MISADVISED (MISGUIDED) BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF Vodacom Shop Mall of Africa - MATTER Rerffered to: Moeketsi Mokoena & Lennon - No Help received.

On the 27th of August 2023 11:00:50, I purchased a Vivo Y27 smartphone from Vodacom Shop Mall of Africa. We were assisted by Pertunia Hadebe, Our requirements when we got to the shop were as follow: We wanted a ragged phone especially one that has extra protection against screen cracking and we also stated that our budget was around R5000 we were then advised that there are a variety of phones that can fit our requirement one of them being the Vivo Y27 as we were advised that it has extra protective cover (comes with pouch, extra screen protector and it offers the Gorilla screen) upon purchasing the smartphone and when I informed my manager was told that the smartphone was not fit to handle all the requirements needed and was also told that it does not offer ragged features like protection against screen cracking and water resistance. Upon receiving this advice, I then went back to the shop requesting that I get a refund as I was misguided in terms of the features I wanted – I was attended to by Lennon who then advised that the shop does not offer refund. As we all are aware this is against the Consumer Protection Act and I did make him aware of this.

Section 51 states that a supplier may not conclude a transaction or agreement subject to any term or condition if its general purpose or effect is to defeat the purposes of the CPA or to waive or deprive a consumer of a right in terms of the CPA.

Lastly a general ‘voetstoots‘ clause is insufficient in this case as I was misadvised (misguided) that the phone fulfils all my requirements by the representative of Vodashop after having stated my requirement.

In terms of s55(3) (read with s20) of the CPA, if a consumer informs a supplier that the goods are being bought to fulfill a particular purpose, and the supplier advises that the goods will meet this particular purpose then: • Then there is a cooling-off period after receiving the goods, • were the consumer can return the goods if it is not suitable for the particular purpose, and • the consumer can cancel without penalty.

I was advised to write an email to Moeketsi Mokoena and up until now have not received any update, talking about poor customer service.

I will not recommend Vodacom Shop Mall of Africa, really bad customer service.