The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay so much?

I'm a government employee having a loan which is currently deducting P12,000 monthly, but when I sought for a settlement its even higher than the loan balance. I'm currently going through a rough phase of life, I just wanted a resolution. Can't they help me with installment reduction or revisit they way they calculate their installments?

My loan balance sits at P607,000 and the settlement was estimated to P649,000. I started the loan in 2022 and I cleared a bank loan of P249k with it. I took topups in between and now I'm struggling.

Mainly I really need their help with installment reduction to P2,500 so I can care for my child and be able to pay rent I've sent them a message on Facebook and pleaded with humbleness that they help me.

They said that I should go to the nearest branch and meet the manager. When I got there I laid my case. The manager told me the loan needs restructuring but by the look of things I have to pay P30,000 to reduce the loan balance to be able to be helped with restructuring. Please sir help me communicate with them please concerning this I'm really going through a lot.

Unfortunately there's no goods news I can offer you. No lender would ever consider dropping the monthly instalments from P12,000 to P2,500 for one simple reason. It would take more than 20 years to repay a loan of P607,000 with monthly payments of P2,500. And that's if there are no problems, defaults or delays. They'll never agree to that. They want their money in the next 4 years, the time you agreed with them.

Meanwhile I understand that your situation is desperate. I'll send you details of a trusted debt counsellor who you must go and see. They'll do their best to restructure your debts in a way you can afford.

They sold me a worn out car!

I'm so stressed and I need your help. I bought a car in Durban sometimes in December. I managed to collect the car this week but the car is worn out. I spoke to those who I was buying the car from back in Durban. Now they are so reluctant to help yet they gave me a car which I think was involved in some accidents. There are a number of faults in it. The radio requires a code but they know nothing about it. It was their duty to check if everything was ok before loading the car n communicate if the condition of the car was not okay.

I paid them a deposit and had to pay the remaining balance of P15,000 to an account they gave me, it is a Botswana account. They sent an invoice through WhatsApp. The receipt was written low amount because they claimed that if they wrote the exact amount, BURS was going to charge me a lot.

Is there any help I can get?

There are several problems here. Firstly, you have a cross-border complication. Who do you complain to? The consumer protection authorities in South Africa or here in Botswana? If you need to buy a car from overseas it's always worth going through an agent based here in Botswana so you have someone who will take responsibility here, not in another country if there's a problem.

There is a slight hope because you paid some of the money to an account here. Whose account was it?

Finally, and perhaps the most worrying thing is BURS. If you and the seller knowing falsified documents about the value of the vehicle, you need to confess to BURS immediately. They're much more likely to be forgiving if you confess before they catch you. I suggest you call them as soon as possible and ask for their help.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

They burned me!

Please I need your help. In September I went to a store to buy a chemical which unblocks the drain. Unfortunately when the manager was still explaining how it works it spilled on my hand and leg and burnt my dress.

I then went to the hospital and went back to the shop. I was told that they have a disclaimer that if anything happens to the customer they can't do anything. I had submitted a medical report and now have permanent scars but still they are just quiet. When I asked about the SHE officer the manager told me that they don't have one.

Please I need your help how to deal with this issue. Thank you.

This is unacceptable in so many different ways.

Firstly, how careless were they if they spilled something that dangerous over you? They urgently need to train their staff much better on safety and health issues. When consumers visit any store that sells dangerous products, we deserve assurance that we'll be safe. They also need to assure their staff that the risks they face are minimised.

Secondly, they need to take responsibility for their mistake. You sent me pictures of the burns you suffered and they look extremely painful. They need to stop ignoring you, take responsibility for their mistake and help you.

I'll contact their senior managers and encourage them to take responsibility and to contact you. I'll also suggest they need to review their standards and policies to make sure that mistakes like this don't happen again.

They took a year!

Hello, Richard! I bought a TV in 2024 October. In November the TV started giving me problems and I reported it. Thereafter the store promised to come and collect the TV for a whole year failing to collect. Finally they collected the TV in October 2025 and up to today its not returned. When I enquire its story after story. I am still paying for the goods but they are with them.

I have exhausted all the right channels. I escalated the matter to the manager and regional manager but still no help. I am always met with empty promises of receiving the TV. Is it possible I can get my money back since they have not fulfilled their contractual obligations and they keep their TV?

How can it take so long to respond to a complaint about a faulty item? An entire year? What were they doing for so long? I wonder if they understand that Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act says that when "a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to … timely performance and completion of those services (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay". It doesn't say what "timely" means, but we all know that it doesn't mean 365 days.

It's also very important that senior people at this company understand that it was THEIR fault that there was a delay, not yours. We don't want them to suggest that we're now outside the warranty period.

I've emailed the most senior people and I'm sure they'll take the matter seriously.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Why won't they refund me?

I have a problem and I need your help please. I bought an iPhone 11 with my little sister about 2 weeks ago from a store in Game City and now the phone doesn't charge and sometimes it switches off while it has battery like when its on 76%. My sister went to the store to ask for a refund and return the phone and they told her the only do refunds within 7 days of purchase. They said she should come the next day because they can't refund her also before asking the technician what the problem is.

Can you help us get a refund from the shop because we don't trust them anymore and my sister needs to buy a phone.

There's often some confusion about when and how a consumer can return an item. Some stores allow customers to return an item simply because they've changed their mind about the purchase. That's probably what store means when they say they only do refunds within seven days of purchase.

More important is what happens when something is faulty. Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act requires a supplier to offer goods that are "of good quality, in good working order and free of defects". However, as everyone knows, this doesn't always happen. Section 16 of the Act describes what a supplier must do when a faulty item is returned to them within six months of purchase. It says that the supplier can consider one of three options. They can attempt to repair the faulty item, they can replace it, or they can refund the customer. But it's important note that it's their choice which of these three options they prefer. The store is entitled to attempt to repair the phone before they consider a replacement or a refund.

However, there's something more important here. Why isn't this phone working properly? Did the store tell you this phone was new when you bought it? An iPhone 11 is a perfectly good phone, but Apple stopped producing it more than three years ago. Maybe it's been sitting in a store for the last three years, but it's worth checking if this phone is actually second-hand. If that's the case and the store didn't tell you, they're in trouble. I'll get in touch with them and ask.

Must I pay?

Kindly help me to understand something about my furniture. In 2022 I bought a couch which I failed to pay and they ended up collecting it back to their store and they sold it. To my surprise they say I must come and pay the remaining balance.

I asked them are they returning the couch they say no we have already sold it but I have to clear what I have started. So I am unable to take loans, they blocked me in other furniture stores and my name is blacklisted due to the couch that is taken back. Please help me to understand.

The most important thing to understand about hire purchase is that it's a terrible way to buy things. If everything goes well and you make every payment, the worst thing that happens is you pay up to twice the cash price of the item you're buying.

Unfortunately, very often things go wrong. If you miss a payment, that's when you discover that you don't own the items you think you bought. They still belong to the store. That's why they can repossess them whenever they have a reason to do so. The next thing you discover is that when the goods are repossessed, you still owe the store the money. You'll even owe them penalty fees, debt collection charges, and possibly legal fees when they try and recover the money from you. You'll also find yourself registered you with a credit reference bureau, which will make it a lot harder to get credit elsewhere. The best thing you can do is talk to the store about how much you owe, how much you can afford to repay each month and then sign an agreement with them.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

I was robbed!

I feel hard done, robbed and bullied by a cellphone shop in Francistown. I bought a phone, insisting that I want it in a sealed box, brand new. They showed it to me in the box, I proceeded to pay. Upon setup at the shop it refused to recognize the SIM cards, they then swapped the new phone with a demo phone (display phone). I demanded my money back but they refused. Instead they said that I must go to the dealer in Gaborone and file a complaint if I want to. The proof that it is a demo phone shows because there is activity on the phone from before I bought it. The receipt shows date of purchase and security updates on the phone show that it's been active before that date. Please help me, I am wondering if I can report it to the police as obtaining by false pretenses. How do I tackle this?

I'm don't think we need to bother the police with this issue. Yes, I suppose it might be a crime but I think we can deal with this ourselves without distracting the police from more important issues.

The first thing we can do it to remind the store owners about Section 13 of the Consumer Protection Act. This says that a supplier "who offers used goods shall inform a consumer that the goods sold are used goods by … placing a label on the goods that indicates that such goods are used goods and
placing a notice on the invoice issued to a consumer".

I'm sure we all agree that there's nothing wrong with selling second-hand goods. In fact, it's a good thing. A second-hand phone can be just as good as a brand new one and a lot cheaper. We all love a bargain. However, we just need suppliers to be honest about it. If they're selling something that's second-hand they need to be open about it. They need to obey the law by labelling the item appropriately.

Also, you can ignore their suggestion that you must go to the dealer in Gaborone to file a complaint. You didn't buy the phone from the dealer, you bought it from the cell phone shop. They are the ones who must deal with this issue.

I'll contact them for you and see if they understand.

My Mother was robbed!

My Mother was robbed of her money. The scammer discussed trading for her to make profit out of P300. Then he or she kept on asking for more and more until it was more than P2.000. When she told me, the money was already gone but I see the Orange Money is still operating.

I told her to go to the Police but most of these cases take a long time as a police case.

I'm sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, as most readers of The Voice will know by now, scammers don't offer refunds. Once your money is gone, it's gone forever. It's almost impossible to get money back to the victims of scams. Either the scammer is untraceable because they're in a different country, or the money has been quickly transferred overseas. That makes it almost impossible to recover the stolen money.

Nevertheless, it's incredibly important that your mother speaks to the police about this. It's possible they might be able to trace where the money went, and if it's still in Botswana to get it back. They might also be able to trace the scammer if they're still in the country. At the very least, it will allow the police to keep statistics and intelligence on these scams. It might also help them to educate the public about the risks posed by these scams.

However, the greatest weapon we have against these scammers as people like you who are doing your best to dedicate your family members about scams. Please don't stop. It's only as a community that we'll win the war against scams.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

When will they finish the job?

Back in 2022 my mother engaged a company to finish construction on her house in Molepolole. It was a turnkey project and she paid the company P200,000 to construct on a fix and supply basis. Please note that the house was already built when they were engaged. They were to install doors, windows, do the plumbing, floor tiles, ceiling, electric wiring and painting.

It's 2025 now and the house is still not complete, the owner of the company takes my mother from pillar to post every time she asks about progress on the house. Between 2022 and 2025, they only fixed the roof. Please assist us?

Three years? What possible justification can there be for a delay of three years? There's absolutely no excuse for that, none whatsoever. The good news is that when I contacted the company they responded very quickly. They assured me that they would take the matter seriously. Since then, they promised me that the matter would be addressed within days. However, it's important you keep a very close eye on the progress they make, and the quality of the work they do. You've waited long enough, it now needs to be done properly. 

Update: They're still making promises but there's been no actual progress yet.

When will I get it back?

I am writing to request your urgent intervention regarding a warranty issue with my PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Edition, purchased in March 2025 and currently under warranty.

On 1 November 2025, I returned the PS5, due to repeated overheating. After waiting two weeks, I was informed that it had been repaired. However, upon testing it the same day, the exact same overheating problem occurred again. On 20 November, I took the console back, and they informed me that they now need to send it to Sony South Africa for further repairs or possible replacement. They could not give me any estimate of how long this process will take, only that it may take "some time."

I am never given any update unless I call or go to the store. Can you help me have the Console replaced or get a refund?

The bad news is that because you reported the problem more than six months after purchase, the really useful parts of the Consumer Protection Act don't apply. As readers of The Voice will know by now, Section 16 of the Act says that if a faulty item is returned to the supplier within six months of purchase and the supplier chooses to repair the item, and then the same problem occurs again within three months, they no longer have the option of repairing it again. In that situation, they would need to replace it or refund you.

However, in this case, it was slightly more than six months so we need to rely on the manufacturer's warranty of a year. I contacted the store manager and he assured me that the warranty repair will be undertaken. He also assured me that you'll have the device back within a week or two. However, we both need to keep the pressure on them to make sure they keep to this promise.

He also said that part of the overheating problem was the amount of dust found in the PlayStation. I'm no expert but a little searching found reports of other people experiencing the same problem. The advice from technical experts seems to be that the cooling vents on these devices need to be cleaned occasionally. In a dusty country like ours, that's probably good advice.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Will they refund me?

A few months back I booked in a guest house not noticing it wasn't the one I intended to book therefore I did not use it. I followed it up for reimbursement the very same day within an hours time or so but they refused. Instead after a few days of going back and forth with the receptionist apparently she finally made an arrangement for me to communicate with the owner who came up with a resolution of me using the reservation or booking with 356 days of which I refused as it was never stipulated on the original terms.

How can I go about this matter?

This is complicated. Firstly, it's important to understand who made the mistake here and it wasn't the guest house. They accepted your booking in good faith and it's possible they turned away other guests who wanted to stay with them but couldn't because you'd booked a room.

However, I think it would be reasonable for them to check if this was the case. Did they really lose money because you wanted to cancel the booking? If they didn't, it would be reasonable and kind for them to refund you. They'd obviously be entitled to deduct any banking costs from the refund but I think a refund would be a kind thing to do.

I'm happy to contact them and suggest they take another look.

Will they refund me too?

On August 30th 2025 I wanted to buy jack hammer from a shop at Game City Mall. I was told they don't sell it but they can do special order for me if I pay 50% of the machine which was P5,600.

I deposited P1,200 but in September I saw the machine same brand from other shop with a lower price of P3,999. Then I consulted one the employees from the shop that I want to take my P1,200 because I found the machine with a more affordable price. Then he says they already ordered the machine though I didn't pay 50% like we agreed. Now I want to withdraw my P1,200 from them.

What outcomes should I expect since I was supposed to make payment so that they bring machine even though I didn't make their 50% payment.

Again, this seems to be a situation where the supplier hasn't actually done anything wrong. Other than being expensive.

Like the guesthouse in the other problem this week, they took money for this item in good faith. They thought you wanted to buy it and agreed a P5,600 deposit. Perhaps their mistake was to begin the ordering process before you'd paid them the agreed amount.

Again, this depends on how much work the store did to order the item. Did they actually do any work? Or maybe they did a lot of work and has the item already being shipped? We need to find out so we know what to expect from the store.

Then it will depend on the generosity of the store. Are they prepared to do the decent thing and refund you? Again, obviously they can deduct any costs they've incurred from the P1,200 but I think they need to do the right thing, don't you?

And next time? Like with any expensive purchase, we must all shop around before paying. It's amazing how much prices can vary and what bargains are available.

The Voice - Consumer's Voice

How long must this take? 

I have an issue with a filling station for putting wrong fuel in my car. It has been going for 6th month without my car. The manager for the filling station where this happened states that the matter is handled by their insurer. I was told for any further communication I should speak to the insurer. 

The first bit of good news is that this filling station are dealing with the issue. They seem to understand that their employee’s mistake caused damage to your car and they’ve submitted a claim to their insurer to pay to fix it. 

Then there’s bad news. Why is this taking so long? How complicated can this situation be? To me it seems very simple. They damaged your car and they need to pay for it to be fixed. The next bit of bad news is that the filling station want you to do all the hard work. Why? There’s absolutely no need for you to contact their insurance company. They work for the filling station, not you and it’s the job of the filling station management to make the phone calls, send the emails and insist on a rapid solution. It’s not your job. 

The final bit of good news is that I contacted the filling station manager and they promised to take action. They said they’ll let me know when some progress can be made. 

Is it legal? 

Is it legal that when you owe an entity or a cash loan and when they get their money they get all the money without leaving you any survival money for the month. They took all the money in my account and I can’t even pay rent or any buy any usables. 

I’m not an attorney so I can’t offer you legal advice but as far as I know, there are no restrictions on what a microlender can take from you. 

I suspect that the microlender would argue that you entered into this loan agreement of your own free will as a sane, grown adult and it’s therefore your job to ensure you can afford the loan you took from them. They would argue that they don’t know for sure how much you earn, how much you spend, how much you owe other lenders and, therefore, how much you can afford to pay them. 

But I think it IS their job to know that. Before any microlender lends us money, they should do their best to discover these things. Instead of just getting us to sign a deal, send us the money and get their monthly payments, they need to do some work to understand our financial situation. Can we really afford the loan? They need to do this for our benefit but also for theirs. We don’t want to default on our loans and they shouldn’t want us to default either. 

Our cousins across the border in South Africa are protected by laws against what they call “reckless lending”, The South African National Credit Act requires a lender to thoroughly assess if a borrower can truly afford the loan being offered. If it’s later discovered that the lender failed to do sufficient checks, the debt can be declared as “reckless lending” and the loan can even be reversed.

We need something similar here in Botswana. I know some borrowers are reckless and irresponsible but many just need some protections against making foolish mistakes. And the microlenders? They can afford to be a bit more careful. They make enough profit from their customers, they can afford to spend a bit more time being more careful.