Speaker 1: Lunch with Pipper Hudson and now consume a talk featuring
Speaker 1: Wendy Nola.
Speaker 2: Wendy is joining us from our Johannesburg studios today and
Speaker 2: hoping that our nice broadcast quality line will do adjustice
Speaker 2: to the conversation because we've got a lot to get
Speaker 2: through today. Our main conversation is really focusing on an
Speaker 2: awful example of how some unscrupulous contractors deliberately take advantage
Speaker 2: of elderly customers. Before we get to that, though, we've
Speaker 2: got a couple of other bits and pieces and follow
Speaker 2: ups on previous cases to share with you, and perhaps
Speaker 2: at the end we'll have space for some open line
Speaker 2: calls as well. So as always, if you want to
Speaker 2: join the conversation, you can call us on two one
Speaker 2: four four six o five six seven, or you can
Speaker 2: send a WhatsApp to seven two five six seven one
Speaker 2: five six seven. Great to have you with us, Wendy.
Speaker 2: Hope all is well in joe Burg.
Speaker 1: It is lovely and warm.
Speaker 2: Thanks Papa good and hearing you NICs and loud and clear.
Speaker 2: Let's before we dive into our main story, just get
Speaker 2: a update on the SPA customers who were left hanging
Speaker 2: when the Infinity Spa at Zevenwacht Estate, previously known as
Speaker 2: Baquana Spa, closed up shop very suddenly in July this year.
Speaker 2: I'm sure listeners will remember, we heard from several customers
Speaker 2: who had already bought vouchers which they found they now
Speaker 2: couldn't use, some of them to the tune of nearly
Speaker 2: four thousand randsworth of treatments. And at the time this happened,
Speaker 2: Zevenvak's director told us that while the SPA business is
Speaker 2: an entirely separate entity from Zevenbacht, they would try their
Speaker 2: very best to help the affected customers. Wendy, we can
Speaker 2: happily report now that the wheels are in motion to
Speaker 2: put that in place.
Speaker 3: Indeed, happy days. Evenwacht directed Denise Johnson contacted me a
Speaker 3: few days ago to confirm that a new business known
Speaker 3: as Touch by Africa has signed a lease for the
Speaker 3: Spa Spa premises. She said, we'll use the month of
Speaker 3: October to they Rather, we'll use the month of October
Speaker 3: to decorate, furnish, employ and train the staff, some of
Speaker 3: whom will be would have worked for the previous spa.
Speaker 3: And the important bit is that with ziewenwacht. They will
Speaker 3: The two of them have got together and made a plan.
Speaker 3: They will honor the vouchers which were issued by the
Speaker 3: previous spa owners who shut up shop very suddenly. This
Speaker 3: is done in good faith, said Denise, and without assuming
Speaker 3: any liability for the previous spa. They will offer full
Speaker 3: or half day packages based on their products and structure,
Speaker 3: and will personally contact all the guests to offer the
Speaker 3: service and arrange bookings. And shortly after that the new
Speaker 3: owner and Albertus confirmed.
Speaker 1: That to me.
Speaker 3: She said again that it's not a legal obligation that
Speaker 3: they will be offering full day half day SPA packages.
Speaker 3: She did caution they may differ slightly from the original offerings,
Speaker 3: but they will ensure that clients receive exceptional value for
Speaker 3: their investment. This initiative, said Renal, reflects our joint commitments
Speaker 3: to introducing guests to upgraded facilities, wellness services and a
Speaker 3: welcoming spa experience.
Speaker 2: I think that's really good marketing as well as customers.
Speaker 2: Is what a great way to start by saying, you know,
Speaker 2: it isn't their jobs, it's not their responsibility to make
Speaker 2: good on the predecessor's offering. But they're using it as
Speaker 2: an opportunity to say, come and try us, because we
Speaker 2: know you're gonna love us, and hopefully they'll keep on
Speaker 2: going back.
Speaker 1: So I think wonderful.
Speaker 3: And let me tell you it was no small gesture.
Speaker 3: I was asked not to reveal the actual sum of
Speaker 3: vouchers issued and not honored by the previous spar but
Speaker 3: this is quite quite a good little gesture. They having
Speaker 3: to dig quite deep, and well done to them.
Speaker 2: Okay, So Wendy, how did the affected customers take advantage
Speaker 2: of this generosity?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: They said they're going to contact affected varuchureholders, but they
Speaker 3: may not have everybody's name, so if you're one of them,
Speaker 3: you can be proactive and email them directly easy address
Speaker 3: info at Touch by Africa dot COOSA that's at Touched
Speaker 3: by Africa dot COSA to claim your booking. And they
Speaker 3: just wanted to point out that the vouchers will cover
Speaker 3: only spa treatments, food drinks and access to the other
Speaker 3: facilities on the estate will cost extra.
Speaker 2: Okay, fair enough, absolutely fair enough okay, So once again
Speaker 2: the email is info at Touch by Africa dot co
Speaker 2: dot ZA. Well done, Zevenwacht and Touched by Africa, and
Speaker 2: thanks for for making good on those customers, and I
Speaker 2: hope that they have a wonderful experience and become loyal
Speaker 2: clients going forward. Before we move on to the main topic,
Speaker 2: I want to squeeze in one other quick follow up,
Speaker 2: or not a follow up, but a fresh case that
Speaker 2: came our way this past week that we were able
Speaker 2: to resolve, and I want to mention it in case
Speaker 2: it's happened to anybody else who might be listening. Why
Speaker 2: don't you tell us what happened?
Speaker 3: Yes, sure, we were very thrilled to be able to
Speaker 3: help Nikki with her macro dilemma. She is visually impaired
Speaker 3: and she lives alone on a farm in the Pekettburg area,
Speaker 3: and so she relies heavily on online shopping. On the
Speaker 3: second of August, more than two months ago, she placed
Speaker 3: a larger than usual order for her with Maco and
Speaker 3: for the first time, she paid via EFT because she'd
Speaker 3: had to put a stop on her credit card due
Speaker 3: to some irregular stuff going on there. She really didn't
Speaker 3: have a good run of it, and that's when things
Speaker 3: went wrong. While the payment went off of her account immediately,
Speaker 3: just over four thousand rand the site, the Macro site
Speaker 3: reflected that the payment had been unsuccessful, leaving her out
Speaker 3: of pocket, and there still sat the items loaded in
Speaker 3: the card awaiting payment.
Speaker 2: So ideal, Yeah, not ideal, clear me, some kind of
Speaker 2: technical issue which should have been fairly quick and easy
Speaker 2: to resolve, but it wasn't. And Wendy, this is one
Speaker 2: of those cases where the poor communication and follow up
Speaker 2: rarely aggravated what could have been a simple fix.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's not the it's not. The issue is
Speaker 1: not that there was a technical hitch issues that she.
Speaker 3: Really spent two months trying to get it fixed to
Speaker 3: no avail. So obviously she contacted Macro right away. She
Speaker 3: sent them all the documentation they requested, including copies of
Speaker 3: your bank statements showing very clearly that the payment had
Speaker 3: gone off her account. By the time she contacted us,
Speaker 3: it had been two months of this. Can you imagine
Speaker 3: the frustration she still hadn't received her refund all the goods,
Speaker 3: she says, Endless correspondents and phone calls yielded no success.
Speaker 3: I'm repeatedly told that the reference number used in the correspondence,
Speaker 3: which was supplied to be by Macro, does not exist,
Speaker 3: and I am repeatedly asked to provide an order number,
Speaker 3: which I do not have because Macro only allocates an
Speaker 3: order number once it reflects as paid for on their
Speaker 3: IT system. So she was going around in circles. And
Speaker 3: also she said telling Lean this is the case with
Speaker 3: many corporates. I have never said, Nikki been able to
Speaker 3: speak to a manager, although I've asked numerous times. So
Speaker 3: she's trying to get out of that frontline staff you know,
Speaker 3: trap that she sat in for two months, trying to
Speaker 3: escalate it. But unfortunately she needed my help to do that.
Speaker 3: And this is really where a large part of my
Speaker 3: work lies and is because I've got access to people
Speaker 3: who do have the ability to see the problem and
Speaker 3: fix it quickly, which their own customers don't have. And
Speaker 3: that's just the unfortunate reality or fortunate And then I
Speaker 3: can get it fixed. But you know, it shouldn't be that.
Speaker 3: There should be there should be ways for the customers
Speaker 3: themselves to escalate one of these you know, anything that's
Speaker 3: unusual causes these often causes these kinds of delays and
Speaker 3: lack of you know, decent communication around it to fix it.
Speaker 2: Yet so the case and yeah, got her money back.
Speaker 3: Wendy, Yeah, within two days, I think, with huge apologies.
Speaker 3: So so yeah, if if you're stuck in that kind
Speaker 3: of situation, whether it's Macro or any other online site, you
Speaker 3: welcome to email me.
Speaker 1: I through my work, I have contact with.
Speaker 3: Higher ups in all the organizations who can fix these
Speaker 3: sorts of things quite quickly.
Speaker 2: And you don't have to wear two months before you
Speaker 2: do not use so Nikki, I'm so so glad we
Speaker 2: were able to get it resolved for you, and thank
Speaker 2: you so much for flagging the issue with us, and Wendy,
Speaker 2: thank you very much for taking up the case. The
Speaker 2: time is marching away from us, and what I'm going
Speaker 2: to suggest we do is jump to one more follow
Speaker 2: up and then after the two thirty news, we'll focus
Speaker 2: on our main story around the service providers. Because I
Speaker 2: want to stop it started and then have to stop
Speaker 2: in three minutes or so for the news. What I
Speaker 2: will do quickly in the minutes before we hand over
Speaker 2: to the news team is take us to a follow
Speaker 2: up on the Techi Town marketing story. Because Tricia did
Speaker 2: email me asking whether I've got anywhere with managing to
Speaker 2: unsubscribe from those unwanted Communications. Tricia was one of the
Speaker 2: people who sent me a me too message when I
Speaker 2: mentioned this on air quite some time ago that for
Speaker 2: love or money, I cannot get myself unsubscribed from Techi
Speaker 2: Town's marketing communications.
Speaker 1: And I couldn't help you either.
Speaker 2: No, and Wendy couldn't help either, and it's Tricia. The
Speaker 2: answer is no, I have not yet managed to get
Speaker 2: myself unsubscribed. Those marketing emails are still arriving week after
Speaker 2: week after week. I am still clicking on the unsubscribe
Speaker 2: here button to no avail. But what Wendy and I
Speaker 2: agreed is we're going to see this one through and
Speaker 2: actually use this as a bit of a test case.
Speaker 2: Because we've had no response from the company involved. We
Speaker 2: are going ahead and have filed a complaint formally with
Speaker 2: the National Information Regulator, which is the body you approach
Speaker 2: when somebody is refusing to honor your wishes around marketing communications.
Speaker 2: And just let me fill you in quickly before we
Speaker 2: go to news on what's happened there, Wendy, I have
Speaker 2: to say first d they were incredibly efficient and speedy
Speaker 2: in their response. The National Information Regulator got straight back
Speaker 2: to me saying attached please find the form you need
Speaker 2: to fill out, and the good news is that happened
Speaker 2: very quickly. The not so good news is they've on
Speaker 2: receipt of that form come back to say thanks, we've
Speaker 2: got it. Give us ninety days to tackle the issue.
Speaker 2: So it could be three months, which probably gives you
Speaker 2: an indication of how many such cases they're having to
Speaker 2: deal with. But this was the most interesting part of
Speaker 2: the follow up, Wendy. In order to fill out that
Speaker 2: form for them, one of the things that asked for
Speaker 2: was the registered company address and phone number. So I
Speaker 2: went back to the Techietown website and sure enough, that
Speaker 2: information does not appear on their site. The only contact
Speaker 2: information I could find there, apart from the useless contact
Speaker 2: us online form which I've done several times, there was
Speaker 2: one phone number for following up on online orders. So
Speaker 2: I called that number and said, look, I know you're
Speaker 2: not the person to help me, but please, can you
Speaker 2: redirect me. I need your company's head office address and
Speaker 2: phone number, and they could not or would not give
Speaker 2: it to me. In the end, they just refused outright,
Speaker 2: couldn't refer me onwards, So I gave up there. I
Speaker 2: then went online and looked Okay, let's try one level up.
Speaker 2: Who owns Techytown. The answer is it's a Pepcore company.
Speaker 2: So I then went to the pepcre website. They did
Speaker 2: have the required information on their site, and I sent
Speaker 2: an email there saying, look, I'm trying to fill out
Speaker 2: a National Information Regulator application. It requires the head office
Speaker 2: and phone number of Techi toown. Please can you share
Speaker 2: that with me because it is your company? And the
Speaker 2: very strange response I got back was an email saying
Speaker 2: send us the form and we'll submit it for you, Wendy,
Speaker 2: which I found very very odd.
Speaker 1: The story gets stranger and strange.
Speaker 2: It really does, anyway, So I left it there. What
Speaker 2: I did was fill out the form with pepcorse details
Speaker 2: listed in a note attached saying this is the best
Speaker 2: I can do because the information doesn't seem to exist
Speaker 2: for Techi toown. So the form has been submitted a
Speaker 2: ninety day waiting period potentially to get an answer, but
Speaker 2: we will keep you posted when that answer comes.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of spam to get before you get
Speaker 3: an answer.
Speaker 1: At least I'm building up a good body of evidence.
Speaker 1: If they ask for follow up, I'll give them that.
Speaker 2: Okay, soir Tricia and others. Please keep on keeping details
Speaker 2: of what you're experiencing in case we need to advise
Speaker 2: you to do what I've just done, and we'll keep
Speaker 2: you posted on how successful the attempt is to get
Speaker 2: get some feedback through the National Information Regulator Consumer.
Speaker 1: Talk with Wendy Norler. You can join the conversation.
Speaker 2: Let's dive into our main topic of the day, which
Speaker 2: is around unscrupulous service providers praying on the elderly. The
Speaker 2: topic really inspired by an email we received a little
Speaker 2: while ago from Richard McDougall who told us how his
Speaker 2: elderly mom had been targeted in her Cape Town retirement village.
Speaker 2: And Richard wrote to us saying, I really want to
Speaker 2: warn others about what happened and how it happened, and
Speaker 2: we are very happy to oblige.
Speaker 3: Wendy absolutely because in general, the elderly are easy targets
Speaker 3: for service providers on the let's say dodgier end of
Speaker 3: the spectrum because they often live alone. They are very
Speaker 3: open to inviting people into their homes without too much
Speaker 3: question because that's the way a lot of business happened
Speaker 3: back in the day. They can easily be intimidated into
Speaker 3: signing agreeing to something that they aren't one hundred percent
Speaker 3: comfortable with, because, especially if it's.
Speaker 1: A woman and a male service.
Speaker 3: Provider, I hear this a lot. They just they agree
Speaker 3: because they don't know how else to get this person
Speaker 3: out of their space, their personal space. They feel very threatened.
Speaker 3: So I feel very strongly about this issue because once
Speaker 3: they've signed, it can be very difficult, if not impossible,
Speaker 3: to then get them out of that situation, out of
Speaker 3: that commitment. So yes, as Richard said, there are a
Speaker 3: number of small contractors offering their services for upholstery jobs,
Speaker 3: servicing or repairing blinds, cleaning out gutters, sorting out, tiling jobs,
Speaker 3: that sort of thing. They place ads in community newspapers
Speaker 3: and they often leave flyers in people's post boxes. By
Speaker 3: the way, talking about the Information Regulator, that Consumer Protection
Speaker 3: Act also protects us from that. In theory, if you
Speaker 3: put a little note and you sometimes see them on
Speaker 3: your postbox saying no unsolicited mail or no junk mail
Speaker 3: or advertising, no advertising, they're supposed to respect that. So
Speaker 3: that's something to consider about. Whether that will be honored
Speaker 3: respected is another thing, but that's something else you can
Speaker 3: complain to the information Regulator about if you're saying no
Speaker 3: and you're still getting those those flyers anyway, they will
Speaker 3: obviously offer competitive rates, but they in accepting them and
Speaker 3: falling for it, you do run the risk if you're
Speaker 3: in a slightly vulnerable situation potentially of letting the fox
Speaker 3: into the henhouse. And that is what happened to Richard's
Speaker 3: mom in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
Speaker 2: And I'm happy to say Richard is with us to
Speaker 2: tell us in person what they experienced. And Richard, I'm
Speaker 2: so sorry that you all went through this, but I'm
Speaker 2: really grateful that you have written to us and are
Speaker 2: prepared to come on air today and share the story, because,
Speaker 2: as you pointed out in your mail, raising awareness is
Speaker 2: the best way to counteract this happening to anybody else.
Speaker 2: So thank you and welcome.
Speaker 1: To the show.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Indian often inputter.
Speaker 2: Tell us, how did this particular service prider end up
Speaker 2: in your mom's home? What what was the beginning of
Speaker 2: the story.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're very briefly, I mean, I weren't going to
Speaker 4: too much detail because we will need four minutes then
Speaker 4: we probably available, But really we had a situation having
Speaker 4: some blinds needing some repairs or potential repairs or replacement.
Speaker 4: But we first wanted to just look at the repea option,
Speaker 4: and by chance, there was a flyer which came into
Speaker 4: this particular complex which advertised the services and you know,
Speaker 4: manage the initial contact via email with a few photographs
Speaker 4: and just what you want to do, can you do it?
Speaker 4: And assured us this is something we're easily do, but
Speaker 4: we need to just come into some confirm the scope,
Speaker 4: which was duly arranged ourself. And literally what happened was
Speaker 4: this particular company arrived and instead of just leaving the
Speaker 4: quote as was requested, within minutes had removed all the
Speaker 4: blinds and had some comments from other who's sort of
Speaker 4: the mid eighties that was a good idea to replace
Speaker 4: all the blinds and sign an acceptance quote for this
Speaker 4: replacement service at a pretty high rate. And then the
Speaker 4: next step was I wanted to try and get it
Speaker 4: to immediately play a deposit which you know for the
Speaker 4: leftyp thing which almost volunteering to help with internet banking transactions,
Speaker 4: you know, which they can go through and this obviously
Speaker 4: one of the key lessons learned is you know it's
Speaker 4: to set limits on your daily transactions. So thankfully, you know,
Speaker 4: we will save that situation and then brief as soon
Speaker 4: as you know, probably with an hour hour off later.
Speaker 4: I'm usually contacted the company because you know, I saw
Speaker 4: what had happened. There's no details on this so called quote,
Speaker 4: you know, a company name, and there's a handwritten thing
Speaker 4: obviously created in a few minutes, and I said, look,
Speaker 4: you know, do not do anything until you've given us
Speaker 4: some more information exactly who you are, your company names
Speaker 4: and address and all sorts of things and references, which
Speaker 4: was not forthcoming in the way that I've been acceptable.
Speaker 4: So you know, ready, cut long story short, we did
Speaker 4: not proceed with the order and to settle it, to
Speaker 4: make sure there's no need to intact further other place
Speaker 4: to play this person they dispose of for the blinds,
Speaker 4: and thankfully that ended with a relatively small, you know lost.
Speaker 4: You would have had to take the blinds down in
Speaker 4: any case at some point to probably replace them. But
Speaker 4: I think there's more the lessons learned, and you know,
Speaker 4: if other people potentially be caught in the same thing,
Speaker 4: you know, fortunate our losses were very basically negligible, but
Speaker 4: I think the whole thing's just really just be very cautious. Now.
Speaker 4: I just want to say this time that a lot
Speaker 4: of very good businesses advertised in this way, so I'm
Speaker 4: just kind of trying to slag businesses and a lot
Speaker 4: of your best crafts and not. The people who do
Speaker 4: advertisement may be more stuty in formal way, but the
Speaker 4: thing is just to apply a little bit more caution
Speaker 4: and just be very sure of who you're dealing with,
Speaker 4: and specifically if you need them to come to your property,
Speaker 4: be very clear that you know exactly are where they located.
Speaker 4: And I did get some early references. And I think
Speaker 4: other key thing is of specially with oldly or but
Speaker 4: more vulnerable people, just make sure that somebody in attendance
Speaker 4: who can actually deal with the situation regardless with it
Speaker 4: or not have the situation it might get pressure. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: so key learning now.
Speaker 2: Because Richard, I mean, from my understanding of what you
Speaker 2: told us, you had very specifically said to this contractor
Speaker 2: I'm the person you need to deal with. You need
Speaker 2: to send me any quotes in voices, et cetera. I
Speaker 2: will approve them. But once he found himself on site
Speaker 2: with your mom, who was an easy target, he just
Speaker 2: kind of wrote, you know, rolled her into signing things.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 3: And the line that stood out for me as well
Speaker 3: in what you sent us, Richard, was that this man
Speaker 3: was speaking very fast and your mother couldn't quite grasp
Speaker 3: anything everything that he was saying, and I would realized
Speaker 3: what she was agreeing to. And I think that's also
Speaker 3: typical tactics of bamboozling her, and she's you know, now
Speaker 3: an awfully awful situation of being on the back foot
Speaker 3: in your own home. I just hate the thought of that,
Speaker 3: and it happens so often, I think. Yeah, the lesson
Speaker 3: also is to make sure, especially women living on their own,
Speaker 3: that an elderly mamma. There's also in the mid eighties,
Speaker 3: so I can relate to the story really well that
Speaker 3: you should make sure that somebody's with them, because they
Speaker 3: are you know, there are easily taken advantage of, but
Speaker 3: by you know, some unscrupulous service providers, not all.
Speaker 2: Obviously, absolutely not all, Richard. I mean, just to emphasize
Speaker 2: on that point, you weren't there when he arrived. I mean,
Speaker 2: as your suggestion is, do the checks, do the references
Speaker 2: before you even give them your address to come and
Speaker 2: see you I mean had with hindsight being twenty twenty, obviously,
Speaker 2: had you known what he was going to be like,
Speaker 2: I'm sure you would have made a plan to be
Speaker 2: there on the day he was coming, or to not
Speaker 2: have him men at all for that matter.
Speaker 4: Yes, absolutely, but I mean obviously honestly say, I probly
Speaker 4: drop my god as just wanted to get this done
Speaker 4: and it sort of looked credible and in a response
Speaker 4: to quite quick. So absolutely, on I think it's just
Speaker 4: bring those extra safeguards in place to make sure you,
Speaker 4: you know, you don't get into particular situation. And also
Speaker 4: I think the other thing is, you know, nobody should
Speaker 4: be pressured to accept any quote or pay any deposits.
Speaker 4: You know, always by time you know and review it
Speaker 4: and then get back to people you know and don't
Speaker 4: sign anything until you really sure what you're dealing with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's also excellent advice.
Speaker 3: Whether you're buying a car or you know, have been
Speaker 3: presented with a quote, you should you know, if there's
Speaker 3: really hectic pressure put on you, especially right there in
Speaker 3: the moment, then you know, just take that as as
Speaker 3: your red flag to put the brakes on and just say, look,
Speaker 3: I'll get back to you.
Speaker 2: I'm clearly remembering a listener who sent us their father's
Speaker 2: favorite saying by WhatsApp a few months ago, if it
Speaker 2: has to be now, it has to be No. Was
Speaker 2: the response getting pressure resistant all costs? Richard? As a
Speaker 2: matter of interest, I mean you, I know you said
Speaker 2: you hadn egligible losses because in the end you said, right,
Speaker 2: we'll just take them away and dispose of them, and
Speaker 2: you got rid of them. But did you then subsequently
Speaker 2: do any comparison comparative quotes, because you still had to
Speaker 2: get the blinds replaced. Did the costing of new quotes?
Speaker 2: How did it compare to the figures that that guy
Speaker 2: had quoted you originally?
Speaker 4: Was there a big discrepancy, Yes, huge discrepancy. You know,
Speaker 4: obviously by that time we had a house with no
Speaker 4: blind at all. We you know, the media set to work.
Speaker 4: You know, it wasn't really planned, but all is this
Speaker 4: news opportunity now to make good of bad and got
Speaker 4: you know, a number of quotes, and eventually a very
Speaker 4: reputable company and also Northern Suburbs you know, came up
Speaker 4: with complete new set of blinds and actually one not
Speaker 4: your additional ones which went in the original removed lot
Speaker 4: for towards some sixty percent of the product we were given,
Speaker 4: you know, by the so called small business giving the
Speaker 4: competitive rates. Yeah, I think we've paid was sixteen and
Speaker 4: a half thousand compared to you know number, and I
Speaker 4: was very convinced that number is probably going to climb
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because you'd probably find that halfway through he'd say,
Speaker 2: oh new hooks replied or something like that to add
Speaker 2: to it. Yeah, yeah, okay, Richard, Well, thanks again for
Speaker 2: being willing to talk about this and just raise awareness
Speaker 2: of what happened and share those red flags because I think,
Speaker 2: and I can see from the WhatsApps that are streaming
Speaker 2: in from a lot of people really relating to the story,
Speaker 2: how easy it is to fall for this.
Speaker 1: Kind of approach.
Speaker 2: So appreciate your time and thank you very much for
Speaker 2: joining us this afternoon.
Speaker 4: Only pleasure. Thanks so much, make and time ford appreciate it.
Speaker 2: That's our pleasure, Richard. I'm glad to hear it.
Speaker 1: All's well.
Speaker 2: That ends well, I mean we need just to recap
Speaker 2: some of the lessons learned there, so absolutely do the
Speaker 2: reference checks and look for you know, second opinions and
Speaker 2: other people who've used this contractor before you give them
Speaker 2: your address and allow them into your house. But what
Speaker 2: Richard said there about capping the amount of transaction allowed
Speaker 2: on an account was a very good tip for those
Speaker 2: with elderly parents.
Speaker 3: Not so absolutely absolutely. I had a case my mother
Speaker 3: moved into a year and a half ago, moved into
Speaker 3: a new place. It was a new build, and she
Speaker 3: wanted an extra cupboard in the laundry area. So she
Speaker 3: did some made some queries and she was given a
Speaker 3: number of somebody that was with the company that had
Speaker 3: installed the kitchen, which was a beautiful job, paid quite
Speaker 3: a few thousand round for the cupboard, and just weeks
Speaker 3: and months ago, not months, but a good six weeks
Speaker 3: or so.
Speaker 1: And eventually I.
Speaker 3: Said, come mom, you know, phone the agents of the state,
Speaker 3: and anyway, it was they got a.
Speaker 1: Big My mother and I share a surname, so yeah,
Speaker 1: it was.
Speaker 3: It was very speedily procured that cupboard and very nice
Speaker 3: it is too, But I mean that it was somebody
Speaker 3: you worked for the company that was.
Speaker 1: Doing a side job.
Speaker 3: It just wasn't all completely legit, and my mom had
Speaker 3: just got herself into this situation that it was unfortunate.
Speaker 3: But anyway, it was very satisfying to sort things out
Speaker 3: for my.
Speaker 2: Own Absolutely yeah, Bernard writing and saying I consider myself
Speaker 2: to be kind of street smart and sales and biers savvy,
Speaker 2: and I too got taken for sixteen thousand round. He
Speaker 2: doesn't share the details, but I think a lot of
Speaker 2: people responding with the kind of hashtag me too. Wendy's
Speaker 2: saying what you've said about the physical threat is very
Speaker 2: very real. And you know, for anybody who is on
Speaker 2: their own at home, but particularly so for women on
Speaker 2: their own to suddenly have a contractor who's on site
Speaker 2: pressuring you to sign something if you're feeling physically at risk,
Speaker 2: it doubles the sort of you know, the sense of
Speaker 2: money to sign and get them out of my space,
Speaker 2: and it's very hard to walk back from that after
Speaker 2: you've signed on the dotted line.
Speaker 3: If I could just add here, it's the circumstances that
Speaker 3: I normally hear this. I just paid to get them
Speaker 3: out because they were a bit menacing. Is when somebody's
Speaker 3: needed a locksmith. We've spoken about this before, and then
Speaker 3: you go into Google and you say locksmith whatever your
Speaker 3: suburb is, Rhonder Bosh, and then someone comes out and
Speaker 3: they do the job, but they suddenly want you haven't
Speaker 3: thought to ask for a quote beforehand, and they suddenly
Speaker 3: want this extortionate amount for this tiny job that took
Speaker 3: them a matter of minutes. And women in particular say
Speaker 3: to me, I've heard it so many times. I just
Speaker 3: paid because I knew it was a ripoff, but I
Speaker 3: just needed them to get them and there was no
Speaker 3: other than they wanted payment right then and there, and
Speaker 3: they weren't taking no for an answer. And then again like,
Speaker 3: which's mom? You now interacting with your your online banking
Speaker 3: And what Richard didn't say, which was in his written account,
Speaker 3: was that this guy was shoulder surfing his mom as
Speaker 3: she was trying to make payment, which is not really
Speaker 3: even more sinister.
Speaker 1: So so yeah, and what you should do is with
Speaker 1: a service.
Speaker 3: Provider like that, do it now. We're all going to
Speaker 3: need a locksmouth sooner or later. Is ask around the
Speaker 3: locksmiths must have a physical premises in your area, get
Speaker 3: the details, put it in your contacts, and so when
Speaker 3: you need one in a you're not going to land,
Speaker 3: you know, be googling and get the wrong person.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's great advice, Thank you, And just one more thing,
Speaker 2: as Richard said that the Dodgy invoice was a surest
Speaker 2: sign that all was not well, Wendy, what should be
Speaker 2: on an invoice at the very least.
Speaker 3: Okay, so there's got to be their details, company registration,
Speaker 3: their address, full name of the company, the date, the
Speaker 3: amount of the quote. Because if you're putting your signature
Speaker 3: to that, they can't then without further consultation with you,
Speaker 3: unilaterally increase that quote. So it's very important to get
Speaker 3: that quote process right. That's pretty much a phone number,
Speaker 3: but you know, in that case, it was just like
Speaker 3: a hurriedly scribbled on a bare lankiece of paper.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and details.
Speaker 2: I mean, so if it shouldn't just be sixteen thousand
Speaker 2: rand for a pair of blinds, that needs to say,
Speaker 2: excluding removal, replacement materials, re hanging, et cetera.
Speaker 1: You need to tend.
Speaker 3: And also, good one, if there's going to be any
Speaker 3: rubble or you know, stuff that needs to be taken away,
Speaker 3: you need to discuss put that in the quote as well.
Speaker 3: If you don't have a mate with a bucket, you
Speaker 3: will help you out because that often catches people, So
Speaker 3: have a discussion around that as well.
Speaker 2: Okay, thanks so much, for that advice, and again we're
Speaker 2: really sorry for the unpleasant experience, but Richard, thank you
Speaker 2: very much for flagging an important issue with us. Consumer
Speaker 2: talk WhatsApp on O seven to two five six seven
Speaker 2: one five six seven. Wendy Nola still with us from
Speaker 2: our Johannesburg studios today and if you've got an open
Speaker 2: line consumer question to direct her way, you're welcome to
Speaker 2: send a quick what's up to seven two five six
Speaker 2: seven one five six seven. Happy to keep on continuing
Speaker 2: on the story of the contractors taking advantage of the elderly,
Speaker 2: but also happy to move away into a separate conversation,
Speaker 2: which is I think what Robin's voice note is going
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: Let's take a listen, but it would.
Speaker 5: Be great if you can follow up on these teucom rinetnes.
Speaker 5: It's ridiculous ringtones that everybody has, but nobody's a subscribe
Speaker 5: to it, and they charge you every month, and there's
Speaker 5: no way of unsubscribing because you don't know who the
Speaker 5: company is that subscribe you in the first place. They
Speaker 5: just involuntarily slap you with these ridiculous ringtones that you
Speaker 5: don't request and can't it dread off, So if people
Speaker 5: phone you this stupid ring tone ring which sounds very unprofessional,
Speaker 5: especially if you're running a business. But you can't unsubscribe
Speaker 5: or remove this rentne and you get charge for it
Speaker 5: every month ish, Please if you could give us some
Speaker 5: pointers please?
Speaker 2: When isn't that a wasper issue?
Speaker 1: Am I remembers a issue? Yeah?
Speaker 5: It?
Speaker 1: I mean there years ago.
Speaker 3: This used to be one of the hot topics.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I mean just huge volumes of complaints about unsubscribed, unauthorized
Speaker 3: rather subscriptions to these sorts of things.
Speaker 1: I've had.
Speaker 3: I did a case recently, but it wasn't a ringturn.
Speaker 3: I didn't know Ringtones was still a thing that they
Speaker 3: were selling as a you know, as an extra. Was
Speaker 3: it Robin who said that he referred to them as
Speaker 3: Telcom Telecom Ringtones? So I'm not sure if this is
Speaker 3: Telecom Customers, Tecom mobile or what I mean? Whoever, whoever
Speaker 3: your service service provider is.
Speaker 1: Yes, it is their job.
Speaker 3: They're taking money from these wasps in order to host
Speaker 3: them for them to build you. So they need to
Speaker 3: tell you who that supplier is and give you an
Speaker 3: opportuntunity to challenge them. If you can't contact them, then
Speaker 3: you go to WASPER, the Wireless Application Service Providers Authority,
Speaker 3: and that's an industry.
Speaker 1: Regulator and they take these.
Speaker 3: Things very seriously in my experience, and get it stopped
Speaker 3: that way. I can't understand how that would override your
Speaker 3: ability to change settings and ringtones on your own phone.
Speaker 3: That sounds very strange.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but Bobin Wasper is w A s p A,
Speaker 2: dot org dot z A WASPER the Wireless Application Service
Speaker 2: Providers Association. So if you don't get anywhere with Telcom,
Speaker 2: you can go to WASPER and Lodger complaint, but do
Speaker 2: try Telcom first. If you're a Telcom customer, as Wendy says,
Speaker 2: they should be providing you with the information.
Speaker 3: And well, yeah, I'd like you to please copy me
Speaker 3: Wendy at NOLA dot cos consumer at NOLA because I
Speaker 3: would like to get to the bottom of what's happening there.
Speaker 3: It's clearly affecting quite a few people.
Speaker 2: Okay, So Robin here, please send that mail to Telcom
Speaker 2: c C N Wendy consumer at NOLA dot co dot
Speaker 2: z spelled k n O W l E R. And
Speaker 2: if you don't get any follow up from Telcom, then
Speaker 2: Lodger complaint with WASPER which is wasper dot org dot.
Speaker 3: Z A.
Speaker 2: Right, yep, okay, this is I'm just having a quick
Speaker 2: scan here, Saul saying I had a problem with a
Speaker 2: particular fish canned fish company. I opened a can one
Speaker 2: day to find it was less than half full. I
Speaker 2: emailed the company and I cannot recall if the website
Speaker 2: said they would get back to me. But after two weeks,
Speaker 2: still nothing. I had all the information captured on my phone.
Speaker 2: Then I had a look at Hallo Peter and was
Speaker 2: surprise to see how many complaints there were. Sau says,
Speaker 2: I have since voted with my wallet and I don't
Speaker 2: purchase that item any longer. But it just goes to
Speaker 2: show how frustrating it is when companies don't respond. Have
Speaker 2: you had any complaints along that line went.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's talking about the iconic Lucky
Speaker 3: Star and this is lucky fish, Lucky Star and pilches.
Speaker 3: I got a complaint and someone said that I had
Speaker 3: been others and there's been several people posting images on
Speaker 3: social of you know, one or two, three pieces of fish,
Speaker 3: you know, wallowing in a whole lot of tomatoes sauce,
Speaker 3: and I did take it up with the company Oceania Brands.
Speaker 3: I wasn't expecting this question, so I don't know if
Speaker 3: I can get it up in time. But they essentially
Speaker 3: said that it was they do a lot of checks
Speaker 3: and this is, uh, it's not there. There isn't a
Speaker 3: systemic problem. Every now and then. What happens is the
Speaker 3: there's a misfilling not weight or something, and then the
Speaker 3: automated system adds more a sauce to make up the weight.
Speaker 3: It's it's a problem on the line, very intermittent, but
Speaker 3: definitely not you know, something that's affecting you know, whole
Speaker 3: batches and all the rest. But that's as much that
Speaker 3: as I can tell you about that right now.
Speaker 2: Okay, and as yeah, I mean, all that's going to
Speaker 2: happen is is what exactly what's all has done. You're
Speaker 2: going to switch to another brand or stop using the
Speaker 2: product altogether. And if enough customers do that to vote
Speaker 2: with their feet, perhaps they'll feel a little bit more
Speaker 2: motivated to fix the issue that causes the problem on
Speaker 2: the line. Indeed, this is an interesting comment from somebody
Speaker 2: going back to the Wasper issue. They had a similar
Speaker 2: situation through Votercom and when they did their research discovered
Speaker 2: that votercom itself was invested in one of the subsidiaries
Speaker 2: that was to blame for the issue, which might explain
Speaker 2: why there is less of an appetite to respond as
Speaker 2: the customers might want. So that's an interesting nugget.
Speaker 3: I would like to share another nugget quickly on the
Speaker 3: tinned fish. According to SANS two eight nine, which is
Speaker 3: a So American national standard that sets the laboring requirements
Speaker 3: for prepackaged product, if you want to know how much
Speaker 3: fish to source, you should have it a four hundred
Speaker 3: gram ten of fish. It should be at least sixty
Speaker 3: five percent fish, So you should have at least two
Speaker 3: hundred and sixty grams of fish when you drain the
Speaker 3: source off it. So if you want to check whether
Speaker 3: because whether yours, you've got too little fish. If it's
Speaker 3: less than two hundred and sixty go, and obviously be
Speaker 3: fair drain as much of the source off as you can,
Speaker 3: but you should have at least two hundred and sixty
Speaker 3: grams of fish in that four hundred gram can.
Speaker 2: Thanks for that interesting piece and interesting to know. It
Speaker 2: is a little set down to the literal gram.
Speaker 3: Or percentage, So sixty five percent you can substantiate your
Speaker 3: argument if you if you contact them again.
Speaker 2: Thanks for that, Wendy. That's a very interesting note on
Speaker 2: which to finish today's segment. Thanks so much for all
Speaker 2: you do on behalf of our listeners, and we look
Speaker 2: forward to having you back at Cape Town Studios next week.
Speaker 1: Me too. Thanks, thanks so much, Wendy.
Speaker 2: Nola reminder, if you do want to submit a complaint,
Speaker 2: the easiest thing to do is to go onto her website,
Speaker 2: which is Wendynola dot co dot SA and fill up
Speaker 2: the contact form there. Otherwise, send an email to consumer
Speaker 2: at Nola dot co dot s spelled k n O
Speaker 2: W L e R