Friday 24 May 2013

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Dear Consumer’s Voice #1

In 2011 I travelled to China and ordered some furniture (table and couches) and used a local based company which also has office in Guazhong China for shipping. My goods arrived in March 2012. The table was ok, unfortunately the colours of the couches were not the ones I had ordered. Instead of supplying beige & gray the company supplied beige & orange. I notified them that I would not accept the couches because they were of wrong colour and did not match with any of my household items.

The manager at the Botswana office told me hat he will sell the couches and refund me my money back and I have been waiting since. Everytime I called him he told me the couches have not ben sold yet.

Therefore my patience has run out and so I want to take the matter to the police or small claims court because it doesn’t look like I will ever get my money back.


This definitely sounds like a case for the Small Claims Court. Take all the paperwork including any written agreements, orders, invoices, delivery notes, whatever you can find and present your story and see what they can do for you.

What you might also consider is preparing to do this and then, at the last minute, telling the company that this is your plan. See if that scares them into action!

However I still don’t understand why people buy furniture from such a distance. Isn’t it a bit like buying a car from another country? If the wrong products are delivered what can you do about it? We hear of more and more people who are trying to save money or get greater variety by buying from far-flung countries only to have problems very similar to yours. Is it really worth it?

Update: I heard back from the reader, who is out of the country, and he said “I spoke to my sister to give him a last call, to warn him I’m taking the matter up with law enforcement offices. Today she told me he told her he sold the items and she should come and collect the money.”

Well done!

Dear Consumer’s Voice #2

Hi, please can you clarify if Riverbanks university is a fraud or not?


It most certainly IS a fraud.

Their web site, riverbanksuniversity.com, was only created in February this year, despite them claiming that their alumni include “215,000 graduates form a vast global network, with many alumni reaching the top of their professions as Supreme Court Justices, award-winning authors and musicians, astronauts and more”

Their web site has a section showing what they claim are their faculty members but the photos they show stock photos, not the people they claim to be. They're also the same pictures used by other known fake universities. They also claim to have been accredited by “UCAIS” but this isn't true, they’re not really accredited by any legitimate body.


However the biggest clues are in the online conversation I had with one of their advisors. I asked how quickly I could get a Masters degree from them. I was told that “The process will take 10 working days for you to receive the documents” and that “Its an instant program that you are applying for. Its an experience based program. No where you would take classes. The fee for the process will be $298”.

So yes this is a fraud. Nobody gets a real qualification without studying, completing coursework or sitting exams. Anyone who buys one of these fake degrees is either foolish, corrupt or perhaps both.

Riverbanks is just the latest in a long line of fake establishments offering fake degrees. Others include Rochville, Headway, Northern Port, Ashford, Belford, Corllins and McFord. Anyone claiming a degree from one of these and all the other fakes is a fake themself. It’s about time that more employers actually examined the qualifications of their employees in more detail and then fired anyone who got a job or promotion because of a fake degree. And then called the police and have him or her charged with fraud.

Celebrations

Suresh, at the Knack hardware store at Kgale Shopping Center for always being extremely welcoming and helpful.

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