Radio show notes - week beginning 5th November 2018

Source: Wikipedia

1. Should they compensate me?

“I bought some food in a store which I later found to have gone bad after a bite or two. I took the item back and was told by the store that indeed it had gone bad. They replaced it with on OK one and said because they didn't make me pay for it, they had compensated me. I did not feel satisfied considering that I had first been thrown from pillar to post before seeing the manager who also said the same thing. Also my time spent in going back to the store. I just wanted to ask from you, is there compensation that I should have received in that situation or an apology is as far as it can get?

Various laws and regulations apply here. The Food Control Regulations, Public Health Regulations and the Consumer Protection Regulations, in particular Section 13 (1) (a) which requires a supplier to offers commodities and service that are of “merchantable quality”. Clearly this food was not that.

The general rule is that when something is wrong with an item you're entitled to one of the three Rs: a refund, repair or replacement. In this case you got a replacement so in theory they've done all they need to do. However, this is actually more serious. This is a food safety issue. People die because of poor food hygiene. I think you deserve slightly more than just a replacement. I think you deserve a sincere apology, an explanation of what went wrong and some assurance that it won't happen again. I don't think that's too much to ask.

2. Where are the photos?

“We paid a local photography company for wedding coverage last year around June-July. The wedding was held in October and its been over year now still waiting for our package. We paid them about P13,400. We have followed up and followed up to this day but they are tossing us from pillar to pillar, story after story, they are not taking our calls anymore, they only respond once in a while through WhatsApp. We didn't sign any agreement with them because we had assigned a family friend who is a friend to the photographers to handle the photography part but we have proof of payment. We used bank transfer to pay them the total charge once off. The family friend has tried to intervene but to no avail. Kindly advise.”

What is it with the wedding industry. Why do they have so many crooks and incompetents?

The good news is that when we contacted this photographer he responded with: “I’m working on their package, supposed to be done by the end of the coming week.”

And he did.

3. Ponzi Scheme Alert: Amazon Web Coin

A member of our Facebook group got in touch to report that he received a message saying:

“Am called Dr Ronnie Gitta from Uganda. Am coming to your country”

He told us that:

“a day after introductions, he even wanted me to already be bringing other people his way and I don't even know anything about his product/ service. Very shady indeed.”

Here are some quotes from their web site:

“Get maximum benefits from cryptocurrency investments”.
“Daily profit accruals range from 3% to 8% depending on the investment package chosen.”
“Basic trader” “$20-$500” “8% daily for 20 days. 160% total return”
“Elite trader” “$20,000-$50,000” “3% daily for 100 days” “300% total return”
“Referral program - tell your friends, relatives or colleagues about the company. If your information is appealing to them, and they become our investors, you will be paid a referral commission! You can go further to build your own team, attracting new investors because we have made a special four-level program of affiliate rewards.”

This is a Ponzi scheme. All the usual clues are there. They promise miraculous interest rates with no indication of how they can be achieved. There is no explanation of where the growth in money comes from. It's all unbelievable. There are also some obvious clues, including this:

“Your deposit runs forever and you will never get it back.”

There are other clues. Their domain was only registered on 27th September this year. Although they claim that “Amazon Web Coin was officially incorporated in August 2016 under registration number 10351681” in the United Kingdom they also say that they're registered in Hong Kong. I checked and the UK companies register says the company was “Dissolved on 30 January 2018”.

Amazon Web Coin is a Ponzi scheme and everyone is warned to avoid it!

4. Managing debts. Or not managing them.

“I want to know how this thing of sending names of debtors to ICT works. I’m owing a cash loan and they sent my name to ICT. Now they are starting to take legal actions on me. The problem is that they have blocked me so I can’t have even a short loan to clear them. Is it not double punishment? Is that how it has to be?”

Yes, that's exactly how it works.

Firstly, creditors (the people we owe money) are entitled to send debt collectors and attorneys after us to collect their money. Wouldn’t you do the same if the situation was reversed?

Secondly, creditors are entitled to register our debts with credit reference bureaux. Their databases hold full financial records, both good and bad. These records allow other lenders to make sensible judgments about whether they should lend us money based on our previous history.

In this vase the customer has a history of defaulting. Why would another lender trust him?

We've put him in touch with a debt counsellor who should be able to help him sort out his finances.

5. Plastic bags. Again.

Are they banned? They were meant to be banned on 1st November but the Powers-That-Be changed their minds. So they're not banned yet. BUT they will be, sooner or later.

And the other issues. The so-called “Plastic bag levy”? Did it ever exist?

No.

What happened was that a compulsory standard for plastic bags ("FDS 186:2016, Plastic carrier bags and flat bags — Specification") was introduced but the Botswana Bureau of Standards. This meant that stores were then mean to offer us higher-quality plastic carrier bags that cost the stores more money. They just passed the cost on to you an me.

But be warned. Plastic bags will be banned along with plastic bottles and straws, sooner or later. Get ready now.