Johannesburg – The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) has issued an alert against eGadgets.co.za, an online retailer selling electronic goods, for failure to deliver goods that have been bought and paid for by shoppers.
The CGSO on Tuesday said of the 32 consumer complaints lodged with the Ombud’s office against eGadgets in the last 12 months, only 11 have been successfully resolved.
Ombudsman Lee Soobrathi said the supplier has ceased to cooperate with the CGSO, resulting in the office having to close 17 unresolved cases and referring the consumers to open new cases with the regulator.
This is despite numerous attempts by the CGSO to engage with eGadgets to resolve the complaints.
“When a supplier refuses to cooperate, the CGSO issues a Termination Notice, effectively closing the case, so that the consumer can escalate their concerns to the National Consumer Commission (NCC),” said Soobrathi.
“This is because the NCC has powers of investigation and sanction, that we – as a mediation body – do not.”
The ombudsman said eGadgets has consistently failed to fulfill customer orders within the stipulated timeframes, despite promising to do so.
The ombudsman said: “More seriously… is the supplier’s refusal to refund consumers who – having given up on their order ever arriving – attempt to cancel their orders”.
This is a flagrant contravention of the Consumer Protection Act, said Soobrathi.
Section 19 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) provides that a supplier must refund a consumer if they are unable to deliver the agreed goods or services on the agreed date or time and no alternative arrangements have been agreed by both parties.
The CPA also prohibits conduct relating to false, misleading, or deceptive representations regarding the availability or delivery of goods or the performance of services at a specified time.
The ombudsman warned consumers to exercise caution when making online purchases and urged shoppers to do their homework.
“A quick search on Hellopeter shows 68 reviews for eGadgets, of which 56 are resoundingly negative (one star) with only 10 positive reviews,” said Soobrathi.
“This should be a big red flag to consumers.”
