone dealers often make up stories like this but this store has gone further than most. Instead of dealing with the problem responsibly, they gave you another phone they knew was already faulty, offered you endless excuses and finally want you to pay to get your phone back? This is ridiculous.

I'll contact the store and explain to them what the word "incompetent" means.

Must I pay them? (Probably yes.)

I wanted to ask you something here. I went to a cellphone shop. I accidentally touched a speaker that was on top of the other speakers and it nearly fell but fortunately I managed to hold it but another speaker fell and broke. The shop owner said I have to pay for the full amount of the broken one. It's around P200.

It's something that happened unintentional and even the way they put their things it's risky. I don't mind paying but what if the same thing happens to a client that is without that cash. Is it ideal for them to pay and what if they don't pay because they don't have money. Is it the right thing to do?

Let me ask you a different question. If you knock over someone's drink in a bar, what do you do? It's easy, you buy them another drink. Isn't this a similar situation? You broke something belonging to someone else. Isn't the right thing to do to pay them for the damage?

Maybe the store has insurance but it's unlikely to cover damages this small because it will fall below the 'excess' level their policy offers. And if they don't have insurance? They have no business sense.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Kindly advise!

May you kindly advise me here and maybe you can assist. In 2022 I bought some furniture on higher purchase. I managed to pay I believe all the debt I'm only left with arrears of about P4,000. I haven't paid since I lost my job in November 2024. They threaten to take the furniture but I recently went back to my contract only to realise that they actually made me pay for bunk beds twice. The said instead of 1 set of bunk beds I took 2 which is not correct. I'm realising now that I must have overpaid since they said I bought 2 sets when in the actual fact it's 1 set. These people have tormented me daily even threatening me with jail. They did not want me to pay any amount I have, they insist I should pay the total balance though I explained that I'm currently not working. This whole thing drove me to depression. Please advise on what step I should take now.

I'm sorry to hear about this. The problem with hire (not 'higher') purchase is that the arrangement is very one-sided. If things go well, you buy goods for typically twice the cash price. However, if things go wrong, you have almost no protection. The goods don't belong to you, they belong to the store until you've made the last payment. That means that the store can repossess the goods whenever they want to if you're in arrears.

I spoke to the store and they confirmed that you were being billed correctly, for one double bunk bed, not two.

However, I disagree with their suggestion that you must only pay the full amount. You should pay whatever you can afford. It's very important to keep paying as much as you can afford and as often as possible. Show them that you're doing your best. The worst thing you can do is to go silent and not pay a thing.

The sooner you pay off this debt, the sooner you can get back to a normal life.

Be careful what you click on!

If you're on Facebook you'll have seen lots of advertisements for giveaways and competitions from large chains of supermarkets. Most commonly recently they appear to be from Sefalana or Fours. Both reported that the company was

"giving away 280 refrigerators and washing machines that are unsellable due to minor scratches and dents, all in good condition and brand new, so we will randomly send them to followers every day. All you have to do is type @ and hit highlight. If it turns blue, you have been selected."

But this is fake. It's a scam.

What happens is that as soon as you reply, you get a message from them saying you're a lucky winner and all you need to do is click on a link. This takes you to a web page where it asks you to register for a video streaming service for P3.56 per day.

I suspect this is what it's all about, that daily payment. I bet they'll make it very difficult to unsubscribe from the service. And who knows if it really will be just P3.56 each day?

The lesson is to be very careful about what you see on Facebook. Don't share things that you think might earn you a gift or some money. It's always a scam.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

They took my money!

I mistakenly transferred funds to one of my saved beneficiaries using my banking app. I notified the bank. The bank contacted the beneficiary to activate the account since it has been dormant for a long time of which he obliged.

Yesterday I contacted the bank and they said the account of the beneficiary had some arrears and the beneficiary should clear those arrears first before they can reverse the transaction. The beneficiary has since indicated that he has no funds to pay those arrears. This is unfair and disappointing since am the one who sent these funds erroneously. I really need this money. Please assist.

I'm sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, there's probably little that can be done in this situation. The bank didn't make a mistake when they processed this transaction for you, their computer system simply followed the instructions you gave it.

It's also not their fault that the person who received it owed them money in their dormant account and when it was reactivated, they took the money to pay off their debt. That's standard practice with banks, they can take money owed to them from wherever they can find it in the customer's accounts.

However, I'll contact the bank for you and see if anything can be done. But please don't get your hopes too high.

They took my money twice!

Hello Richard. I opened a funeral policy with an insurance company and to my surprise they deducted the premium twice from my account in May. I called my agent to lodge a complaint and she told me that she is unable to help me and I should search for their contacts on Facebook.

Since the beginning of June they have been sending me from pillar to post just to refund me because apparently they captured my policy twice. They say for them to terminate the duplicate they will have to deduct twice again end of June and the waiting period is 30 days for termination. I need help because I feel robbed and tired of pestering them for my refund.

I really don't why some companies like to make things so complicated. This is a very simple problem and the solution should also be very simple. All they need to do is to cancel one of the deductions and then calculate how much they need to refund you. And then they just need to pay you.

I also think this idea that you should wait for 30 days for termination is unacceptable. Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act says that a company must offer services to consumers "in a manner and quality that consumers are reasonably entitled to expect". It's reasonable to expect that a company that makes a mistake, particularly one that costs the consumer money, needs to fix that problem quickly, not after a month.

I'll contact the company and urge them to stop fooling around and fix this for you.

You also need to get a better agent. If all they can do to help you is suggest you search on Facebook, they need to think again. They were paid a commission for opening your policy so they need to earn that money by treating you with more respect.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

I need a refund!

I request your assistance regarding a matter involving a car dealership, where I purchased a vehicle but have yet to take delivery of it, despite having paid the full amount of P65,000. In March 2025, I paid a deposit for the purchase of a car. Shortly thereafter, I was informed that the car had been loaded and I was required to pay the balance, which I did. However, three months have now passed, and I still have not received the vehicle. Throughout this time, I have been given numerous and inconsistent explanations for the delay. At different points, I was told that the vehicle was being registered, but the system was down. Then the car was undergoing valuation. Then the delay was due to clearance issues at CID. Then the vehicle could not be valued at BURS because of discrepancies in the invoice amount and there were BURS raids affecting the process. Despite all these explanations, the car remains undelivered. I have personally gone to inspect it, and it is indeed parked and gathering dust. I was initially told that the car would be delivered within five working days, a promise that has not been fulfilled, three months later.

I am now left with two options, that I be refunded, or the dealer urgently resolves the issues and delivers the vehicle. I would appreciate your advice on how best to proceed.

I contacted the owner of the dealership and, to her credit, they responded very quickly. They explained that there had been problems with BURS but promised that your car would be delivered next week. Please let me know what happens? Let's hope they keep their promise.

Where's my refund?

I have a concern regarding an iPhone 13 Pro Max I purchased on 6 June 2025. From the moment I received it, the screen was shaking and appeared faulty. I immediately raised this with the staff, and I was informed it was a software issue. They updated the software, and the phone seemed fine for a short while. However, the problem recurred the following day, and I contacted the store again. They once more claimed it was a software issue, performed an update, and returned the phone to me.

On 17 June 2025, while I was using WhatsApp, the screen suddenly displayed lines, indicating an internal screen problem. I rushed back to the store to report this. One of the staff members told me it was physical damage, despite the fact that the screen has no cracks or signs of external impact. I was told that I may have sat on it or dropped it—neither of which is true.

They took the phone for diagnosis, which they said would take 7 days. After discussing the matter with my sister, we returned to the store to request a refund, but after waiting for over two hours, I was told the refund would take 21 working days to process.

I am kindly requesting your assistance, I believe I am entitled to a quicker resolution.

This store has missed something important. Section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act says that a supplier who sells a faulty item must, if it's returned within six months, repair it, replace it or refund the customer. It's important to understand that the supplier can decide which option they prefer. However, what they often forget is that if they repair it and the same fault happens again within three months, they lose the right to repair it again. They can now only replace it or refund you.

So all these excuses about physical damage don't mean a thing. But the good news is that I think they realize they've done you wrong. That's probably why they finally offered you the refund. Eventually. Let me know what happens?

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

They took my money!

An insurance company has been deducting money from my account but I've never opened a policy with them. A relative of mine had opened a policy with them and I was in that policy so since I'm not their client when opening the policy they chose to make it mine but I wasn't aware of that. I asked that they close it the very first month I noticed they were deducting money from my account. The policy was closed after 5 month and still after closure they deducted money from my account. When they closed the account they sent 2 months worth of deduction to the relative who opened the policy but they have been deducting from my account. I've zent emails and I'm being tossed around. I don't know where to go anymore please assist.

This is a complete mess. I understand that everybody makes mistakes sometimes, we're all human, but when we make a mistake the decent thing to do is to own up, fix the problem and make sure that it doesn't happen again. It's even more important to behave like this if you're an insurance company that is taking money from the wrong person. They should be asking themselves whether their real customer was covered by the policy during the time you were paying for it.

I contacted the company and they responded very quickly, promising to investigate. Two days later they contacted me again saying that the matter had been resolved, which is good news.

However, I have one question. How did they get your bank details?

Can he get them back?

My brother got furniture on higher purchase. So for the past 2 months he couldn't pay and they came and took some of the furniture and left some. They have been pestering and threatening him with endless calls to pay but he always updated them. So this morning the money he has being waiting for has been credited. So he was asking them if they are bringing back the ones they took as he is paying for all the furniture, but it seems they want to accept the money and not return the other furniture taken. How does he go about it?

There are some very important things we need to understand about hire purchase. Firstly, it's called 'hire' purchase because until you've paid the last instalment, you're hiring the goods, you don't own them. They still belong to the store. That changes a lot. For example, it means that they can claim back, or 'repossess', their property whenever they think they have a good reason to.

And what are those 'good reasons'? The best one is being in arrears. If you fall behind with your payments, the hire purchase agreement will say that they can repossess their goods whenever you are in arrears. They don't need to go to court to do this because that's also in the agreement. What it also says is that they can register you with a credit reference bureau when you owe them money.

In your brother's case, it really depends on how generous the store is willing to be. They can keep the repossessed goods and continue charging your brother the monthly instalments until the end of the repayment period if they want.

I contacted them and they're investigating. Let's hope they can be generous.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can I get my money back?

Kindly assist. I bought a new TV on hire purchase. The TV was fine until March when it started producing some black spots on pictures, I reported it to them as it is still under warranty and they took it for maintenance but to my surprise after 2 weeks it was brought back unattended because it showed the same problem. I sent it back with them. They brought it back again after 2 weeks with the same problem and then they promised to exchange it when I demand my money back.

They later called me and told me that they can't replace the TV because the technicians are saying they can't find a problem and then I asked them to talk to the salesman who confirmed that it indeed has a problem. Now they are saying they are taking it back to the supplier. She then said the senior manager is saying they can't give me a new one or my money because I have used it for more than a year even though it's still under warranty. Please help me recover my money because it shows that it will be back and forth issue.

This store is obviously very confused. They're confused about how to deal with consumer problems and very confused about consumer rights. Clearly none of them have read the Consumer Protection Act. Or if they have read it, they clearly don't understand it. Mostly, they seem very confused about what to do. In a situation like this, they just need to make a decision about what to do. Importantly, it should be a decision that addresses YOUR needs rather than theirs.

I contacted their Head Office in South Africa and they responded reasonably quickly. They're trying to contact you. Let's hope they make a decision. Quickly.

Where's my refund?

I paid for a car and have all the receipts but the guy delivered a wrong car and promised to deliver one we agree upon. After i realised he might take me for a ride I hastily drew up a contract and he signed. He then managed to order the one we agreed upon. I was not allowed to see the car because apparently the guy was failing to pay the balance at the bond warehouse when the car arrived.

Around May I realized I might not even get to see the car so I called him in order to give him a cancellation and refund letter. I even gave him extension after extension and there was always a story after another until BURS released the notice about the importation of cars and found out that he undervalued the car. So I gave him an acknowledgment of debt letter of which he read and signed too but to date its story after story. He said he found a client but he is even failing to communicate with me effectively. I do not want to take the matter to court as I feel it will drag on for a very long time and either way I could not even have the car because he has not yet fully paid the BURS clearance and registered the car.

I had taken a P50,000 loan to help get the car but now am repaying a loan and the money had not worked for me. Your assistance will be of great assistance.

So far you've done everything right. Most importantly you forced this guy to sign an agreement promising to repay you. However, he doesn't seem to understand what a promise is.

I'll contact him and see if I can add to what you've already achieved.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my tombstone?

I am in need of your help. I engaged a company for a tombstone amounting to P17,055. He asked for first payment which was done on 5th March as P10,000 and we agreed the installation would be done in March. On 1st April he asked for the final payment and details of the tombstone. Till date he has not delivered on the tombstone. I have called him for feedback and he says he has orders dating as far back as last year. He says he deals with many clients.

I even went to the Police and he is saying for him to refund I need to wait for him to sell the tombstone first. I don't believe it's ready because he should have at least sent me a photo to give me assurance, and I can't wait for him to sell as he is claiming.

On 1st April when demanding for the final payment he said the stone is ready, and now it's a month without any communication and I am the one following him as if I owe him, he should have communicated that he has so many customers coz I shouldn't have settled for that. I need help with my refund I no longer want to deal with him.

I have bad news and good news.

The bad news is this is the third time a reader has complained about this company. In the past it's been similar stories. Money paid, tombstones not delivered and promises broken.

The good news is that I made some progress when I contacted him. He's still promising to pay a refund but this time after he's repolished the stone and removed the name of the deceased and resold it. Given my experience with this and other tombstone suppliers I'm not very optimistic. But we can't give up.

Can't I just return it?

I bought a Redmi 14C phone on the 21 May. I didn't use the phone because I noticed the fault the same day I bought it. I then returned it to the shop on the 23 May but they refuse to exchange for me. Rather they took the phone back and said it should be sent to technicians first.

At the back of the receipt it is written that if the customer is not fully satisfied with the product, it can be exchanged or refunded. I need a refund not a repaired phone on first buy. What about 7 days policy? Is it right?

This store has caused some confusion.

I think the 7 days they refer to is the time when you can simply change your mind and return the item. A store isn't required to offer this service, it's just good customer service.

However, there's also the warranty period which is the period when the supplier is required to deal with a faulty item. If a faulty item is returned, they can choose whether to repair it, replace it or refund you. When you returned the phone they saw it as a faulty item to be repaired, assuming you wanted to keep it. I think it's best to allow them to try to repair the phone.

But they shouldn't take too long about it.