Refused to refund me full amount

Hatton Hardware's ethos: "Our ethos is SMALL enough to LISTEN, BIG enough to DELIVER! We are a family business and pride ourselves on customer service." - Pity they do not live what they state! I ordered timber for a deck and the timber arrived, but is looked like rejected short pieces that was joint every meter. Hatton claims this to be SABS approved and it may be so, but it was inferior quality. (I eventually purchased the timber from Build It in KZN - and this was decent timber with no joints). Section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act states "The supplier may not charge a penalty for the return (such as a handling or administration fee".

The Consumer Protection Services agreed with me and requested Bryce Hatton to refund me the balance, which he still refuses to do. I have been referred to the small claims court, because Consumer Protection Services do not have a tribunal in place to hear the matter and to enforce the law. I enclose the letter received from Enforcement & Compliance:

"Reference is made to our telephonic discussion of even date.

I have perused your file and unfortunately, nowhere in The Consumer Protection Act, Act 68 of 2008, does it say that you are not entitled to a refund of deliver charges. However, Ms Mkhungo did try to negotiate for the refund of the delivery charge but Hatton Hardware refused to grant a refund. Please note that we are unable to force Hatton's into issuing a refund your only alternative will be to try and take the matter up with the Small Claims Court. Once again we apologize for the delay in responding to your mail.

Kind Regards Navi Nandkumar Assistant Director Enforcement & Compliance