TRACK THOSE TRACKING COMPANIES

For your own sake, understand what you owe, for what and for how long

Check you bank statements for duplicate or unauthorised debits – do it now.

If we consumers owe a company money, they have all sorts of means at their disposal to get us to pay up, with costs and interest if we don’t do so fast enough, by which time we have a ruined credit record as punishment.

But overpay a company and most will take their sweet time in refunding you – without interest.

At best they’ll say it will take “seven to 10 days”, even when they’ve unilaterally cancelled your paid-for online order.

That’s beyond preposterous, if you ask me.

It’s an even bigger struggle if you discover that you’ve been overpaying a company for years, as Mahomed Kadodia did recently.

In 2010 he had a Netstar tracking device installed in his VW Polo – a vehicle he still owns – and four years later he was called by the company and “upgraded” to a better-priced package, as he put it.

(In fact he’d long since paid off the tracking device by then, so only the tracking fee was justified, hence the need for a reduction – see below.)

But as Kadodia recently discovered, the original subscription wasn’t cancelled, so he was debited for the same tracking service in the same car twice – a higher and a lower amount – for almost five years.

“I did not pick this up as it’s on my company bank account and my accountant was under the impression that it could be for a second vehicle,” he said.

“So it just carried on until we came across this double debit in December 2018.”

When he called Netstar, an agent acknowledged the double charge, and estimated the overpayment to be in the region of R7,000, but came back to him to say that he would only be refunded about R3,400 because “by law” he can only claim back an overpayment for a maximum of three years.

His claim prescribes after that, he was told. “But this has been their fault – is that just he asked me.

I ran the scenario past Consumer Goods and Services Ombud Magauta Mphahlele, who said it was not.

“I am not aware of such a limitation,” she said.

“As per section 12 of the Prescription Act, prescription starts running from the time the debt becomes due.

“That means from the time the consumer became aware of the overcharging and lodged a refund claim: the consumer cannot be penalised for something they were not aware of.”

I put that to Netstar in raising Kadodia’s case.

Responding, marketing GM Dean Andrews said the fact that Kadodia had taken two Netstar subscriptions out – one in his personal capacity and the other in a business capacity – added to the “complexity” of the case.

“Given this, the client should have exercised reasonable care to identify such an issue sooner either in his personal capacity or through his business’s accountant, which the Prescription Act does make provision for,” he said. That it does.

“In such cases, we understand that a company’s obligation is to refund up to three years and this process was followed by our team.

“However, we value Mr Kadodia as a Netstar customer and recognising the years he has been with us, we have agreed to process the full credit of R7,000.”

Yet another reason to check your bank statement very carefully every month.

Old debt

Prescription is your friend when you’re being hounded to pay an old debt.

If a debt has been dormant for the past three years, meaning you haven’t made a payment, promised to pay it, or been summonsed for it, it has prescribed and you are no longer liable to pay it.

Tell the debtor that, in writing – use the word “prescribed” – and insist that they either prove otherwise or close your file.

Home loans and debt relating to government services, including rates and TV licence fees, doesn’t prescribe for 30 years.

Check what you pay for

Do you know how much you are paying every month for your vehicle tracking service?

Chances are, if that cost is built into your insurance premium, you have no idea.

As with cellphone contracts, the tracking device itself, like the phone, is not free – you pay it off as part of your subscription during what’s known as the “initial period”.

In the case of cellphone contracts, that’s two years, and it’s three years in the case of vehicle tracking contracts.

So it stands to reason then, that when that initial period is up, the subscription should reduce, because the hardware is then paid off.

But that doesn’t happen, in many cases.

When I asked one tracking company why not, I was told: “The initial cost of getting a customer on board - including the cost of the hardware and installation – is recouped over a much longer period to enable the company to stay competitive in the market from a price perspective.”

In other words, longstanding customers, who continue to pay up unquestioningly, are subsidising the special deals offered to new ones. And exactly the same thing happens with car insurance premiums.

What to do

Insist on being sent a monthly invoice by your vehicle tracking company, whether your subscription is part of your insurance premium or standalone.

Re-negotiate your subscription when your initial threeyear period is up, as your hardware is paid off, and you are no longer locked into a lengthy contract, giving you negotiating power.

The consumer cannot be penalised for something they were not aware of