JL
Jody L

1 reviews | Active since Dec 2018

03 Aug 2023, 13:18

Incompetency of the National Consumer Commission

A bought a defective vehicle from Pels Auto in April 2022 and I had issues with the vehicle within the first 6 months. I have sent the vehicle back multiple times for them to bring it up to roadworthy standard and each time I had to pay for repairs only for it to last a couple of days before the issue appeared again. Eventually 8 months in the car was sent back to them 7 times already! Within this time I have approached MIOSA and after months they made a ruling advising that the dealership needs to attend to all the outstanding issues which was metal noises from the engine, missing bolts, constant oil leaks, regular overheating issues and on top of that breaking my dashboard clips, panels and casings. The car was sent back and a couple of days later returned to me with existing issues! Literally a day later after I got the car from Pels Auto then my engine seized up after their mechanic assured me there is nothing wrong with the engine. I have mentioned this to MIOSA and they referred me to the NCC, I have reached out to them on the 17 of March 2023 and still haven't received any assistance from them, I have completed the forms and sent them all the documentation, quotes and reference numbers but they continued asking me the same question and having me explain the situation to them multiple times! I assumed that they were just trying to buy some time and making it seem that they are actively working on the case. Keep in mind that I am sitting without a vehicle for 2 months already and Pels Auto is refusing to take responsibility. I continued requesting updates and feedback from the NCC and they just became unresponsive, I was then left with no choice but to include other parties in hope that someone will assist me. Eventually in month number 3 I lost all trust in the NCC and requested for my vehicle to be moved to another workshop where I had to use my own resources to fix the vehicle. 7 July 2023 I got the vehicle back and the first thing I noticed was that the gearbox was making a noise (which was never there before the car was taken back to Pels Auto, apart from that the body had some new damages, my wiper blades seemed to have been swopped out with older ones and the vehicle was just not in the same condition that I handed it over to Pels Auto) I have updated the NCC about this and again requested that they hold Pels Auto accountable as they were the ones to strip the vehicle and just had it sent to the other workshop with the entire front stripped parts including the engine was just chucked into the my car boot, and this led to leather seat at the back being damaged. All of these issues were mentioned to Lethabo Ramphele, Edward Jimla, Cecilia Mabulela, Daphney Mudau, Phindile Claudia Tshabalala all from the NCC and none of them assisted me yet. They just sent a couple of emails around asking each other for updates but not a single update has been received since opening the case. Until this day they have made no efforts to progress or resolve my case. They are basically just letting this dealership get away with everything, all my money, efforts and time wasted into a defective car! The NCC is completely useless and does not care about consumers getting taken advantage of. They are not phased by the fact that consumers are left having to fight their own battles in an already challenging times where we need to attend to all the other issues in our country and personal lives but they just don't care enough to follow process and actually be of an assistance to consumers!

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