The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's my phone?

I need your help. I bought a second hand phone a few months ago. The phone was never okay from the first month. I told the guys at the shop my challenge is I stay in Francistown but bought it in Gaborone. I took it to them last month, but now they were telling me stories.

I took it to them again on 23rd May and when I got there I was told the technician was off since it was a Saturday so I should bring it back on Monday. I called the owner who was in SA at the time to tell him I will leave the phone with someone, she took it back to them but refused to take it. The owner later called the person I left the phone with to say he is still out of the country he will call when he comes to return the phone but he never did.

In short look like they are not willing to give me a new phone or refund me. I can't just lose my P4500 money like that. If they don't want to give me another phone its better they just give me back my money. I'm sick and tired of the their games.

Unfortunately, when you told me the name of this store, I wasn't surprised. It's not the first time I've dealt with them and each time before the story has been the same. They have a history of selling phones that rapidly go wrong and then doing their best to avoid their responsibility to fix the problem they caused for their customer. Obviously, they're in breach of various parts of the Consumer Protection Act but just as importantly, they're showing you contempt.

I contacted the store and they're still taking their time. I think it's time to escalate this situation and complain to the Competition and Consumer Authority. Maybe they can help us persuade the store to do the right thing?

Who can take action?

I'm not sure if this would be the right platform to address this issue. We stay near a bar and night club. This club generates a lot of noise that kids cannot study well. We can't even sleep well. Their customers make noise by the security wall and talking loudly till morning. We wonder how our kids will survive on their education. Please help.

I think this is a certainly a consumer issue. Even though you're not a customer of the bar, you are suffering from the way they operate and their failure to behave like a good neighbour.

The consumer angle here is with Gaborone City Council. I assume you pay rates (obviously you should) and as a result, you're their customer. It's their job to enforce the various Bye-Laws that I'm sure say that bars, clubs and restaurants in residential areas need to behave themselves and not cause a disturbance to people like you who are trying to live a normal life nearby.

The good news is that your local council, Gaborone City Council, has recently become very active, enforcing the law, shutting down unhygienic restaurants and supermarket kitchens and cleaning up the environment. This is the time to ask for their support. I suggest that you submit a complaint to them and get your neighbours who are also bothered by this bar to do the same. The more people who complain, the more likely they are to treat this seriously and take action.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay them? (Certainly not!)

In April last year, I purchased a Tecno Spark 20C phone from a cellphone dealer in Kazungula. Around October, the device suddenly went into device lock mode. When attempting to switch it on, a message appeared instructing me to return the phone to the supplier for verification, and I was unable to access any features or data on the device. I promptly returned the phone to the store and explained the situation. They informed me they would send the device to their supplier in Dubai for further checks. I made several follow-ups, but each time I was given a different explanation. I also learned that five other Tecno devices were experiencing the same issue and that mine was in a queue for repairs. They temporarily borrowed me a smaller Samsung phone that was also under repair, with the understanding that it would be returned once my Tecno was fixed.

In January 2025, the Samsung began displaying screen glitches. I returned it and they claimed it needed a software update. I updated the software, but the issue persisted after a week. I returned the Samsung and again requested my Tecno. More delays followed. In March I attempted to open a case with the police, but they informed me that consumer-related matters were outside their jurisdiction.

Last week, I returned to the shop and was informed that the Tecno had finally been repaired. However, the screen now has visible damage at the bottom. Despite that, I am willing to accept the phone in its current condition. The current challenge is that the store is now demanding that I pay P1,000 to "buy back" my own phone the same device I returned due to a manufacturer-related fault. I would greatly appreciate your assistance on how best to handle this situation.

You are being far too kind. This company is talking complete nonsense and they know it. Unfortunately, cellphone dealers often make up stories like this but this store has gone further than most. Instead of dealing with the problem responsibly, they gave you another phone they knew was already faulty, offered you endless excuses and finally want you to pay to get your phone back? This is ridiculous.

I'll contact the store and explain to them what the word "incompetent" means.

Must I pay them? (Probably yes.)

I wanted to ask you something here. I went to a cellphone shop. I accidentally touched a speaker that was on top of the other speakers and it nearly fell but fortunately I managed to hold it but another speaker fell and broke. The shop owner said I have to pay for the full amount of the broken one. It's around P200.

It's something that happened unintentional and even the way they put their things it's risky. I don't mind paying but what if the same thing happens to a client that is without that cash. Is it ideal for them to pay and what if they don't pay because they don't have money. Is it the right thing to do?

Let me ask you a different question. If you knock over someone's drink in a bar, what do you do? It's easy, you buy them another drink. Isn't this a similar situation? You broke something belonging to someone else. Isn't the right thing to do to pay them for the damage?

Maybe the store has insurance but it's unlikely to cover damages this small because it will fall below the 'excess' level their policy offers. And if they don't have insurance? They have no business sense.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Kindly advise!

May you kindly advise me here and maybe you can assist. In 2022 I bought some furniture on higher purchase. I managed to pay I believe all the debt I'm only left with arrears of about P4,000. I haven't paid since I lost my job in November 2024. They threaten to take the furniture but I recently went back to my contract only to realise that they actually made me pay for bunk beds twice. The said instead of 1 set of bunk beds I took 2 which is not correct. I'm realising now that I must have overpaid since they said I bought 2 sets when in the actual fact it's 1 set. These people have tormented me daily even threatening me with jail. They did not want me to pay any amount I have, they insist I should pay the total balance though I explained that I'm currently not working. This whole thing drove me to depression. Please advise on what step I should take now.

I'm sorry to hear about this. The problem with hire (not 'higher') purchase is that the arrangement is very one-sided. If things go well, you buy goods for typically twice the cash price. However, if things go wrong, you have almost no protection. The goods don't belong to you, they belong to the store until you've made the last payment. That means that the store can repossess the goods whenever they want to if you're in arrears.

I spoke to the store and they confirmed that you were being billed correctly, for one double bunk bed, not two.

However, I disagree with their suggestion that you must only pay the full amount. You should pay whatever you can afford. It's very important to keep paying as much as you can afford and as often as possible. Show them that you're doing your best. The worst thing you can do is to go silent and not pay a thing.

The sooner you pay off this debt, the sooner you can get back to a normal life.

Be careful what you click on!

If you're on Facebook you'll have seen lots of advertisements for giveaways and competitions from large chains of supermarkets. Most commonly recently they appear to be from Sefalana or Fours. Both reported that the company was

"giving away 280 refrigerators and washing machines that are unsellable due to minor scratches and dents, all in good condition and brand new, so we will randomly send them to followers every day. All you have to do is type @ and hit highlight. If it turns blue, you have been selected."

But this is 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

They took my money!

I mistakenly transferred funds to one of my saved beneficiaries using my banking app. I notified the bank. The bank contacted the beneficiary to activate the account since it has been dormant for a long time of which he obliged.

Yesterday I contacted the bank and they said the account of the beneficiary had some arrears and the beneficiary should clear those arrears first before they can reverse the transaction. The beneficiary has since indicated that he has no funds to pay those arrears. This is unfair and disappointing since am the one who sent these funds erroneously. I really need this money. Please assist.

I'm sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, there's probably little that can be done in this situation. The bank didn't make a mistake when they processed this transaction for you, their computer system simply followed the instructions you gave it.

It's also not their fault that the person who received it owed them money in their dormant account and when it was reactivated, they took the money to pay off their debt. That's standard practice with banks, they can take money owed to them from wherever they can find it in the customer's accounts.

However, I'll contact the bank for you and see if anything can be done. But please don't get your hopes too high.

They took my money twice!

Hello Richard. I opened a funeral policy with an insurance company and to my surprise they deducted the premium twice from my account in May. I called my agent to lodge a complaint and she told me that she is unable to help me and I should search for their contacts on Facebook.

Since the beginning of June they have been sending me from pillar to post just to refund me because apparently they captured my policy twice. They say for them to terminate the duplicate they will have to deduct twice again end of June and the waiting period is 30 days for termination. I need help because I feel robbed and tired of pestering them for my refund.

I really don't why some companies like to make things so complicated. This is a very simple problem and the solution should also be very simple. All they need to do is to cancel one of the deductions and then calculate how much they need to refund you. And then they just need to pay you.

I also think this idea that you should wait for 30 days for termination is unacceptable. Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act says that a company must offer services to consumers "in a manner and quality that consumers are reasonably entitled to expect". It's reasonable to expect that a company that makes a mistake, particularly one that costs the consumer money, needs to fix that problem quickly, not after a month.

I'll contact the company and urge them to stop fooling around and fix this for you.

You also need to get a better agent. If all they can do to help you is suggest you search on Facebook, they need to think again. They were paid a commission for opening your policy so they need to earn that money by treating you with more respect.