15 Jan 2017

The mobile phone industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, which growth comes with vices and good deeds.

Botswana is not spared from such challenges. Commercial officer at the Southern District Council (SDC) Ms Kago Makhaya told BOPA that the sale of mobile phones in Kanye has grown from a small industry to a lucrative business, which has unfortunately been tainted with unscrupulous retailers.

She said such deceitful business people take advantage of uninformed clientele and practice extreme capitalism in which they do not care if the consumer will benefit from the bought item or not, noting that stringent measures had to be put in place to counteract the situation.

The Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs (DTCA), she said, has been mandated to protect the interests of consumers through investigation, prohibition and control of unfair business practices.

Ms Makhaya advised consumers to exercise caution when purchasing goods such as mobile phones.

She said her office was flooded with reports of consumers who purchased what they believed to be new mobile phones only to find text messages, contact numbers, and pictures of the previous owners.

In other cases the mobile devices were not working as expected, she said. She advised consumers to ensure that the mobile devices they intend to purchase are of quality, noting such devices should perform as per the specifications on the operational manual.

Further, Ms Makhaya said some unscrupulous retailers tend to disclaim or limit the warranty of such items, adding that in some instances there were contradicting statements on the store receipt with the one on the product box with regard to the warranty.

She said these were the main issues that consumers should take into consideration before they purchase mobile phones.

Ms Makhaya said consumers should purchase goods from authorised dealers to ensure they are genuine and have a valid warranty.

She noted that it is the right of the consumer to demand all information about the device they intend to buy, emphasising the need to keep receipts and original packages of items purchased as they will be used as proof of purchase should any problem arise.

Ms Makhaya decried that most consumers are ignorant of their rights, thus leading them to fall prey to unscrupulous retailers.

She therefore urged consumers to report unfair business dealings to the nearest consumer protection office to help rescue the situation. BOPA