5 Smart travel and car tips every SA consumer should know
Know your rights as a consumer. ECR’s Consumer Watchdog, Wendy Knowler, is giving us daily consumer tips to help empower you as a consumer. Here are this month's Consumer Hacks from Wendy.
Planning a trip overseas?
When making a card payment, the point-of-sale machine will prompt you choose which currency you want to pay in - Rand or the local currency.
It’s best to choose the local currency, so for example, when in the UK, choose Pounds.
It’s apparently cheaper for your bank to do the conversion rather than the point-of-sale machine.
2. No, the price you see is not always the price you are entitled to pay
Catherine shared her butcher purchase story with me via email.
“I was looking for a piece of rump steak and came across one about the size of my hand, marked at just R2.65, when other similar sized pieces were marked R85.
“But when I got to the till, they refused to sell it to me.
“Wasn’t it my consumer right to buy it at that low price?”
No. The retailer was not legally obliged to sell her that steak for just R2.65.
The Consumer Protection Act gives retailers an “out” when it comes to honouring prices which are an “obvious mistake” as in this case.
3. How to avoid turning a yellow stain bright pink
I learnt this the hard way; if you apply sunscreen to your neck and chest area, it could well leave a yellow stain on your white cotton or linen top.
Do not apply bleach such as Jik to that stain or it will turn bright pink. That’s because of a reaction between the chemical in sunscreen and the bleach.
Luckily, you can reverse that reaction by leaving that pink stain to soak in a mixture of white vinegar and lots of table salt. After about 4 hours in the solution my stains totally disappeared.
4. Does your car warranty expire when you sell your car?
Some Chinese car manufacturers are luring South Africans with long and even "lifetime" warranties, but there's a big catch: they are only valid for the original owner of the vehicle.
Clearly, that’s not great for maximising after-sales value.
Do check the Ts and Cs on that warranty before committing.
5. Having your car serviced? Here’s what you need to tell the dealership
When picking up your car from a service, ensure that the workshop checked the oil, brakes, battery, wheel alignment, tyre rotation and balancing, fuel injection system, and wiper blades.
According to the Motor Industry Workshop Association, these are the most important areas of focus during a routine service and should never be overlooked by a competent technician.
In fact, I’d say make it clear when handing over your car that you expect those things to be checked. You’d be amazed what’s often overlooked.
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Get in touch with Wendy via her website or her Facebook page. Please note that Wendy is not able to personally respond to every email she receives. If she is able to take up your case, she will contact you directly. Here are other avenues for you to consider.