Consumer Act and cell phones.

[Derlyn]

So my cell phone was nabbed.
Went off to Vodacom to cancel the simcard, blacklist the phone and organise another one.

4pm in the afternoon, in a bit of a rush, chose a particular phone from those on offer that suited my budget.

Got home, inserted the sim card, set up the phone and was called out to an emergency breakdown.
Whils't on the breakdown I realised that this phone was phisically longer than the previous one and kept on wanting to fall out of my shirt pocket.
Decided to return it for a physically smaller phone.

So at 9 the next morning, I was at the store with the phone in it's original packaging to exchange it.
According to Vodacom, once a simcard has been inserted into the phone, the Consumer Act is null and void and they cannot help me.

Is there anyone who knows the act well enough to maybe shed some light on this ?

[Andromeda]

Hi Derlyn

As far as I know, if the the supplier was approached by you and not the other way round, then there is no cooling off period:

"When a consumer buys goods or receives services from a supplier that approached him/her by mail, in person, e-mail or SMS, s/he has the right to a cooling-off period. This means that the consumer can return the goods bought or cancel his/her order within 5 days after the date s/he received it or ordered it, without penalty or reason. The supplier must inform the consumer of his/her right to a cooling-off period."

(The Sim Card story sounds like nonsense)

[Blurock]

Sound like BS to me. Its like the call centre people listening to your request/query/complaint and then just putting down the phone without doing anything about it.
The contact details of the National Consumer Counsel
Telephone 0127613200
Email Address Complaints@thencc.org.za
Website http://www.thencc.gov.za

[Derlyn]

Problem solved. Got my wife to make the shirt pockets longer.

Thank you Andromeda. Even although their sim card story was a means of getting rid of me quickly, I realise that I should not have been in such a hurry in making a decision.

That'll teach me. I still think that's a pretty rotten way of treating a client that has been supporting you for 28 years.

[Derlyn]

Yesterday someone once again decided that my cellphone should rather be theirs.
That's 2 in less than 6 months.
I'm wondering if that's above or below the national average.

The "old" Samsung J5 was dug out from that box in the spare room that I think most of us have for all the unused phones, chargers etc.

After spending some time setting up the old J5 with the necessary apps etc, I realised how easy it was compared to the new Hisense.
I had that Hisense for just short of 6 months and there were still settings with which I wasn't happy, didn't know how to change them
and neither could anyone else in the cellphone industry that I approached.

A problem with the Hisense is that when you receive and answer a call, the touchscreen does not become inactive, so as soon as one puts the phone next to your ear, strange things happen and the call is ended prematurely. No one could sort it out.

Anyway, for once in my life, a thief has done me a favour. On a number of occasions I have almost chucked that Hisense in the Buffalo River.

Not necessary anymore.

Hisense might make good tv's, but I cannot say the same for cellphones.

I will remain a Sumsung cellphone man.

[Isetech]

This why I still have an iphone 5, compact enough ot fit in my pocket or chuck in the tool bag, but most, it has outlasted every single other phone in our house, and boy have this family gone through android phones.

Screen replacement R450

No need to waste R500 p/m to insure the device, the money I have saved in insurance I could buy the top of the range iphone