Saturday 22 January 2022

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I take cash?

Sometimes early October 2021 I bought 3 double beds at a store in Kanye whose value was P9326 including transport for delivery. Immediately after delivery I felt the goods were not safe at my place and It would be best to ask the furniture shop to take them back and I will collect them later. The personnel at the shop refused and I had no option but to return the goods. The manager suggested two options to me; to either be refunded or continue keeping the goods for me until that convenient time for me.

I decided to be refunded and he explained they would need a certified copy of my ID and a receipt. I said I don't have a hard copy of my receipt rather a soft copy. He then said I will have to go a make an affidavit at the nearest police station. He then said the best way to deal with the issue would be to come to the office with all the prerequisites and they would refund me hard cash based on whether they have managed to raise the amount on that particular day. I then queried that paying me in hard cash won't be safe because it's festive and there are high cases of armed robbery these days. He responded by saying I should get someone to accompany me. I then requested that the case be transferred to Molepolole shop because I spend most of my time there. He referred me to the Manager in Molepolole who mentioned the same procedure of payment. I tried to negotiate for a bank transfer it was rejected.

My request is for them to refund me my money through a bank transfer not hard cash.


What are these people thinking? They want to give you over P9,000 in cash that you have to transport somewhere safe yourself? Are they insane? I would also refuse the refund this way. This is a job for security guards with protective equipment, training and the ability to defend themselves.

I've heard these excuses about having to wait for enough customers to buy things for cash before they can refund someone else with cash and they're ridiculous. I understand the need for cash and I know not everyone has access to modern banking but it's really time to move into modern times. If you have a bank account and you used that account to buy goods then they should refund you into the same bank account.

However, I do understand that many organisations have a rule that refunds should normally be made using the same channel as the original payment. That's often because they want to prevent people laundering money. The anti-money laundering laws we have are now quite strict and demand these precautions.

I'll get in touch with the Head Office of these stores and see if they can't be a bit more up-to-date and a bit less silly. And a whole lot safer.

How long is the warranty?

I need help. I bought a wedding ring at last year August and the wedding was December 10th. The warranty was 3 months from the date of payment. On the 15th December after doing laundry I noticed 2 stones were out then this month 2 more stones were out. When I contacted them they told me their policy doesn't allow them to help because the warranty was 3 months!

How do I deal wth ths issue?


You deal with this issue by becoming a teacher. A teacher of consumer law. A teacher of the Consumer Protection Act of 2018.

We need to teach this store that Section 15 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that a consumer "has the right to receive goods which are of good quality, in good working order and free of defects". That's quite simple. We then need to also teach them about Section 16 (2) of the Act which says that if goods fail to meet this standard, a consumer "may return goods to a supplier in their merchantable or original state, within six months after the delivery of the goods, without penalty and at the supplier's risk and expense".

In very simple terms, terms simple enough for even this store to understand, there is a six month warranty on this ring, not a 3 month warranty. It doesn't matter what they say, the law is right and they are wrong.

Let's do some education.

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