The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Can they do this?

Good day sir. I come with a very heavy heart. Last year I had a very huge family challange and so I was forced to pawn my car to get funds to help. My concern is that there is a lot of cheating when it comes to adding interest.

They don't wait for 30 days to go by before they add interest. For example: if I took the loan out on the 8th August my understanding is that after 30 days is when they can add interest but this is not the case here. If I would pay in maybe the 25th August 2025 they don't wait for my 30 days to lapse. They add immediate interest on the 25th August 2025. I have been paying since last year and my loan is just never ending because I'm receiving interest in a very unfair manner. Thus has really put a huge strain on my finance as I am trying my level best to provide for my family and repay the loan at the same time. I pray you are able to assist me.

Pawn shops strike again. I dislike pawn shops as much as I dislike hire purchase and payday lenders. The pawn shop industry is very effective at exploiting the desperate and the poorest elements of society, who find themselves urgently needing money, people who don't have the time or ability to save up for a purchase or those, like you, who don't have the cash to pay for an emergency expense.

It's very difficult for me to comment on when and how they should be charging interest but the good news is that pawn shops are regulated by NBFIRA, the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority. NBFIRA have been quite active with pawn shops and they have the power to demand that this pawn shop explains themselves to them and to you. I suggest you contact them as soon as possible.

The bigger lesson is please, whatever you do, try to avoid pawning goods to raise money. Their terms and conditions benefit them, not us and if anything goes wrong, you can end up owing them a lot of money, a lot more than you borrowed. And you lose the goods you gave them.

When will they refund me?

I have a story with people from a tombstone company. I bought a tombstone from them for P4,500. Early last month or so I asked for refund since it came to our attention that my deceased Mom had already paid for her own tombstone but this people are playing games with me. Mr Richard they since gave me P1,000 and P500. I told them my rent is due I need my money they ain't replying to my messages. I did not pay rent as I'm currently unemployed but they owe me P3,000.

Firstly, I'm very sorry for the loss of your mother.

The problem here is that it's not the tombstone company's fault that you needed to cancel the deal. The good news is that I contacted the owner of the company and he responded. He told me that:

"the material had already been bought, so as customers come to buy, we give him something. We paid 1,000 and last week we gave him 500."

I know it's frustrating but I think you need to give the company a little time to gather the money he's offered to refund you. I'll keep in touch with him to offer some encouragement.