Store cards - check out the fees!
Opening a store account is one of the easiest ways to build
your credit score, but the retailers charge relatively high interest rates and
a monthly service fee - whether you spend on the card or not.
Woolworths introduced a flat R47,50 monthly store card fee on all accounts from July, upsetting a huge number of its customers who signed up before 2007 and have been paying no fees at all. The legal limit on card service fees is R60 and those fees vary hugely between retailers: Truworths’ is R59 per year or just R4.92 per month. It's definitely something to check!
2. What you pay for is not always what you get
Karabo bought a kitchen cupboard which she saw in a store, with a price of R2200 attached to it. But a totally different cupboard was delivered to her. When she rejected that inferior cupboard, she was told the cupboard she wanted cost R1,000 more.The lesson: when you buy something off a showroom floor, to be delivered later, take lots of photos of it, and the price, as proof of the deal.
3. Don’t let the “wrong” SIM deny you an insurance pay-out
If you insure your phone with a cellphone service provider’s insurance division, it’s really important to know that you will only have a valid claim for loss or theft if that cellphone network’s SIM is in the phone at the time of the incident. Put another network’s SIM in the phone and your claim will be rejected. The same doesn’t apply if you insure your phone on a car and home contents policy.
4. Buying shoes online? Tread carefully
Not a week goes by that I don’t hear from someone who has paid for a pair of shoes online, and they either got nothing, or they got a cheap and nasty knock-off. And sometimes they’re insulted with a nonsense parcel. Jacky thought she was buying two pairs of orthopedic Kuru shoes - a US brand - but what arrived at her local post office was a small box from China containing a pair of cheap pink sunglasses. Sadly just about every shoe brand’s website images have been stolen by fraudsters. Check website addresses very carefully before proceeding.
5. Don’t believe it if it’s not in writing
Salespeople say lots of appealing things to clinch a sale - and their commission - but before you commit, make very sure that their promises also appear in the written contract. Geoff signed a family gym contract because he was told by a sales rep that his young children could also use the gym. But he later discovered that most of the gym was off-limits to them. When he protested, management told him: “If you have written documentation or an email outlining the promises made by our consultant, we would be more than happy to review our stance.” Hmm.
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