Sometimes you have to be patient for that refund
Retailers can take up to 30 days to refund cancelled online orders, but anything beyond that is illegal.
Hilary asked: “Is it standard practice to have to wait more than 30 days to get a refund on an online order that was cancelled?’
More than 30 days - no. Up to 30 days, yes.
The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives consumers the right to cancel online purchases within 7 days of delivery for a refund, provided the goods are in a resealeable condition and the customer pays to send the goods back.
The retailer then has the legal right to take up to 30 days to issue that refund. Quite a long time, yes.
2. New jeans for old
Woolworths wants your old jeans and they are willing to pay for them.
Sort of.
From now until Christmas Day, they’re willing to give you a 20%-off voucher on a new pair of their REdenim range in exchange for your donation of a denim garment.
The donated denim will in turn be given to a Cape-Town-based NGO called Taking Care of Business, which equips seamstresses with the skills, resources and self-worth to unlock their full potential. In their hands, the pre-worn denim will be transformed into bags, toys and the like, which they will sell.
Participating stores in KZN are in Gateway, Pavilion and Midlands Mall.
3. After a Bok jersey? Respond to the wrong ad and you’ll get bokke-all
Facebook and other social media platforms are crawling with fake Springbok jersey retail sites, mostly selling allegedly licenced jerseys at discount prices.
Never going to happen. The only official Springbok Online Store is sarugbyshop.co.za
That said, some online selling platforms are authorised to sell officially licensed Nike/Springbok products. They are:
- Sportsmanswarehouse.co.za
- Studio88.co.za
- Sollymsports.co.za
- Superbalist.co.za
- Bash.co.za
For more information on how to sidestep Bok jersey scams and a list of questionable websites, go to (https://sarugbyshop.co.za/stay-safe-sidestep-scams/).
4. A third-party car accident claim is a really bad idea unless you have no choice
If you have an accident with another motorist, and your car is insured, claim on your policy, even if you strongly feel it was not your fault and therefore it’s not fair!
Trust me on this - if you insist on lodging a third-party claim on the other person’s policy, you will wait a very long time for a pay-out, after being made to jump through many hoops. Then you will be told you’re partially to blame for the damage to your and the other car. Your payout will then be reduced accordingly.
So you get a tiny amount and it’s too late then to claim on your policy.
This is a really bad idea unless you don’t have car insurance, in which case a little is better than nothing.
5. Want to save money? Check all your statements like a pro
Checking your bank or account statements is boring but there are savings to be found in that small print.
I’m currently investigating a case of a retail account holder who hadn’t been receiving a statement for ages and when she finally got one, she saw she’d been paying premiums on very old insurance policies which she had long forgotten about.
You could also find that you are paying insurance on a phone you stopped using years ago or a monthly service fee on fuel card or extra credit card you haven’t used for a very long time.
Check, check, check!
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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.