Wendy Knowler's Consumer Hacks: Before you sign that gym contract
Whether you're buying a new car, signing up for a gym membership, or doing your weekly grocery shopping, there are a few simple things you can do to save money. Find out more in the latest Consumer Hacks
from Wendy Knowler.
1.
Buying a new car? Check on the warranty start date
Sometimes new cars are registered without being sold - for example, when a
customer cancels a deal at the last minute - which means the car’s warranty is
activated, but the car is not driven off the showroom floor. It’s called a
pre-report.
You could then buy that “brand new” car, not think to check the warranty
details and finds out years later that the warranty on that car ends a few months earlier than it should have. So always check that date!
2. Before you sign that gym contract…
Fitness club salespeople will tell you that it’s cheaper per month if you sign
their 36-month contract. It is, but if you want out of that contract within a
few months - as many do - you will be stuck paying for the full three
years, and get nothing in return.
Or you’ll be made to pay a massive cancellation penalty, based on a percentage
of the remaining months of the contract.
So rather go for a 12-month contract, or find a gym that does month-to-month
contracts.
3. No spare car key? Walk away
I hear from so many people who’ve bought a used car, and been promised they’ll get
the spare key “later", and they never do. Yes, even major dealerships have
been guilty of this.
Don’t fall for that line. With the evolution of key technology, those spare
keys can cost many thousands. So tell the salesperson the deal is off unless
they give you two sets of keys to the car.
4. Unit prices - why you need them & where to find them
How can you tell which of the competing supermarket brands are cheapest, when
their pack sizes aren’t all the same, or know whether the bulk pack of cereal
really is the best value?
In Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay stores, you don’t need a calculator - just
look for the unit price on the shelf tag. PnP’s new tags dropped those consumer
helpers a few months ago, but now the unit prices are back, albeit in
a different spot. Look hard and you’ll
find them in the bottom right-hand corner of the shelf tags.
Listen to more Consumer Hacks below.
Contact Wendy Knowler:
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