On Friday I purchased a book for my studies from Pro Visions book store in Durban for R420 BRAND NEW. When I got home I realised that I purchased the wrong one so I gave them a call and explained the problem and that I would like to please return it. I was told that there is no returns or refunds and that I should have seen the sign in the store. When I asked the manager is their policy is compliant with the CPA she just brushed it off and became arrogant. Still refused to help me. Can the CPA help me here in this situation?
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The law is on your side in this case and you have every right to return the product - they cannot refuse to accept the return. If they do, then have them sign a document stating that they refuse to accept any returns in terms of their sign. A sign does not make it legal. Then take a picture of the sign with the date-stamp switched on, make sure that you have a witness with you, and submit the evidence to the National Consumer Commission. CPA complaints require you to have decent record-keeping skills so the onus is on you to prove that they are in the wrong here...
Yup, u should be OK. The book is not fit for purpose thus u should be able to claim a refund (less handling fee as I'm sure you've opened / removed it from its wrapper), if they start going on about having signs up in their stores remind them politely that you cannot contract out of the CPA.
Bear in mind though that perhaps you should have examined this book closer before you bought it and this entire mess could have been avoided. Either way it is going to cost you at least a portion of the book cost
Bear in mind though that perhaps you should have examined this book closer before you bought it and this entire mess could have been avoided. Either way it is going to cost you at least a portion of the book cost
Of course it's fit for purpose, he said nothing about it being damaged or incomplete. The fact that he bought the wrong book does not make it unfit for purpose.
"If the goods are not defective, the supplier gets to decide whether to take them back or not, and has total discretion regarding this. A store may take back merchandise which is not defective, but on their terms – as the act does not compel any supplier to take back non-defective goods at all."
http://www.lucidliving.co.za/consumer-acts/consumer-protection-act/clarifying-the-cpa-your-rights-part-2/
"If the goods are not defective, the supplier gets to decide whether to take them back or not, and has total discretion regarding this. A store may take back merchandise which is not defective, but on their terms – as the act does not compel any supplier to take back non-defective goods at all."
http://www.lucidliving.co.za/consumer-acts/consumer-protection-act/clarifying-the-cpa-your-rights-part-2/
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Actually come to think about it, this is quite true and the supplier might have a case to not accept this return/swap. Why on earth they wouldn't just swap it for the correct product though is beyond me, if the product is still in perfect nick. They cannot maintain a blanket "no-return" policy though. Considering this wasn't a direct marketing induced purchase, there is no cooling off period either. The product was also seen before purchase so no return can be guaranteed on that basis and the quality of the product is not in question here.
Yip, they don't actually have to accept the return. They should though for the sake of keeping a customer happy and their blanket "no-return" policy is not legal, which could be used as a "bargaining chip" if you know what I mean?
If the person was given the wrong textbook it is not fit for purpose, this is entirely possible as textbooks covers are often covered with other marketing stuff. I once got in a huge argument with a textbook seller who tried to sell me the wrong edition of a book on the basis that "not much has changed between editions". This person clearly had no idea how fast IT moves as there was 3 years between editions.
For a textbook to be fit for purpose it must be the correct edition, title, authors etc etc. As i said earlier the only reason the person would get a hassle is because they did not confirm all this before concluding the purchase. It still doesn't allow the bookseller to refuse a refund of some kind though
For a textbook to be fit for purpose it must be the correct edition, title, authors etc etc. As i said earlier the only reason the person would get a hassle is because they did not confirm all this before concluding the purchase. It still doesn't allow the bookseller to refuse a refund of some kind though
Hmmm.. Tough one. The CPA isn't really being enforced as a body to oversee complaints etc doesn't really have that much standing at the moment. They remind me of fake cops serving letters of warning instead of actual fines.
My advice - hellopeter their ass!!! Make their crappy service public!!! Its the one way to hit back! Power to the peeple!!
My advice - hellopeter their ass!!! Make their crappy service public!!! Its the one way to hit back! Power to the peeple!!
And it's up to the BUYER to check that he/she has the right edition, title, authors, etc etc. Before purchasing ...