Lost in translation

It's been almost four years since the Consumer Protection Act came into force, but the contents of my inbox suggests it is brand new.

Most consumers are still clueless about even its most basic, widely applicable protections, and several major corporates are ignoring or putting creative twists on the bits that would hurt their bottom lines too much.

A woman recently contacted me to ask whether the company that installed a fibreglass pool at her home last September is entitled to charge her a R350 call-out fee to attend to a fault.

The CPA's "implied warranty" entitles consumers to return goods that go wonky in some way (other than through fair wear and tear, abuse or accidental damage), and request their choice of a refund, replacement or repair "without penalty, and at the supplier's risk and expense".

If you have to courier a defective product back to a supplier, the cost must be refunded to you. And, you may not charge a call-out fee to fix a problematic four-month-old pool.

(I am not naming the company because I have yet to wade into that case.)

After those first six months, suppliers have the right to come up with whatever warranty terms and conditions they fancy.

The following two cases I dealt with recently illustrate other CPA contortions.

NO, CLOTHES AREN'T SPECIAL

Warren Tiervlei of Port Elizabeth bought a jacket from Mr Price's Greenacres branch, and four months later the zip broke. When he returned it to the store, wanting a refund, the manager told him the product was guaranteed for three months because "apparel" is a "separate section" of the CPA.

"Even the area manager refused to refund, repair or replace it," Tiervlei said.

Outrageous. "Apparel" is not a special case. Clothes have the same six-month CPA implied warranty as everything else.

I got hold of Mr Price's group customer care manager, Tony Krügel, who ensured Tiervlei got his refund.

For the record, you have no legal right to return any non-defective purchase, so you can't demand a refund for jeans you didn't try on in the store, or the nappies you found cheaper elsewhere.

If you're offered an exchange or credit, consider it a goodwill gesture.

EXPIRY NOTIFICATION THAT WASN'T

In the pre-CPA era, companies could sneakily allow "fixed term contracts", such as cellphone and gym contracts, to automatically "roll over", along with the customer's debit order, unless the consumer gave the required notice months earlier, as stated in their contracts.

Thanks to the CPA, companies can no longer keep quiet about "rollovers". Between 40 and 80 days before the end date of the contract period, they must inform the consumer that it is about to end, and, in short, explain their options.

Kanyiso Colani's partner Balbina Gundani signed a 12-month contract with Virgin Active in 2013, which he paid for every month by debit order. A year later, Gundani notified Virgin Active in Cresta that she didn't want to renew her contract, but was told that because she hadn't given the required 20 business days' notice, she'd be charged for another month.

Colani argued that Virgin Active had failed to advise them of this in the legally stipulated timeframe.

VA's customer relations head Jacqui Walter said the company e-mailed Colani, giving him 82 days' notice of a subscription hike "and any changes that would apply to the agreement instalment that would continue on a month to month basis".

Despite that, the company would refund Colani that last payment as a gesture of goodwill, she said.

The e-mail in question read: "From 1 November 2014 an annual increase to your membership fee will come into effect and your new monthly instalment will be."

I pointed out to Walter that the e-mail was not a notification and explanation of cancel versus rollover options.

Walter said: "We will ensure we notify the member when they are coming up to the end of their contract and provide them with the necessary info about cancellation."

GET IN TOUCH: You can contact our consumer columnist Wendy Knowler with your queries via email: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler. She's In Your Corner for consumer issues.