Kgomotso Musi who was not happy about the service she received from Rochester furniture shop has been refunded, thanks to Consumer Line.
Kgomotso Musi who was not happy about the service she received from Rochester furniture shop has been refunded, thanks to Consumer Line.
Anton Odendaal of Rochester was made to understand that he could not argue with or demand cancellation fees from innocent customers that he had failed.
Two weeks ago, Consumer Line published an article about Rochester's one-sided contract which exonerated the business from liability if it failed to deliver the goods.
Rochester's contract also allowed it to deduct a 30percent cancellation fee if customers cancelled a contract.
Odendaal refused to refund a customer unless he received his cancellation fee.
He even agreed to pay the full amount if a court found that he was acting unlawfully.
But Odendaal later decided to refund the money instead of going to court.
Odendaal refunded Musi after Sowetan pursued the matter.
In January, Musi bought a bedroom suite worth almost R12000 from Rochester's East Rand Mall branch. She paid the full amount.
"l was told their factories only opened on January 15 and that I would get my furniture at the end of January," Musi said.
When she least expected it, Musi received a call to say that the furniture would be delivered a day later.
"In the morning I cleared my bedroom and guess what, only the mattress was delivered."
When Musi inquired, she was referred to their "useless head office".
Musi said: "I called Linda, the saleswoman at Rochester, who was always busy and never bothered to return my calls."
After making umpteen phone calls, she was told about their three-month waiting period.
"At no stage was I told I was going to wait that long. If I knew, I would not have entered into the contract. When I wanted to cancel the deal, I was told about the 30percent cancellation fee, which I was not told about before," she said.
She decided to go through with the deal because she did not want to pay the cancellation fee.
"I am now sleeping on the floor waiting for them to deliver. I don't know when it's going to be done.
"If I had ordered these goods from abroad, I would understand if there was a three-month waiting period. I am not a happy customer at all," said Musi.
Odendaal's response was: "Is it not obvious when you look at the contract you [as if Consumer Line was the buyer] signed what the quoted period is?
"If you do not want the items . say so and we will cancel the bedroom suite. Not the mattress."
He did not deduct the cancellation fee because he realised he had lost the argument.
Odendaal has since cancelled the order for the bedroom suite and has refunded Musi's money.
We deliver for client
Kgomotso Musi who was not happy about the service she received from Rochester furniture shop has been refunded, thanks to Consumer Line.
Kgomotso Musi who was not happy about the service she received from Rochester furniture shop has been refunded, thanks to Consumer Line.
Anton Odendaal of Rochester was made to understand that he could not argue with or demand cancellation fees from innocent customers that he had failed.
Two weeks ago, Consumer Line published an article about Rochester's one-sided contract which exonerated the business from liability if it failed to deliver the goods.
Rochester's contract also allowed it to deduct a 30percent cancellation fee if customers cancelled a contract.
Odendaal refused to refund a customer unless he received his cancellation fee.
He even agreed to pay the full amount if a court found that he was acting unlawfully.
But Odendaal later decided to refund the money instead of going to court.
Odendaal refunded Musi after Sowetan pursued the matter.
In January, Musi bought a bedroom suite worth almost R12000 from Rochester's East Rand Mall branch. She paid the full amount.
"l was told their factories only opened on January 15 and that I would get my furniture at the end of January," Musi said.
When she least expected it, Musi received a call to say that the furniture would be delivered a day later.
"In the morning I cleared my bedroom and guess what, only the mattress was delivered."
When Musi inquired, she was referred to their "useless head office".
Musi said: "I called Linda, the saleswoman at Rochester, who was always busy and never bothered to return my calls."
After making umpteen phone calls, she was told about their three-month waiting period.
"At no stage was I told I was going to wait that long. If I knew, I would not have entered into the contract. When I wanted to cancel the deal, I was told about the 30percent cancellation fee, which I was not told about before," she said.
She decided to go through with the deal because she did not want to pay the cancellation fee.
"I am now sleeping on the floor waiting for them to deliver. I don't know when it's going to be done.
"If I had ordered these goods from abroad, I would understand if there was a three-month waiting period. I am not a happy customer at all," said Musi.
Odendaal's response was: "Is it not obvious when you look at the contract you [as if Consumer Line was the buyer] signed what the quoted period is?
"If you do not want the items . say so and we will cancel the bedroom suite. Not the mattress."
He did not deduct the cancellation fee because he realised he had lost the argument.
Odendaal has since cancelled the order for the bedroom suite and has refunded Musi's money.
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