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.