WENDY KNOWLER | Doing an EFT? Make sure you have that account number right

In this weekly segment of bite-sized chunks of useful information, consumer journalist Wendy Knowler summarises news you can use:

Contain your excitement over that online bargain

Old shipping containers are in high demand for conversion into all manner of things, from B&Bs to offices and shops. So inevitably, container fraud is rife.

The latest victim to share her story with me is Lene who lives in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. The “company” she engaged with went by the name of Ultra Shipping Containers, she said, “but I received two other quotes that seem extremely similar and could be related ...”

Fraudsters often clone genuine companies’ names and websites.

Watch out for “tells” such as a dash in the url or a .co.za domain when the genuine company has a .com domain. Bogus companies often also spend a lot of money advertising on Google, Facebook and the like — they can afford to because they’re taking people’s money and giving them nothing.

Reputable, legitimate container companies sell 6m used containers for between R38,000 and R45,000 — and the quotes Lene got were for just R13,000.

She chose one and paid R16,750 — the asking price plus delivery — and then came the typical request for more money — a R10,000 “refundable” insurance fee. She wised up at that point, and didn’t pay. That container didn’t exist, of course.

Container Fraud Prevention is an industry-built platform which allows people to report scams, contact reputable suppliers and check out the prices of containers that actually exist.

“It’s estimated that between R250,000 and R300,000 is lost to these scams daily in SA alone,” the platform says. So a visit to this website is a must for anyone contemplating buying a container: www.containerfraud.co.za.

Don’t say yes to the dress too quickly

Sabrina sought my advice about one of the most significant purchases of her life.

“I purchased a wedding dress from a bridal shop yesterday and the dress is still at the shop. The invoice did state no refunds, but I decided overnight that the dress is not for me but now they refuse to refund.

“It’s been less than 24 hours, so is that legal?

“The amount has not even been processed on the credit card yet.

“There was talk of giving me a credit, but only if spent on another dress, not to buy a veil and so on.”

Sadly Sabrina has no legal right to a refund, because she bought the dress from a physical shop, having had an opportunity to examine and try it on. And there is nothing wrong with the dress, so the Consumer Protection Act’s right of return does not apply. That means the company is not legally required to take the dress back at all, given that it is not defective. If they do, as a customer service, they can apply whatever terms and conditions they see fit, including “only to be spent on another dress”.

So take your time when buying from a physical shop, because legally you do not have the benefit of a cooling-off period, not even for a day. (You get a seven-day cooling-off period when you buy online.)

Doing an EFT? Make very sure you have that account number right

I share these stories regularly because I’m desperate to convince people to get into the habit of going to great, even obsessive, lengths to ensure they don’t make a mistake with their online payments.

Belinda lost R14,000 recently — money she’d saved for a special holiday.

“I made two EFT payments for my holiday,” she said, “the first in October 2021 and then the balance to the same bank account a month ago, not realising that I had recorded one of the digits in the bank account incorrectly. Total payment: R14,000.

“I only found out my error when the tour group host said she hadn’t received my payment.

“My bank has now told me: ‘The recipient cannot be reached for permission for the funds to be reversed — as per the banking rules, permission needs to be obtained before the funds can be reversed.’

“I am devastated,” Belinda said. “I have flights booked to Cape Town for a walk in the wild flowers. Do I have any recourse?”

Sadly not. The bank is right — if the recipient of the unintended windfall doesn’t want to give it up, the bank can’t unilaterally snatch it back and return it to the payer.

Belinda does have the option of legal action, but it would no doubt cost her more than R14,000 and take a very long time, so it’s not viable.

In my experience, many of those who benefit from the finger trouble of others convince themselves it’s an act of God, a miracle to alleviate their financial distress, and thus feel justified to keep the money.

So please pay very careful attention when you’re writing down a bank account number, and entering it to make a payment, because if you tap in the wrong number when doing an EFT payment, and that account number exists at that bank, off your money will go. And you’ll most likely not get it back.

• GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.