I’m so angry and distressed about continuing reports of consumers’ right to return defective goods being trampled on by ignorant or exploitative stores, I’m having a hard time resisting an Mbalula moment.
Almost three years after the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) came into force, shop assistants and managers really shouldn’t be confused about this.
They really shouldn’t. It’s not that complicated.
If the item isn’t faulty, but the customer doesn’t want it for some reason, the store gets to decide whether they want to take it back, and if they do, they have the right to set the terms.
Such as, item must be returned within 30 days, with tags/packaging, with till slip, no refund, and only an exchange or credit will be given, no refunds.
But if the item is defective, within six months of purchase, the consumer gets to choose the remedy – refund, replacement or repair. Shop assistants don’t get to decide whether something is defective – they may send it off for professional assessment to rule out user abuse, if they choose to. They can’t insist on original packaging, but they can insist on a till slip.
If you work in a shop and you deal with customers, please feel free to copy this and refer to it when in doubt.
Clearly there are shop assistants and managers who either haven’t received sufficient CPA training, or they are choosing to ignore it, or they lack what it takes to be let out of their homes unsupervised, let alone deal with customers.
The ignorance about consumers’ right of return – and intentional deviation from the CPA in some cases – is not restricted to small, independently owned stores. It happens in large, national chains, too, and sadly, they are not isolated cases.
Which brings me to the case of the electric shaver bought from a branch of Clicks in KZN last month.
Hendrika Thompson bought her two sons electric shavers – different brands – for Christmas, at the Malvern, Durban, branch of Clicks. One worked fine but the other, a Phillips, was problematic.
“Even after the shaver was completely charged, it still worked very, very slowly and pulled my son’s beard, no matter how short.
“I tried returning the shaver, but the Clicks assistants told me they could not exchange it, or even send it away for repairs, for several reasons: it’s a hygienic item, it had been used, and, according to them, it was in working order.”
How did they come to this conclusion? They tested it on Thompson’s son’s arm.
“Arm hairs are very different from a beard,” Thompson said. Indeed.
To top it all, when Thompson asked the store manager to give her a letter stating their reasons for not replacing, or even repairing the shaver, this was refused.
So she turned to me for help.
I wrote to Clicks’ spokeswoman, Susann Caminada, pointing out that the store, on Thompson’s account, was wrong in three respects:
Firstly, stores may refuse to take back a “hygienic” item if it’s a change-of-heart purchase, but not if it’s defective.
Secondly, store staff made the call that the shaver was not faulty. Based on what technical know-how?
Thirdly, to say that a consumer has no right to return a defective item because it has been used is ridiculous, bordering on farcical.
Thanks to the CPA, all items come with an automatic six-month warranty.
Caminada confirmed that Clicks had a right to examine an allegedly defective product to confirm the defect or failure, and, if confirmed, the consumer had the right to choose between a refund, replacement or repair.
“In this instance, the product should have been tested for the purpose for which it was purchased,” she said.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to Ms Thompson. We have investigated the incident with our supplier and determined that the item was indeed faulty.
“Our store manager has accordingly contacted Ms Thompson to process a refund for the goods and the complaint has been settled satisfactorily.”
Great, I said. And what about addressing the staff problem?
“We have processes in place that staff have to follow in terms of CPA compliance,” Caminada said.
“In this instance, we apologise that due process was not followed.
“If incidents of this nature occur in future, we ask your readers to please escalate complaints to Clicks Customer Services at head office at 0860 CLICKS (0860 254 257) or visit www.clicks.co.za - Daily News