Saturday 18 February 2023

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

They took my supplements!

Kindly help with information on which authorities I can inquire from or rather report to. At the border police officers confiscated my non-medicinal fruit supplements because they said they don't recognize what they are. Initially they said I should take them back to SA, which I was willing, seeing that if I did not I could lose them. Then they called each other on the side and decided they were taking them.

They did not give me a document showing that they took my things and I took a picture of their form, and they asked me to delete (of course I backed it up) and threatened to look for me if I posted it.

A health representative who took goods because she doesn't recognize them yet wrote banned goods. I believe I have a right to at least take them back or get a form that indicates that they have confiscated my goods for a specific reason.


I'm a big believer in rules and procedures but they need to be followed fairly, openly and respectfully.

Let's begin with the supplements. We have very strict rules in Botswana on the importation of medicines and supplements and BoMRA, the Medicines Regulatory Authority publish on their web site a very long list of the various products that have been approved. You should start by seeing if these supplements are on the list. You also need to consider how much of these supplements you brought across the border. Was it just a small quantity or an amount that might appear to be suspicious?

Then we need to talk about the conduct of the officials at the border. They were within their rights and doing their job by inspecting products brought across the border but that doesn't allow them to ignore your rights and treat you like a criminal. You deserved to be given a receipt and a reasonable explanation for why your goods were seized. I suggest you speak to the right people in Immigration and get their feedback.

Will they give me a refund?

I need your help. Last year November I registered my son at a private school. I paid the registration fee of P200, the development fee of P2,000 and stationery P250. In December I got a job in Gaborone so I had to relocate together with my son.

Then in January just before school was reopening, I wrote them an email requesting for a refund but till today they tell me stories every day and they say the development fee is non-refundable and they can only refund me P250 for stationery.. But my son never attended even a single lesson in their school. They are even failing to help understand how the development fee is non-refundable.

I thought it can only be non-refundable if at least he attended at their school then later transferred. They are still falling to refund the P250 that they said they can refund and this is the second month since I requested for a refund. I call them every day and it's stories all the time.

Please help me, I need them to refund me.


I suspect you'll be out of luck.

It's normal practice for private schools to charge various fees when you first sign up your child as a pupil. There's often a registration fee that covers the paperwork and a development fee that contributes towards the development of the school, things like new buildings, sports facilities and technology. I think most private schools do this.

Then there's the agreement you signed with the school. If you check the agreement I'm sure you'll find a statement saying that those fees are non-refundable. That's assuming you signed it?

If you think about it, at least some of this is reasonable. The school reserved a place for your child that could have been given to another child. Your decision not to go through with your agreement isn't their fault, is it?

Meanwhile they should stop delaying with the amount they said they'd refund you. I'll contact them for you.

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