Sunday 24 July 2022

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can I get a receipt?

Hello Sir. I was buying eye glasses using medical aid. The glasses cost P1600 but medical aid covered me with P1100 so I topped up with P500.

After telling them that I need a receipt for the glasses so as to be refunded at work they said they will only do it for P500 not the cost of the glasses which is P1600.

I thought I have to be refunded what I have spent.

Is it fair and ok Sir?


Yes, I think this is perfectly fair. In fact, this is exactly how it should work.

Firstly, you're paying your medical aid to cover the costs of any medical issues you face. Medical aid providers cover the cost of our medical bills although they often require the member to pay some of the bills. Sometimes it's 10%, other times it's the VAT, with some it's a higher percentage for certain things like glasses.

In your case you have a very generous employer who covers the shortfall. Even though you paid the P500, you can claim that back from the company you work for. That's why the optician if giving you a receipt for just P500. That's the amount you claim from your employer. You weren't thinking of claiming the full P1,600 from them, were you?

I want a working fridge!

I am kindly asking for advice on the following matter. I purchased a fridge from a store in Francistown in February 2021. A few months into using it the fridge began giving me problems and I contacted the store about the matter. After weeks of being given the run around a technician finally came to see the fridge and initially he said the problem can not be fixed and he will write a report for me to get a new fridge.

Weeks later I was told that the company found a replacement door for the freezer, which apparently was the source of the problem. The door came months later only to realise that it was for a wrong model. The technician and the store then told me that they are going back to the initial idea of me getting a replacement fridge. They then told me that the model that I have has been replaced by new model and that I need to top up to get the new model.

I was told that after transporting the fridge to the store (at my own costs by the way) I would have the new fridge in about 4 hours. Hours after having returned my fridge I called to find out if the new fridge is ready for collection, only to be told that I have to wait for the fridge to reach the supplier in Gaborone and that the process can take up to 2 weeks. The shop failed to give me answers as to what will happen to my groceries in the weeks that I will be waiting. Long story short, I am currently without a fridge.

Kindly advice me accordingly


Why can't they make a decision? I don't think this store knows about customer service or about the Consumer Protection Act.

Their customer service failures are simple. Why are they treating you with so much disrespect? Why are they ignoring your needs and putting themselves first?

Their ignorance of the Consumer Protection Act is also surprising. You are under no obligation to pay for a more expensive fridge when it's their responsibility to give you a fridge that works. The fact that the model you had no longer exists is their job to manage, not yours. If they need to replace the faulty fridge with a slightly better one then they need to pay for it, not you.

Section 14 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that when a store:
"undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to … timely performance and completion of those services (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay". 
I don't think this store understands that either.

I'll contact them and see if they can perhaps go a little faster.

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