Godfrey Tsimatsima of Welkom, in the Free State, will be refunded R28000 for a public phone business he could not get off the ground.

Godfrey Tsimatsima of Welkom, in the Free State, will be refunded R28000 for a public phone business he could not get off the ground.

The public phone concept is being well received, but prospective franchisees claim they either receive some of the promised equipment or nothing at all.

Tsimatsima, 41, said he was retrenched in 2003 and decided to start a public phone business.

"Despite the fact that most of my neighbours have cellphones, they still use public phones, so I saw a need to fill that gap," he said.

He paid R28000 to Trading in April last year for a container and four public phones, which he never received.

Lizwi Magingxi said when he bought his container and four public phones from Sparax he was promised airtime worth R1000 on each phone, but they loaded much less than that.

He has not received his container and Sparax demanded a further R7000 before they would deliver the container, he said.

"I need my container plus the balance of my airtime," he said.

Louisa Nkosi also bought her phones and container from Sparax, which did not deliver what was advertised. She refused to take delivery and demanded her money back.

Esther Ivans agreed to refund the complainants.