Vodacom shop tries to avoid obeying Consumer Law.

An item from a Vodacom shop in Tokai, Cape Town, fell apart three days after I bought it. SA consumer law is very clear: I was entitled to a refund at my discretion. Shop assistant did not think so, nor her manager, at first. I googled the law and showed them, so then he said "of course" he knows the law and I'll get the refund.

Not that simple at Vodacom. I have had refunds from other companies and they just pay it back to the credit card I used. Not Vodacom. A form needs to be filled in, signed and counter signed and sent to head office, takes at least a week, and they are only sent up once a week! Not only that but they need the bank account number of the credit card, which you only ever see on a statement. I do not walk around with bank statements. I eventually jumped through all their hoops but it is clear that Vodacom will do everything in their power to avoid sticking to the law.

And in the middle, when the hour long hassle of all this was getting too much, they offered me a gift card covering what I was owed: apparently that does not need corporate approval. But of course I will never buy anything from a Vodacom shop again.

So here I am still waiting for my money back.