Small mistakes that cost you big money
These Consumer Hacks give you the knowledge companies hope you never use, so you can protect your money and your rights
1. How to complain about spam
Are you receiving marketing emails and calls despite clicking on 'Unsubscribe' or telling the callers to remove you from their company’s mailing lists?
If you tell them to stop contacting you, by law - both the Consumer Protection Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act, POPIA - they MUST.
If they don’t, lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.
They no longer monitor the inbox - [email protected].
If you have emailed a complaint to that address, please resubmit it using the Regulator’s Complaints Management System (CMS).
2. Be on top of your cancellations and renewals
Do you know when your cellphone contract or gym contract expires? What about your driver’s licence or car licence?
If you don’t want your fixed-term contract to continue past the end of that term, you need to give the company notice of cancellation a month before that end date. So, diarise it.
Ditto your car’s licence renewal date to avoid penalties or worse.
3. Contact an elderly person to warn then about vishing. Right now!
Vishing fraud involves scammers calling victims, posing as bank fraud staff. They recite personal details (account numbers, habits) to seem legitimate, then trick people into sharing passwords and one-time PINs and using them to empty their bank accounts.
Last year I heard from so many victims who wrongly believed it was an inside bank job because the caller had so much detail about their banking. In reality, personal data is widely available on the dark web due to data breaches. But scammers still need your verification codes to access funds, which is why they impersonate bank officials.
So, please warn your loved ones — especially older relatives — to hang up immediately on any stranger claiming to be from their bank’s fraud department.
(And then call their bank to check that all is okay with their accounts, using the legitimate fraud department number, pre-saved in their contacts.)
4. Use a tape measure to avoid being stuck with a too-big couch
Listener Daven wrote:
“I bought a couch yesterday. I did mention to the salesperson that my flat is small. They delivered this morning, but it won’t fit. They want me to forfeit 20% of the R2 100 paid to take it back. Are they allowed to penalise me?”
Yes, they are. Daven bought the couch from a physical store, and it was his responsibility to take measurements of his lounge and the couch before committing.
There’s nothing materially wrong with the couch, so the store doesn’t legally have to take it back at all. If they choose to, they can impose whatever "admin fee” they like.
Sadly, it’s an expensive lesson for Daven.
5. How to boost your credit score
Your credit score is your financial reputation. To boost it, prioritise paying every bill - at least the minimum amount due - on time; consistency is the biggest factor in building lender trust.
A powerful hack involves your so-called credit utilisation ratio: avoid spending more than 40% of your available limit. If you have strong financial discipline, apply for a higher credit limit without increasing your spending. This instantly lowers your ratio, signalling self-control to banks.
A better score secures not only lower interest rates for you but also increases your appeal to landlords and employers.
But only use this tactic if you can avoid the temptation to regard that credit limit as a spending target!
Listen to more Consumer Hacks below:
Contact Wendy Knowler:
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.