Consumer Hacks with Wendy Knowler
Know your rights as a consumer. ECR’s Consumer Watchdog, Wendy Knowler, is giving us daily consumer tips to help empower you as a consumer. Here are the latest Consumer Hacks with Wendy Knowler.
Are you overpaying for your pet’s meds?
Vet bills are brutal, and medication is a big slice of them. But you may never be told that a cheaper equivalent of what you're being dispensed exists, because nobody at the counter is obliged to raise it with you. So ask. Ask whether there's a generic or a cheaper…
Check your credit record before it costs you
A listener wrote to me about a phone account written off years ago. He doesn't dispute the money. What he disputes is what the listing has since done to him. Most people only find out they're listed when a loan or a rental application is turned down, and by then…
Scammers still getting away with the fake POP tactic
Selling something on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace? The oldest trick in the book is still working beautifully for scammers. The "buyer" sends you a proof of payment, often a very convincing one, and arranges a courier to collect that same day. The money never arrives, the goods are gone, and…
It pays to know your CPA
Mitch of Durban bought a second-hand phone from well-known national retailer. Six weeks later it failed. The shop refused a refund, refused a credit, refused a swap, and offered him a repair. That is not how the law works. Under the Consumer Protection Act, if something you buy fails within…
Free for three months. Then not.
A Discovery member took advantage of a free health check and then got a sales call offering her a three-month free Vitality trial. She agreed, on condition that she be contacted before the free period ended. Nobody contacted her. The membership rolled over into a paid one, and the fees…
Do you know what your store cards are costing you?
Store cards can quietly drain your wallet through monthly service fees, even if you have what you assume is a zero balance. Last month Woolworths raised its store card fee to R52.49 a month, applying it even to those customers who have a zero balance. That works out to R630…
How much do you value after sales service?
Nico Grobler and his wife bought two Grafton Everest leather recliners from Tafelberg Furnishers. A few years in, the leather on the armrests and leg rests began to wear and scuff – prematurely, in their view. But because the chairs were well out of their two-year warranty, the couple’s first…
Still using the green ID book? Let your bank help you out, pronto
Home Affairs has launched a site that shows you the closest bank branch where you can apply for a Smart ID Card. It's at myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za. There are 372 participating branches so far, and new ones appear on the site as they sign up. Since March, more than half a million…
Even with saved beneficiaries, check the account details before paying
When you pay a company by EFT, where do you get the banking details? If they’re saved in your banking app, that’s worth a second thought. A Truworths account holder made debt repayments using saved beneficiary details, but the debt collectors had switched banks. Her money landed in a dormant…
Missing a visa rule could cost you - a lot
A couple flew from Joburg to Auckland, with the return journey via Perth, but were refused boarding because their Perth layover was longer than eight hours, meaning they needed an Australian transit visa. Being Sunday afternoon, it was too late to apply. They had to buy two Cathay Pacific tickets…
Mind that balloon
Balloon payments are appealing in that you get the car for a smaller “affordable” monthly payment, BUT a big lump sum awaits you after six or seven years. On a R350 000 car over five years, a 20% balloon knocks around R870 off your instalment. But here's the catch. You…
That “local” shop is shipping from China
Spotted a slick online shop with a South African-sounding name and great prices? Look twice. A lot of them aren’t local at all. They are fronts for sellers shipping from China. And those appealing pics are all AI. So, your “three-day delivery” becomes three weeks, the quality often disappoints, and…
Insurers win 90% of car and home insurance complaints lodged with the National Financial Ombud
Why? Not because the Ombud is in bed with the insurers as many assume. Because many consumers didn’t fully grasp what they were and weren’t covered for, or hadn’t met their side of the policy in terms of the security or maintenance conditions. So don’t wait for a claim to…
Pay the invoice without checking, lose the money
An awful form of bank fraud is on the rise – it’s called Business Email Compromise. Here how it works - a fraudster hacks into an email exchange, waits for an invoice, then swaps in their own banking details before it reaches you. You pay, in good faith, and your…
That’s not me, that’s a clone
Here is a fast-growing scam - fraudsters copy your social media account, your name, your photo, even your videos, and set up a near-identical fake. Then they slide into your followers’ comments and messages, posing as you, to sell them something dodgy or fish for their money. It happened to…
Sold a dud car on finance? Chase the bank
If you buy a used car on finance and it turns out to be a lemon, don’t spend all your energy on the dealer. The bank that financed it is on the hook too. Our Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed it recently: when a bank finances a defective car, it…
“Show Me the Podium": the phrase that could save you thousands on car finance
When you apply for vehicle finance through a dealership, the finance manager submits your application to multiple banks - and gets back a "podium" showing every offer, with different rates and terms. They're not obliged to show you all of them, and have every incentive to push the one earning…
Know when your cellphone contract ends — or face a bill up to three times more
When your cellphone contract expires and you haven't given 30 days' notice to cancel or signed a new deal, your network can move you onto a month-to-month rate — at a dramatically higher price. Nadene's MTN contract was R189 a month. When it expired at the end of May, she…
That grocery app search result isn't showing you the best deal — it's showing you who paid the most
When you search for a product category on a grocery app like Checkers Sixty60, the results aren't random — they're influenced by which brands have paid for keyword placement. Search "tea" and Five Roses appears first; the far cheaper Checkers own-brand equivalent – Forage & Feast - doesn't show up…
Wait 72 hours before committing to anything you didn't plan to buy
Retailers - online and in-store - are experts at manufacturing urgency such as flash sales, "only 2 left," countdown timers. The antidote is simple: wait three days before purchasing any unplanned, non-essential item. Write it down if you need to, then revisit after 72 hours. Research consistently shows the urge…