36-Month Contract With Unexpected Costs After 12 Months

⭐ Review: Cartrack

We signed a 36-month contract with Cartrack and had tracking units installed in four vehicles. What is extremely frustrating is that while the contract locks you in for three years, the actual tracking unit is only covered by a 12-month warranty.

A year later, we received an email advising that the warranty has expired and that any repair will now cost R600 per call-out, unless we agree to pay an additional R30 per vehicle per month for a so-called “Lifetime Maintenance Warranty Extender”.

This was not clearly explained at the time of signing. If customers are bound to a 36-month contract, it makes no sense that the hardware required to fulfil that contract is only protected for 12 months.

On top of this, customers are expected to call in every three months to check that all units are functioning. If regular monitoring is required, ongoing maintenance should reasonably be included in the original agreement.

To make matters worse, when I sold one of the vehicles and wanted to cancel the contract for that unit, I was informed that:

Removal of the tracking unit would cost R850, and

A cancellation fee of R3,500 would also apply.

This feels excessive and unfair, especially considering the long-term contract and the additional costs already involved.

Overall, this experience feels like a series of unexpected charges introduced after commitment, rather than a transparent agreement explained upfront. Very disappointing.