Today was the big day. Our Hyundai-owning reader went to pick up her car from Rustenburg nearly a year after it browk down. After a final argument over money she was able to drive away in her car with someone from Rustenburg to escort her to the border, just in case the impossible happened and she broke down again. Of course that couldn't possibly happen, having been told explicitly that the car wouldn't break down and after all the care and attention it was given in Rustenburg.
Except that's exactly what happened.
IT BROKE DOWN AGAIN.
Admittedly it was only a fuse that blew and it was repaired quite quickly but this time she managed to get a magnificent 15km from Rustenburg before it stopped.
Is there now any single part of this car that works reliably? Is there any beginning to the talents of the team that worked on this car?
Consumer Watchdog is a (fiercely) independent consumer rights and advocacy organisation campaigning on behalf of the consumers of Botswana, helping them to know their rights and to stand up against abuse. Contact us at consumerwatchdog@bes.bw or find us on Facebook by searching for Consumer Watchdog Botswana. Everything we do for the consumers of Botswana has always been and always will be entirely free.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Saturday, 25 September 2010
BBC News - Alert issued on danger supplement
BBC News - Alert issued on danger supplement
"Food watchdogs have issued an alert after finding that a chemical marketed online as a health supplement was similar to industrial-strength bleach.
'Miracle Mineral Supplement' is 28% sodium chlorite - which becomes bleach when mixed with citric acid.
Even taken as instructed, experts say it can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea - and mixing it wrongly could lead to respiratory failure."
"Food watchdogs have issued an alert after finding that a chemical marketed online as a health supplement was similar to industrial-strength bleach.
'Miracle Mineral Supplement' is 28% sodium chlorite - which becomes bleach when mixed with citric acid.
Even taken as instructed, experts say it can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea - and mixing it wrongly could lead to respiratory failure."
419ers take council for £100k • The Register
419ers take council for £100k • The Register
"A Scottish local authority lost £102,000 to an African gang after being duped by a targeted letter scam.
The letter, received at the end of July, purported to come from one of South Lanarkshire Council's legitimate suppliers, and requested that payments be made into a different account."
"A Scottish local authority lost £102,000 to an African gang after being duped by a targeted letter scam.
The letter, received at the end of July, purported to come from one of South Lanarkshire Council's legitimate suppliers, and requested that payments be made into a different account."
Friday, 24 September 2010
Contempt
I’ll start by being positive. There are plenty of stores and suppliers who understand that they should be nice to customers. They understand that customers give them their hard-earned money in return for something, that trade is a two-way street. I have some money, you have a product or a service I want, we meet and if the price is right we’ll do a deal. It’s based on some mutual respect and understanding. Most suppliers understand this. Most even truly believe it.
Some others are a bit more cynical. They understand that their financial survival is based on customer’s money and they’ll just pretend to care about us. While I obviously prefer those companies that are genuine, that really mean it, frankly I don’t care very much. So long as I get a good deal I’m not too fussy. I don’t make any particular moral demands on suppliers, just legal ones.
Then there’s the final group. There are certain companies that just don’t give a damn about their customers, they just want the cash and don’t care very much whether the customer walks away happy, or remains happy for very long.
There’s a certain store near OK Foods on the Western Bypass in Gaborone who sold a customer a fake Apple iPhone. In fact it wasn’t even that, it was a fake of a fake iPhone. When the customer realised she had been sold a fake (although frankly at the price she paid she should have been suspicious) she took it back for a refund and they just threw her out of the store. That’s fairly contemptuous I think.
Obviously multi-level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes treat their customers, sorry I mean victims, with contempt. If they had any real respect for them they would openly disclose the figures they have internally about the earnings that members of the pyramid will earn. A few of them actually do this now but only because courts and regulators around the world have dragged these details out of them kicking and screaming. That’s why we know that only a tiny percentage of Amway and Herbalife distributors actually make any profit and the few that do are the ones lucky to get into the pyramid early enough.
But maybe you’re thinking that this is just the less reputable end of the business spectrum? A well-known, international company with a brand and a reputation to maintain would never treat their customers with contempt, would they?
Are you sure?
Readers of this column will recall the Hyundai Rustenburg saga. You can see the details in previous columns and on both the Mmegi and Consumer Watchdog web sites but the basics of the story are simple.
Last October a Hyundai owner broke down in Rustenburg and wisely took her car to the nearest Hyundai dealership for repairs. A year later and despite giving them a total of P20,000 she still hasn’t got her car back. Twice she went to Rustenburg to pick up the car and twice it broke within the Rustenburg city limits. IT was a catalogue of disasters. They even lost the crankshaft at one point.
Now they claim that there is another fault with the car, one they curiously failed to notice when they first got the car and curiously failed to notice on both occasions that they said they had repaired the car and that it was ready to take home. They claim that the owner needs to pay them another P6,000 to get her car back. Despite repeated requests they have failed to give her a complete breakdown of the costs.
After many, MANY emails, several articles in Mmegi and a lot of patience Hyundai promised an investigation which concluded that she still had to cough up the cash, ignored one of the occasions she picked up the broken vehicle and generally whitewashed Hyundai Rustenburg.
Last week I wrote about this case and reported that nothing had recently happened. Just before last week’s article something DID happen. Another email came in from Hyundai in South Africa, the full text of which you can read on our blog. Here are the highlights:
It also means, in my not even slightly humble opinion that Hyundai are showing utter and complete contempt for a Hyundai owner.
I think we should all show them the same level of contempt back, don’t you? Do you really want to buy a vehicle from a company like this?
Some others are a bit more cynical. They understand that their financial survival is based on customer’s money and they’ll just pretend to care about us. While I obviously prefer those companies that are genuine, that really mean it, frankly I don’t care very much. So long as I get a good deal I’m not too fussy. I don’t make any particular moral demands on suppliers, just legal ones.
Then there’s the final group. There are certain companies that just don’t give a damn about their customers, they just want the cash and don’t care very much whether the customer walks away happy, or remains happy for very long.
There’s a certain store near OK Foods on the Western Bypass in Gaborone who sold a customer a fake Apple iPhone. In fact it wasn’t even that, it was a fake of a fake iPhone. When the customer realised she had been sold a fake (although frankly at the price she paid she should have been suspicious) she took it back for a refund and they just threw her out of the store. That’s fairly contemptuous I think.
Obviously multi-level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes treat their customers, sorry I mean victims, with contempt. If they had any real respect for them they would openly disclose the figures they have internally about the earnings that members of the pyramid will earn. A few of them actually do this now but only because courts and regulators around the world have dragged these details out of them kicking and screaming. That’s why we know that only a tiny percentage of Amway and Herbalife distributors actually make any profit and the few that do are the ones lucky to get into the pyramid early enough.
But maybe you’re thinking that this is just the less reputable end of the business spectrum? A well-known, international company with a brand and a reputation to maintain would never treat their customers with contempt, would they?
Are you sure?
Readers of this column will recall the Hyundai Rustenburg saga. You can see the details in previous columns and on both the Mmegi and Consumer Watchdog web sites but the basics of the story are simple.
Now they claim that there is another fault with the car, one they curiously failed to notice when they first got the car and curiously failed to notice on both occasions that they said they had repaired the car and that it was ready to take home. They claim that the owner needs to pay them another P6,000 to get her car back. Despite repeated requests they have failed to give her a complete breakdown of the costs.
After many, MANY emails, several articles in Mmegi and a lot of patience Hyundai promised an investigation which concluded that she still had to cough up the cash, ignored one of the occasions she picked up the broken vehicle and generally whitewashed Hyundai Rustenburg.
Last week I wrote about this case and reported that nothing had recently happened. Just before last week’s article something DID happen. Another email came in from Hyundai in South Africa, the full text of which you can read on our blog. Here are the highlights:
Roughly translated this means that their “independent dealer” in Rustenburg is not competent enough to follow their own rules, is not trusted enough to check the origins of Hyundai vehicles and is not competent enough to repair a Hyundai vehicle even when they try.“I would like to advise that Hyundai Automotive South Africa does not have any legal obligation towards a vehicle we did not sell. (…) It was noted immediately by our representative that went out to inspect the vehicle, that it was not a vehicle imported by Hyundai Automotive South Africa. Nor did I know that this vehicle was not one of ours when I first responded.
This specific vehicle was traced back to Malaysia where it was scrapped and sent to Botswana. This constitutes a “grey imported” vehicle. It is against the policy of Hyundai Automotive South Africa to do any repairs to a grey imported vehicle. Our dealers, including Hyundai Botswana, has strict instructions not to work on these vehicles as we cannot guarantee the condition of the internal workings of these vehicles prior coming into our dealership. We pride ourselves in the vehicles we sell and the quality of the vehicles we sell.
Our dealer in Rustenburg is an independent dealer and does not have the means to check whether a vehicle is one of ours or not and therefore offered to repair the vehicle to assist the customer, without being informed that this vehicle was not sold by Hyundai Automotive South Africa.
Loyalty is a two way street, Sir! With the above in mind, kindly note that this case has been closed on our side.”
It also means, in my not even slightly humble opinion that Hyundai are showing utter and complete contempt for a Hyundai owner.
I think we should all show them the same level of contempt back, don’t you? Do you really want to buy a vehicle from a company like this?
The Voice - Consumer's Voice
Dear Consumer’s Voice #1
There are adverts in the media about what they say is a very good business opportunity called “Buy Bridge Town”. Does this look like a genuine business or do you think it’s suspicious?
I called their office line and a sales lady encouraged me to buy fast because soon there will be nothing to buy.
There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly suspicious about the project but the amount of money they require you to invest obviously means you should give it a LOT of thought beforehand.
The Bridgetown development is planned to be a complex of 92 units in Kasane, near but not actually on the banks of the Chobe River. Their web site says that the complex will:
What timeshare schemes often also do is offer you an “investment opportunity” which allows you to earn back your investment by renting out your week to other people, hopefully making you a profit. However this is even more risky. If it’s hard enough to get a week when YOU want it, how difficult must it be to juggle the week you can get and the week that your potential customers want?
Let’s not also forget that any profit you make from renting out a timeshare in a property is “income”. You’ll need to tell the tax people about this before they find out and come calling on you!
The biggest concern for me personally would be that this development, as far as I can tell, isn’t finished yet. These 92 units don’t actually yet exist and nor do the various facilities they offer. In effect, by buying a timeshare you are funding the construction of the complex.
So our advice is neither to invest nor not to invest. Our advice is to do some serious research into the viability of the project. Then, and only after you’ve satisfied your scepticism, should you consider writing that cheque!
Dear Consumer’s Voice #2
I applied for a personal loan of P82,000 from my bank. Later on, I wrote them a letter on the 10th July 2010 to cancel the loan, five days later the bank credited my bank account with the loan amount, which they later took out. When taking out their money, they took P820 from my account which they claim is an arrangement fee. My query is that the contract agreement I signed with them says the arrangement fee is only deducted from the loan amount and not the account. Now they are saying as long as you have applied for a loan from their bank, it doesn’t matter whether the following day you cancel it, they will always deduct the arrangement fee. Their agreement doesn’t stipulate that there is a penalty charge for cancelling loan applications
I suspect that this will depend very much on the exact timing of your application and what it says in the loan application form you signed.
Clearly there’s a difference between changing your mind while the ink is still wet and before a bank, or indeed any other organisation, has had a chance to start processing your application and when they have actually started to the work. If your change of mind was very rapid then I would expect a reasonable organisation to be lenient with you. However, if they had actually started doing the work, doing the credit checks, making the calls to see if you were a good risk then I think they’re probably entitled to charge you for their time.
Most importantly though is what it says in the loan application you completed. Almost certainly there is a clause in the application which says that there is a fee, in your case it seems to be 1% for arranging the loan. The fact that you changed your mind might not be relevant to that agreement. It’s possible that the bank will just say that you applied for a loan, they arranged it and you agreed to pay for it.
However I suspect the key thing is the timing. You don’t give the date you applied for the loan, perhaps you can send that to us as well as a copy of the loan application form and the terms and conditions? We’ll have a look and see if there’s any hope of a refund.
There are adverts in the media about what they say is a very good business opportunity called “Buy Bridge Town”. Does this look like a genuine business or do you think it’s suspicious?
I called their office line and a sales lady encouraged me to buy fast because soon there will be nothing to buy.
There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly suspicious about the project but the amount of money they require you to invest obviously means you should give it a LOT of thought beforehand.
The Bridgetown development is planned to be a complex of 92 units in Kasane, near but not actually on the banks of the Chobe River. Their web site says that the complex will:
“function as a fully self catering luxury lodge, with the patrons having the luxury of their own restaurant, Lodge style reception, management office suite, Laundry, Spa/Wellness Centre, Children's playground, transport links and fully stocked convenience store, a HOME AWAY FROM HOME.”You can get one of these units either by buying it outright or you can obtain one on a time-share basis. This is what I imagine most people would want to do. However, according to the reader who contacted us the entry price is P45,000 which, by anyone’s standards is a LOT of money. Apparently for that you get to stay in the complex for one week of every year for the next 25 years. However, you have to ask yourself whether you’re always going to get the week you want. There’s going to be huge competition for the popular weeks around public and school holidays and most timeshare schemes I’ve encountered actually place restrictions on these peak periods, reserving them for people who have elected to pay even more money to reserve the popular slots.
What timeshare schemes often also do is offer you an “investment opportunity” which allows you to earn back your investment by renting out your week to other people, hopefully making you a profit. However this is even more risky. If it’s hard enough to get a week when YOU want it, how difficult must it be to juggle the week you can get and the week that your potential customers want?
Let’s not also forget that any profit you make from renting out a timeshare in a property is “income”. You’ll need to tell the tax people about this before they find out and come calling on you!
The biggest concern for me personally would be that this development, as far as I can tell, isn’t finished yet. These 92 units don’t actually yet exist and nor do the various facilities they offer. In effect, by buying a timeshare you are funding the construction of the complex.
So our advice is neither to invest nor not to invest. Our advice is to do some serious research into the viability of the project. Then, and only after you’ve satisfied your scepticism, should you consider writing that cheque!
Dear Consumer’s Voice #2
I applied for a personal loan of P82,000 from my bank. Later on, I wrote them a letter on the 10th July 2010 to cancel the loan, five days later the bank credited my bank account with the loan amount, which they later took out. When taking out their money, they took P820 from my account which they claim is an arrangement fee. My query is that the contract agreement I signed with them says the arrangement fee is only deducted from the loan amount and not the account. Now they are saying as long as you have applied for a loan from their bank, it doesn’t matter whether the following day you cancel it, they will always deduct the arrangement fee. Their agreement doesn’t stipulate that there is a penalty charge for cancelling loan applications
I suspect that this will depend very much on the exact timing of your application and what it says in the loan application form you signed.
Clearly there’s a difference between changing your mind while the ink is still wet and before a bank, or indeed any other organisation, has had a chance to start processing your application and when they have actually started to the work. If your change of mind was very rapid then I would expect a reasonable organisation to be lenient with you. However, if they had actually started doing the work, doing the credit checks, making the calls to see if you were a good risk then I think they’re probably entitled to charge you for their time.
Most importantly though is what it says in the loan application you completed. Almost certainly there is a clause in the application which says that there is a fee, in your case it seems to be 1% for arranging the loan. The fact that you changed your mind might not be relevant to that agreement. It’s possible that the bank will just say that you applied for a loan, they arranged it and you agreed to pay for it.
However I suspect the key thing is the timing. You don’t give the date you applied for the loan, perhaps you can send that to us as well as a copy of the loan application form and the terms and conditions? We’ll have a look and see if there’s any hope of a refund.
Monday, 20 September 2010
"Boiler room share scams" - BBC report
An interesting article on so-called "boiler room share scams" from the BBC. Sounds just like Ventura Capital Partners, doesn't it?
Hyundai - a contemptuous email arrives
"I find that we are running around in circles to try and get this matter resolved. It is therefore in short that I would like to advise that Hyundai Automotive South Africa does not have any legal obligation towards a vehicle we did not sell.Let's get a few things straight:
It was noted immediately by our representative that went out to inspect the vehicle, that it was not a vehicle imported by Hyundai Automotive South Africa. Nor did I know that this vehicle was not one of ours when I first responded to Ms [removed].
This specific vehicle was traced back to Malaysia where it was scrapped and sent to Botswana and purchased by Ms [removed]. This constitutes a “grey imported” vehicle.
It is against the policy of Hyundai Automotive South Africa to do any repairs to a grey imported vehicle. Our dealers, including Hyundai Botswana, has strict instructions not to work on these vehicles as we cannot guarantee the condition of the internal workings of these vehicles prior coming into our dealership. We pride ourselves in the vehicles we sell and the quality of the vehicles we sell.
Our dealer in Rustenburg is an independent dealer and does not have the means to check whether a vehicle is one of ours or not and therefore offered to repair the vehicle to assist the customer, without being informed that this vehicle was not sold by Hyundai Automotive South Africa.
Loyalty is a two way street, Sir!
With the above in mind, kindly note that this case has been closed on our side.
Kind Regards"
- They pride themselves on the quality of the vehicles they sell?
- They refuse to repair these quality vehicles if they did not sell them themselves?
- Their dealer repaired a car that they were not authorised to repair?
- The dealer does not have the ability to tell whether a vehicle may be repaired or not?
- The Rustenburg dealer nevertheless DID attempt to repair the vehicle but failed to do so as it broke down on both occasions that the customer came to collect it?
- The Rustenburg dealer has recently identified new problems with the vehicle that were either not present on the previous occasions when the customer was told it had been repaired and was ready for collection or which have occurred subsequently?
- The Rustenburg dealer is not willing to give the customer a complete breakdown of the entire costs to date, despite being requested to do so repeatedly?
Hyundai South Africa are treating this customer with arrogant contempt.
[Whether her car was an import or not, they took money from her to repair the vehicle. She IS therefore their customer.]
They say that "Loyalty is a two way street, Sir!". Are they prepared to show some to their customer?
They say that "this case has been closed on our side". Please note that it has NOT been closed on our side.
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