The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can I return the shoes?

Good day. I bought shoes and I bought wrong choice wanted to take money and they say it's not possible to refund. Everything is in good condition.

Is there any possibility that I get the money back?

Unfortunately, I don't have any good news for you. Section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act says that if we buy goods that are faulty within 6 months of purchase, we can return them to the supplier. That supplier can then choose whether to refund us, replace the item, or repair it. It's important to understand that the decision about which option to choose rests with the supplier, not us as consumers. It's a common source of frustration for consumers that stores try to repair something instead of refunding us. However, it's also important to note that if they do repair a faulty item and the same fault occurs again within the next three months, they can then only replace the item or refund us. They don't get a second chance to repair it.

In your situation, it's different. As I understand it, there's nothing wrong with the shoes, it's just that you chose the wrong ones, so you have no right to return them. Obviously, some store managers are kinder than others and some will allow you to return things if you changed your mind or if you made a simple mistake like yours. But that's just good customer service, it's not a right we have.

Can we make them pay a refund?

Hey Richard, my parents got scammed by a construction company. My parents engaged them to build their retirement house and paid them a deposit of P400,000 to begin works. Its been a month and the company has only sent out people to dig the site and that was it. They have since tried calling the owner of the company, but he keeps avoiding their calls. We don't know what to do.

They sent him a notice of breach and that they are terminating the contract but they have ignored our messages. Please help.

I contacted the builder and, to their credit, they responded very quickly with a very long email explaining that they "sincerely apologize for the distress and inconvenience caused to the client regarding the incomplete project. We fully acknowledge the client's frustration and understand their rightful expectation for closure on this matter."

They also said that they were "navigating a difficult financial period, which has delayed our ability to refund the client in a timely manner" And that they are "currently in the process of stabilizing our operations, and as part of our resolution strategy, we would like to formally propose a sit-down meeting with the client to agree on a practical way forward — such as a payment plan or another suitable arrangement".

So far so good. Let's see if they keep to their word and arrange a payment plan that suits everyone and allows your parents to carry on with their project.

Update. Unfortunately, there was no progress at the time I wrote this. It looks like the matter will be going before the courts.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

I'm a victim!

My documents have been used to get a loan, and now they refuse to absolve me from the case even with evidence of statements and payslips provided. My Omang, as for the payslip, they were fabricated, the account numbers were changed and figures were changed. The police are doing investigations but the lender is not even willing to listen or do anything.

The police say they are on it but I have only received a call from them once. Thing is in my case I am the one who was to open the case and not the lender, though I am a victim in the case of fraud. Its like there are many cases currently being investigated but with me the institution at hand does not want to do anything or absolve me from the case even with evidence provided.

This is going to be difficult.

I contacted the lender and they told me a much more complicated story. According to them, you visited one of their branches and completed a loan agreement. Apparently, one of their employees went through the KYC process and saw your identity documents. Your signatures on all the documents seems to match each other.

They say that your report to the Police, which says you were the victim of a fraud and never received the loan, doesn't prove anything. They later gave me the details of the bank account to which they paid the money and it's not the same bank you say you're with. Nevertheless, they don't see this as sufficient evidence of fraud.

Their suggestion is one that I agree with. You need to encourage the Police to conclude their investigation, prove that a crime was committed and that you were its victim. Then they might be able to fix this problem. 

Be careful what you click on!

Anyone on Facebook will have seen lots of advertisements recently for giveaways and competitions from large chains of supermarkets. A recent one appeared to be from Sefalana, another seemed to be from Fours. Both reported that the company had "480 refrigerators and washing machines that cannot be sold due to minor scratches and dents". To get one of the items, they say that all you need do is reply to the post and then share it in various Facebook groups and pages. But it's all fake. It's a scam.

What happens is that as soon as you reply, you get a message from them saying you're a lucky winner and all you need to do is click on a link. This takes you to a web page where it asks you to register for a video streaming service for P3.56 per day.

I suspect this is what it's all about, that daily payment. I bet they'll make it very difficult to unsubscribe from the service. And who knows if it really will be just P3.56 each day?

The lesson is to be very careful about what you see on Facebook. Don't share things that you think might earn you a gift or some money. It's always a scam.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Why can't they refund me?

Kindly shed some light regarding this matter. My son used to go to this certain school and at the beginning of every term l deposit a terms worth of money in their school account to pay for the fees.

Last year at the beginning of the year l removed the said child from that school and enrolled him at a new school. I don''t know how l kept the old school's account number and at the beginning of this term l sent money to the old school. When l realized the mistake l communicated with the old school apologized for the said mistake and asked them to reverse the said money. l just got their reply stating that l should go to the bank and ask them to reverse the money. Is it possible that when l go to the bank l will be helped? Kindly walk me through the steps l should take.

I'm not a banking expert but I know this much. I know more than this school knows.

Can you imagine what would happen if a bank could simply be told to reverse a transaction the way this school thinks can happen? It would mean that anyone could change their mind after paying for something. Someone could buy a product and then get their money back.

I think you should educate the school management about this. Yes, it was your mistake, and I think you should suggest that they can deduct any transaction fees from the money they refund, but it doesn't change the fact that the school needs to make a little effort to return your money.

If necessary, I'm happy to contact the school for you. 

Is it fair?

May I kindly inquire. I owe a furniture shop and the debt is in arrears. They handed me over to their debt collectors as I appear on ITC but now their threatening with repossession of the furniture when I asked them to make a payment arrangement as they already handed me over.

Is it fair that they want to repossess the furniture when I still show interest in paying?

No, it's not fair but it is how hire purchase can work.

The first important lesson about hire purchase is something I've said many times before but it's worth repeating. It's called 'hire' purchase because until you've paid the last instalment, you are hiring the goods, you don't own them. That changes a lot. For example, it means that they can claim back, or 'repossess', their property whenever they think they have a good reason to.

And what are those 'good reasons'? The most important one is being in arrears. If you fall behind with your payments, the hire purchase agreement will say that they can repossess their goods whenever you are in arrears. They don't need to go to court to do this because that's also in the agreement. What's it also says is that they can register you with a credit reference bureau when you owe them money.

However, there might still be hope. Let's both contact the store and see if there's still an opportunity to settle this debt amicably.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can she get her money back?

Hello Richard. Please help. My Mom got scammed by a woman claiming to be calling from her bank. She requested for account number and pin number then she kept on asking for OTP codes until she took P16,000 from the account.

Now I'm asking can they be traced through the number or bank transfer. Is it traceable?

Unfortunately, I can only offer you bad news. The nature of scammers is that they do their best to transfer any money they've stolen from the victims outside the country as soon as possible to stop the banks and law enforcement agencies from tracking the money and putting a hold on it. There is a small chance that if you alert a bank soon enough they might beat the scammers and hold the money but, in this situation, every second counts. If the victim waits even for minutes, it will probably be too late.

I know it's no comfort but your mother is one of many victims of these scams. I know a few people who've fallen for scams like this and I'm sure many readers of The Voice will know others.

One thing your mother MUST do is to report this to the Police. There's a possibility that someone here in Botswana was part of the scam and if so, they need to be dealt with.

Tragically, the only things we have to protect us are education and public awareness. We can our best in The Voice and in the Consumer Watchdog Facebook group but it depends on every one of us spreading the word to the people we care about who are less aware than we are. It's only as a community that we can beat scammers.

They're refusing my refund!

Kindly assist. Last year we registered a company through a consultancy. He assisted with everything we wanted. Now we wanted to make some amendments to our shareholding and we contacted the company and I met him at his office. I then explained that we wanted to remove other shareholders and he charged P850 for that which he demanded upfront payment which I paid in cash.

In our agreement to the service I gave him time frames which he did not meet and later he stopped taking my calls. I then went to his office to request for a refund he is now refusing to. The question is where to I report this guy to pay our money back?

This should be fairly simple, it's not a complicated situation.

However, as we all know, some companies like to take a simple situation and make it much more complicated than necessary. Rather than doing what they've been paid for, or offering a refund, they decide to make like difficult for you. And also for themselves.

I'll contact them for you and see if I can persuade to simplify this situation and give you your refund.

Meanwhile, in future, you know you don't need a consultant to form a company for you? Unless your needs are very complex, you can do it all yourself at the CIPA web site. It's a lot easier than you think.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my alarm?

In February I sought a quote from a security company for an alarm monitoring services which they offered. They went to survey the building and asked me a few questions including where I bank. We agreed on the quote and was made to sign a contract where I provided all my details including the bank account details where they would debit moving forward. I was asked to pay a deposit cash and was issued a receipt on the 5th March. To this day, they haven't connected me. They have not fitted their transmitter. I called them several times and the Palapye office always tells me they are waiting for their Head Office to approve since they don't bank with my bank. Mind you, when I was filling in the paperwork, the person who was there to assist me said my bank was compatible with theirs. Please help. I feel they are in breach and if my business get broken into, who do I look to?

Maybe they don't want your money? Maybe they're happy just to keep the deposit you gave them?
They certainly don't seem to want your business.

I don't understand why they have a problem with your bank. Do they only accept money from people who have the same bank as they do? I don't believe that, it's a crazy idea. I suspect they're just making up excuses to cover their inefficiency. It should take days at the most to set up a payment mechanism, not nearly two months.

I emailed the company but haven't heard back from them yet. Let's see if they really want new customers? And if they don't, they need to give you back your deposit.

Why can't they cancel my policy?

I have been having an issue with my bank charging for a stop order for my insurance. I cancelled the stop order on 28th February 2025 but even up to now they are still deducting my money from my account and when they try deduct the money and there is no money they still try attempt to deduct the money which for means there is a penalty of about P360 each attempt.

Sir I have been suffering about this till now. The insurance company still makes attempts to take my money. Today they took the money from my account even though I stopped the policy in February 2025. Please help me sir.

This isn't good enough. I think we all understand that there are sometimes delays in stopping regular payments from our banks when we cancel something like an insurance policy but it should never be for longer than a month and any refunds should never be paid later than the following month. Anything else is a sign that a company can't be trusted with our money.

What they often forget is that consumers are often punished by their bank for these payments, as you were. These penalties can be very expensive.

I contacted the insurance company and, to their credit, they immediately accepted responsibility for their mistake, even though they explained that you'd contacted your insurance agent rather than going directly to them which slowed things down.

A refund of P1,655 to cover the payments and bank charges should reach you very soon.