WENDY KNOWLER | Attention to detail is everything when it comes to consumer survival

Much of what it takes to be a savvy consumer, to ensure that you don’t get scammed, ripped off or find yourself unable to claim what you’re entitled to, boils down to taking the time to read, and do some basic admin.

If we’re in too much of a rush or can’t be bothered to read the small print; if we go for the quick, easy “convenient” option every time; if we don’t take the time to research companies, even just a little bit, before giving them our money; if we don’t document and save our interactions and transactions with companies ... we are bound to get caught. And that is inconvenient and time consuming indeed.

People who are cautious, meticulous and, dare I say, distrustful, do not make themselves easy targets. And when I get e-mails from people with almost no punctuation, shortcut spelling and by the fifth exchange I still don’t have all the information I need to take up their case, it’s frankly easy to see why they landed up needing my help.

Attention to detail is everything. Having said all that, by nature I am neither highly organised nor meticulous. But this job has taught me the value of doing the bare minimum admin in order to keep me safe in Consumerland. Starting with checking my bank statement on my app every few days, always keeping my receipts and keeping detailed notes of my dealings with companies, especially when things start going wrong.

A few days ago I saw a R600 deduction for an unspecified fee on my bank statement. So I queried it — turns out it was an annual fee for a garage card which I haven’t used in years but hadn’t cancelled. I daresay many others are in this position. I don’t appear to have been charged it this time last year, so I have some investigation to do, but the point is that R600 is now back in my account.

People who are cautious, meticulous and, dare I say, distrustful, do not make themselves easy targets.

Here are more nuggets from Consumerland Survival Guide. See how many you can adopt as your personal habits.

• Check your bank statement every few days. Read every line and if you don’t know what a debit is for, query it with your bank. It could be an unauthorised debit, or it could be insurance for a cellphone you last used eight years ago and didn’t think to cancel.
• Make sure you aren’t paying too much for your car or home contents insurance. Loyalty doesn’t pay in this industry — it gets punished, so if you’ve been with the same insurer for a while, get some like-for-like competitor quotes and use them to insist on a reduced premium, or ditch that company and sign up with a new one.
• If someone calls you, saying they are from your bank’s fraud division and your account is being targeted by fraudsters, they are most likely the fraudster, trying to trick you into giving them your banking passwords and/or one-time pins. End the call and then phone your bank’s fraud department, using the number you have pre-saved in your cellphone contacts, to check.
• Do some sleuthing before you shop online. Online shopping is all the rage, for obvious reasons — it’s convenient and you get a seven-day cooling off period in which to send the stuff back if you don’t like it. (That’s a perk you don’t get when you buy something in a store; it has to be defective in order for you to have any legal take-back rights at all.) But it is risky because you pay upfront, trusting and hoping that you get what you paid for at the promised time. Sadly, in many cases, that doesn’t happen. So do your homework before you hit Pay. Go onto HelloPeter and check out the reviews. If a lot of people are currently complaining of no delivery, no refund, and no responses from a company, avoid. Ditto courier companies. I did not follow my own advice on this one recently, as I was “in a hurry”, and I’m paying the price. So far being Wendy Knowler is not helping! (To be continued)
• Never interact with a company when you don’t have the time do your usual self protection checks. This advice is more important than not shopping when you’re hungry, I promise!
• Consider paying a nominal monthly fee to a credit bureau to have alerts e-mailed or texted to you if someone attempts to open an account or take out a loan in your name. Google “credit bureau alerts” for more info.
• Always read the small print of any document you are asked to put your signature to. No exceptions. The smaller it is, and more buried it is on the contract or on the website, the more important it is for you to read. Trust me on this, please.
• Never buy a used car without getting it professionally checked first by Dekra or the likes of Car Inspect (https://carinspect.co.za/) and always fight back on the “dealership” or “delivery” fee which dealerships add to all car deals.
• Think the worst of a company or individual that wants your business until your own research convinces you otherwise. 
• Sad but valid advice.