Businesses give consumer watchdog the finger

Many South African businesses are effectively giving the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud the middle finger by failing to register with his office‚ while some refuse to co-operate when the office investigates a complaint against them‚ or comply with its rulings.

In releasing his office’s 2015-16 annual report‚ ombud Neville Melville said 189 companies had registered with the office and paid their dues — mostly large groups — but "there may be thousands of other eligible businesses" that had not.

The ombud is unbiased but relies entirely on the fees paid by registered companies to operate.

It has to deal with complaints against a business even if that business has not registered with it‚ which puts the office under "extreme pressure" and has led to a backlog.

Cases are resolved in just under two months‚ on average‚ but at the end of February almost 250 cases were still open‚ three months on.

Of those resolved in the year up to February‚ 67% offered the consumer some form of relief‚ a high percentage when compared with ombud offices in the financial sector‚ which find in favour of consumers in only about a third of cases.

"I think the fact that the amount of money involved in our cases is generally a lot less than in the average banking or insurance case‚ has a lot to do with that‚" said Mr Melville‚ who was formerly the Ombudsman for Banking Services.

The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud’s rulings are not binding and the office cannot impose sanctions on businesses that fail to abide by them; all it can do is refer "uncooperative" cases to the National Consumer Commission for action to be taken against them.

Mr Melville says "it is unknown what becomes of those cases"‚ adding later in his report that "in some of these cases the complainants have reported some challenges with having their cases dealt with by the (commission)".

"Both entities are working on ways to ensure consumers have access to proper and effective redress‚" he said.

Cellphone services

Unsurprisingly‚ cellphone services attracted the most complaints — 951 complaints between March 2015 and February 2016; a whopping 613 of them about MTN‚ thanks mainly to its protracted strike.

During that time‚ the network failed to respond to social media posts‚ e-mails and calls for weeks‚ and because it put the ombud’s number on its website‚ many desperate subscribers assumed it was MTN’s number.

The other networks have refused to register with the ombud since July last year. That may explain why the ombud’s office received only 110 Vodacom complaints in the year‚ and just 62 regarding Cell C.

"The matter has been referred to the National Consumer Commission for its decision as to whether network providers fall within the (ombud’s) jurisdiction‚" Mr Melville said.

The ombud has referred several matters to the commission for investigation in the past year‚ including the unilateral price increases of cellphone contracts and Loan Tracker SA‚ a company that "advertises that it assists consumers in obtaining loans‚ whereas it subscribes consumers for all sorts of different things for a monthly fee"‚ Mr Melville said in his report.

TMG Digital/The Times