Saturday 21 December 2019

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Shall we name this dressmaker?

In September, I passed by a tailors in Mogoditshane inquiring about the prices for making a dress for a wedding. I showed him the piece of cloth i had, then he told me that he had the material in his storeroom and would charge me P650 if he provides the material. On 21st October, I went back to him with a P300 deposit. I told him I wanted the dress on the 10th November. I asked him when I should come for fitting then he said there was no need when I come on the 10th I will find my dress ready.

On 11th November I passed and he told me on the phone that he wasn't around and the lady he was working with won’t be able to see the dress because they just rearranged their work area. One lady that I found there also who happened to be my home girl told me to check him daily because he isn't a trustworthy person.

[The consumer then tells a VERY long story about this tailor telling her a series of lies about where the dress was and offering a long list of excuses.]

When I told him i wasn't happy with his customer service he told me if I have "the customer is always right mentality" that is not how he operates. Then I asked if he can give me back my deposit because he isn’t able to provide the service I wanted he said he would not do that because he has bought the material with the money.

When I asked for his full names from the lady he was working with, she told me that there was no need to give me because they know him at Mogoditshane kgotla because a lot of people report him there many times. She said if I say I have come to report him they will know who I am talking about. I didn’t hear from him after that, When I called him later that I want my deposit back he told me that he is not going to do that and I can take the matter to court if I want to.

My request from your office is to help me get my P300 deposit back from him and maybe teach him a lesson on the poor service that he is giving.


Clearly this guy is a terrible dressmaker but a highly accomplished liar and cheat. If he’s such a popular figure at the kgotla, that’s all we need to know about him.

I contacted him and asked for his reaction to your allegations and he gave me the silent treatment as well. So, it’s very simple. I will be naming this dressmaker on Facebook the day after this article if published unless he sorts this situation out promptly. Let’s see if he wants to be famous there as well as at the kgotla?

Forex trading warning.

We’ve been asked several times recently about our feelings about forex trading. Is it a good idea?

Firstly, I’m not talking about the foreign exchange business conducted by banks and bureaux de change that we use when we go to another country if we want foreign currency before we travel. I’m talking about foreign exchange trading where people like you and me buy and sell currencies online, betting that we’ll be buying currencies that will increase in value compared to the currencies we used to buy them.

If you’re on Facebook you’ve almost certainly seen posts and entire pages and groups devoted to persuading us that this is a way ordinary people like you and me can make lots of money by trading forex. Be careful. Be very careful.

This is an incredibly high-risk activity. I have met a few people who make a little money from it but I haven’t yet met anyone who makes a living from it. Instead I’ve met a lot of people who have LOST a lot of money. Firstly, that’s because the risks are very high. Secondly, it’s because forex trading is a hugely competitive business. Every time you sell a foreign currency, someone else must buy it. Every time you want to buy, there must be a seller. And while these other people might be just like you and me, they could also be a bank, a pension fund or a specialist forex trading company. It could even be the company you’re using to do the trading.

And then there are the scams. The forex trading industry is dominated by scammers doing their very best to steal our money. In the past month I’ve heard from someone who lost P36,000 in a forex scheme. That was surpassed by the story I heard from another consumer who “invested” P500,000 in a forex trading company based in Gaborone but which subsequently disappeared.

I’m sure there will be people who contact me saying these are exceptions, that there are people making money from forex trading and that might be true. However, the truth is that forex trading is fine if you treat it as a hobby and you only use money you can afford to lose without tears. Otherwise it’s a very good way to lose a lot of money very quickly.

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