Where’s my sister’s money?

Hello, Richard. Please assist me here on behalf of my older sister.

This is what happened. My sister visited a certain garage in Francistown as she wanted a car. So she was told to pay clearance money of 35k and she did that. Upon the arrival of the car, she noticed mechanical faults with the car and she did not take it. As a result, she demanded her 35k back. And the garage owner said he would repay her after he sold his faulty car.

My sister ended up purchasing a car from a different garage while waiting for her refund from the first garage. The faulty car was sold but up to now the garage owner is playing hide and seek on refunding my sister. He’d say he’d pay tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Please help!! What can she do? It’s almost 8 months now.

It’s people like this guy that give car dealers a bad name.

I know for a fact that there are plenty of second-hand and imported car dealers who are honest, hard-working and committed to serving their customers to the best of their ability. Just not this one.

I’ve heard too often about people like this guy who insist on trying to sell a faulty item before they can refund someone who gave them a lot of money. It’s not acceptable. Was it your sister’s fault that the vehicle was faulty? No, it was his and he should face up to his responsibilities to your sister. He took her money, tried to give her a faulty vehicle and then kept her money. Not only is that a gross breach of her consumer rights, I suspect it’s almost theft.

The time has come for your sister to be much more assertive. She needs to make some demands and give him a deadline. I suggest she contacts him and says that unless he refunds in full within seven days she’ll take legal action against him to recover the money he owes her. If he fails to do so, it’s time to get even more assertive

and get a lawyer involved. He has a choice. Pay up or pay her lawyer’s bills on top of the P35,000 he already owes her.