The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Where's the bed?

I need your help. In 2024 I took a bed in order to pay it with installments. By then I was working but I lost my job in 2025 and I wasn't able to pay properly but I was trying to pay. In mid 2025 they called and asked me to return the bed because I wasn't able to pay well and I agreed with them to collect it. They did not come until February this year to take it. They collected it and I was given a receipt for the collection.

Then they called this week claiming they didn't collect the bed. After some days they called again saying I should pay over P7,000 or they will file a court case against me. Is it really fair for me to pay the balance even though I am not using it? Please help.

Firstly, it's really important that you keep that receipt safe. I suggest you take a picture of it on your phone and send it to several people as a backup, including me. If the store believes that you still have the bed, and you can't prove that it was taken back, you're going to have trouble.

More importantly, this illustrates how higher purchase works. It's important to understand when you buy something this way, it doesn't belong to you. Until you've made the final payment it's still belongs to the store. The money you were paying them each month was just to hire the item. If you check the small print of the agreement you signed, you'll see that it says that, even if the item is repossessed, you still owe the money you agreed to pay them, minus any amount they got from selling the repossessed goods.

I'll contact them and explain your side of the story, but you also need to sit down with them yourself to discuss exactly how much you owe them, and how you can best repay that debt. And don't forget to send me that receipt!

The second one was worse!

Please can you help me? I bought a tablet from one of the shops in Gaborone on the 26th of February but on the 15th of March it started to shut down on its own regardless of it having a fully charged battery. I took the tablet back to the shop and they exchanged it and gave me another tablet of the same brand. This one my son used it for less than a week and it was worse than the first one. I went back to the shop and they told me that I'm overusing the phone but my son used it for 3 hours only and they told me there is nothing they can do because the tablet is a Chinese brand. What can I do?

This store understands nothing about customer service and even less about consumer rights. Clearly this device was faulty when you bought it. However, I'm sure we all understand that this happens sometimes, but the Consumer Protection Act and common sense both make it very clear what a supplier should do in this situation. Section 16 of the Act says clearly that they must either repair the faulty item, replace it, or refund the consumer. They were within their rights to replace it with another device of the same brand but it's completely unacceptable that the second tablet was even worse than the item it replaced.

And then they start making up stories about over-using the device? That's nonsense. Also, their excuse that because it's Chinese, they can't do anything? That's just as silly.

I'll contact the store and politely tell them to stop making up stories and to stop being so silly. I'll also explain a little bit about Consumer rights and customer service. Clearly they need some education.