MyWireless, surety and ABSA

[kaspaas]

Has Sentech explained the contract to you in plain understandable language before you signed? Maybe they should have!

A few weeks (2-3) ago there was a report on the frontpage of SakeBeeld about 3 guys who signed surety for a loan with ABSA.

They believed that their exposure was limited to R50 000 (if I remember correctly), but the fine print increased their exposure to much more.

This went to court, and the court ruled against ABSA that (if I remember correctly) the contract was not clearly explained to them.

A legal guy commented that the court effectively ruled out "small print in legaleze"

Also that that the normal man on the street is entitled to have of every detail of a contract properly explained to him before he signs it. The duties of banks etc for proving "fair contracting" has increased a lot I believe!

I'm not a lawyer, but I guess that the same principles would apply fairness of the "fair use" clause of MyWireless. Adding the advertising impressions confusing the contract even more.

Would be interesting to see if a consomer council of some kind would be prepared to through money to this in court.





South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.

 

[guest2013-1]

This is exactly my arguement against the "but you signed a contract stating you agree with the AUP" excuse, they never explained nor included an AUP in the original contract, hell, for all I know, AUP could stand for Anonymous Universal Protection or something

Hell, except for the handful of us technically inclinded, I wonder how many other NORMAL people (with basic computer literacy) that signed up actually understands what an AUP is, or if it was explained to them.

I for one know for a fact the contract was not explained to me

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[ShadowSA]

Lets all claim not to understand the contract. That would be hilarious.
Judge: "Mr ??, do you know what a wireless broadband connection means?"
Mr ?: "No your honor, I just fought i could be downloading all the pics on the internet i could find"

 

[BTTB]

The fact is that if a Material Term of a Contract is not agreed to or understood by both parties, it cannot be binding. It is up to the seller to make the buyer aware of all terms of a contract, especially if it is of a material nature.

I wonder if the people that sold these contracts even understood the AUP, never mind the buyers. This contract was drawn up by legal people and it seems to me that maybe only those people and a hand full of others actually understand what it means. Sentech are on shaky ground and their advertising and sales promotions convey a different image to their AUP. As the AUP is a material term in this agreement, one could consider cancelling the contract on this term alone, stating the obvious reasons.

<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">

 

[guest2013-1]

Damnit BTTB, you just uncovered the reason why I jumped in this thing with both feet, cause I knew of that specific thing and could use that against them when I want to get out...

No everyone is going to cancel *sob*

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[BTTB]

Well, only after you have discussed the situation with Sentech and they agree to allow you to cancel, can you technically do so. Until then the contract still stands, never mind how shaky its clauses may be.

If they refuse to let you cancel, then you should bargain with them first. Only if this option doesn't work, I would consider a possible written fax to the contrary with some sort of recourse for both parties. Make sure you keep copies of everything. If this doesn't work then, possibly try the small claims courts or other cheaper means. Never bring lawyers into the picture, they will stuff it up for you, without a doubt and cost you more than its worth.

If all else fails, write it down to another experience in life to learn from.


<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">

 

[guest2013-1]

bwhahahahaha, yea yea...

watched dawn of the dead just now and its funny how the people are like "just give me the oppertunity to change the future" type crap... wake up call... you ARE living the future (and learning along they way)

hey, want to see me travel to the future?

and im there

and im there again

init cool, checkit

poof

im there again... sweet!

Help save the bandwidth. Decent download speeds for TheRodent! Stop downloading now!!!

 

[TrXtR]

Man noone youre amazing

 

[guest2013-1]

yea, I would have done stand up but I'm shy []

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[flyboy]

Another worrying thing is we signed accepting the AUP. WHICH Aup did we sign, a version of x months ago, a version of a week ago? We did not sign an AUP with the contract, so they can basically change it whenever they want and we just have to live with it as we accepted the AUP. They should include the AUP in the contract so that when you sign you accept THOSE conditions as they are on the day of applying for the service.

 

[BTTB]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Another worrying thing is we signed accepting the AUP. WHICH Aup did we sign, a version of x months ago, a version of a week ago? We did not sign an AUP with the contract, so they can basically change it whenever they want and we just have to live with it as we accepted the AUP. They should include the AUP in the contract so that when you sign you accept THOSE conditions as they are on the day of applying for the service.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

This is where a court would have to make a decision.
You and many others say, the AUP is unclear. A court would have to weigh up the facts and make a decision.
The easiest way out is if Sentech was clearer on their policies and come out with a statement to this effect. Then the remaining customers that are unhappy can challenge Sentech, if they deem necessary.
In light of The Rodents discovery, it seems that Sentech needn't actually do anything. They just need to become more IT literate and start delivering their services. It's pretty simple. I just think this Corporate Policy of avoiding the customers is old fashioned. The public IMO appreciate honesty and good service. Round table discussions and good communication is the order of the day. This state owned company just needs to step into the next century. It’s not difficult. They might even attract more customers if they just admitted to their shortcomings and actually did something concrete to mend the situation.


<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">