Saturday 2 October 2021

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my lay-bye?

On the 20th August I went to a shop in bus rank Gaborone. I did a lay bye, Today I went to pay off the remaining balance but unfortunately I forgot my receipt at but I have taken a picture before I left home,

I went to the shop paid the remaining balance but the cashier told me they will need the hard copy. I explained and asked to explain to the boss there but she did not want to talk to me at all. I stood there for more than 15 minutes asking her to come out of her office. She later came and refused to help me but I had my identity card and the soft copy but still did not want to help me. They refused to give me the goods. I got so angry and ended up raising my voice. Things went so bad and everyone was looking. I was stressed that tomorrow is the last day of the lay bye and I cant get help. They told me I will never get the money that I paid last month if I don't collect it the next day but unfortunately i won't be in town that day. Please help me get my money back or I can pay the remaining balance to get the item.

I am so disappointed. Please help.


I don't understand why some people decide to go into the retail business when they dislike their customers so much. Don't they want to make money? Don't they want repeat customers? Don't they want their existing customers telling their family, friends, neighbours and workmates about how good this store is?

These guys are completely disrespecting you. Yes, you forgot the receipt and that was a mistake but this is 2021, the age of cellphones with cameras, online storage and stores with computer systems. In the modern age we deserve to expect the people who take our money to record it in a way that it can easily be retrieved.

All it should take in a situation like yours is for you to prove your identity and to prove that you paid them some money. The rest should be simple.

The solution is simple. In fact they can choose which of two solutions they prefer. Either accept your final payments and give you your property or they should give you a refund. If necessary we should teach them about Section 23 (1) (d) of the Consumer Protection Act which says that "suppliers can't make up stupid rules to screw their customers because they're too lazy to check their records". Ok, it doesn't say that, but it does say that suppliers must not "impose terms and conditions that are unfair, unreasonable or unjust".

Where are my windows?

Good day Richard. Kindly assist us here we have made a deposit towards installation of aluminium windows with a certain company. The agreement was we pay 40% deposit then when we are ready to install they will come to do it. We have since paid the deposit and have been waiting since July and he has not installed the windows. He does not respond to our messages nor does he answer when we call. Last week Tuesday we went to the workshop and he told us he will deliver by Friday when we called he did not respond. He has our P55,000 yet he is not delivering. We are running behind schedule to complete our house. Kindly help us get our money back if he is unable to deliver the service. We have tried to be patient but we have since run out of patience.


Yet another supplier who doesn't care. I sometimes wonder whether some suppliers realize how angry it makes their customers when they stop communicating. And how angry it makes us when they take huge amounts of our money and then try to forget we exist.

I'll get in touch with the supplier and see if he wants to speak to me instead.

I'll explain that yet again the solution is very simple. He can do the work and keep the money or not do the work and give the money back. Is that difficult to understand?

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