Saturday 19 July 2014

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Dear Consumer’s Voice #1

I bought 2 phones (iPro A3) for me and my wife. I asked the salesman if it’s a good phone, original and if it wont give me problems. He said its good as he plans to sell in bulk.

Later I told him that the camera is not clear, as it states in the internet that its 3 mpixels, he saw what I meant but could not help. I explained to him that I should return them because the camera means a lot to my wife.

The same day the phone switched off and on and while my wife was listening to music. I told him about the problem plus it looked like someone unscrewed it behind and he said come to the office the following day so that he checks. He checked and said he does not know what the problem is, so he changed it. But I still told him I would like a refund.

Now only one speaker works instead of two, the phones heat up next to memory card, then the phone said the memory is invalid and when you open phone it takes long to open. I even asked him to look for buyer for me since he can’t give me back my money. Still he cant help. I am afraid to sell this phone to other people because of the problems, and what they will notice it will be unfair.

I bought these phones at P1150 each. They’re not even months old. I would like him to refund me back my money since from the start I told him I am not happy, these are fake phones with downloaded android software and hope he does not cheat next customer.


Let’s get one thing straight first. There’s no evidence, is there, that these are fake phones? You didn’t buy a fake phone, you just bought a cheap one. Too cheap.

This is what happens very often when you buy a cheap piece of technology. One of the reasons smartphones from the big companies like Apple and Samsung are expensive is that they work. Cheap knock-offs are cheap because they’ve often been made cheaply and behave the way your phones have behaved.

Despite this, your situation is actually quite simple.

Section 13 (1) (a) of the Consumer Protection Regulations 2001 says that a supplier must offer goods that “are of merchantable quality”, meaning that they must be “fit for the purposes for which commodities of that kind are usually purchased”. A smartphone that can’t take decent pictures or play music, overheats and has loose screws is simply unacceptable.

I suggest that you put this in writing to them and demand either a brand new replacement or a complete refund.

Let me know what they say.

Dear Consumer’s Voice #2

I am kindly requesting your most reputable organisation to advise me accordingly in this matter. I have opened an account with an European Company called OptionRally and those people are saying I should give them my credit card number and I should have at least $250 in my account so that I can trade. They are telling me a lot of benefits if I do that. They say I will get extra cash by doing that. Please help and advise accordingly because I am afraid. As I am typing now a lady called me straight from Europe saying I should give my Bank card number.


We covered Optionrally.com last year and I don’t see any reason to change my mind about them. They claim to offer trading in "binary options" which they explain is “an option that pays either a fixed amount or nothing, depending on whether a certain condition is fulfilled when the option expires.” That sounds simple, but if it was really possible to make “profit as high as 78% of your original deposit” don’t you think banks, investment companies and pension schemes would be doing it? Don’t you think the Bank of Botswana would be doing it?

Face it, the reason they’re not is because it’s simply impossible to make that sort of return. I found an interesting quote about binary options. Gordon Pape, writing in Forbes magazine said:
"If people want to gamble, that’s their choice. But let’s not confuse that with investing. Binary options are a crapshoot, pure and simple."
Please don’t waste your money.

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