Online transactions remain the biggest source of complaints referred to the Office of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud
Online transactions remain the biggest source of complaints referred to the Office of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) and ombud Lee Soobrathi put R3.5 million back into consumers’ pockets, finding in their favour in 54% of cases handled over the past quarter.
The CGSO said in its quarterly newsletter for the period June to August, released this week, that there had been a 3% increase to 2 651 in the number of new cases received, compared with the same period in 2022.
“An amount of R3 554 059.90 was recovered for complainants this quarter, compared to R2 838 955.55 in the same period last year. This included an amount of R217 576 refunded to a complainant who had funds wrongfully suspended by a speed point merchant,” it said.
Online transactions topped the list of consumer struggles, followed by telecommunication, satellite services, cellphones, electrical appliances, furniture, computer and accessories, clothing, gym services, food and beverages, solar systems inverters and batteries.
“This is in line with the global increase in e-commerce-related transactions and technology-based sales. We also note the steady rise in the number of complaints relating to backup power and solar systems as more consumers seek relief from ongoing power cuts and scheduled interruptions to power supply,” the CGSO said.
The main reasons for the online transaction complaints included late deliveries, services not provided in time, goods not matching orders or requirements, overcharging for services, goods not being of the expected quality, agreement cancellations and fraud.
Most complaints were received from Gauteng (47%), followed by the Western Cape (19%), KwaZulu-Natal (13%), Eastern Cape (7%) and Mpumalanga (5%).
The ombud resolved cases in favour of consumers 54% of the time with 1 201 cases that were closed being either fully upheld, partially upheld, resolved by the supplier, or assistance was provided.
“Excluding cases that either fell out of our jurisdiction or were withdrawn, duplicated, resolved without CGSO intervention, or otherwise did not meet the criteria for us to take the matter on, 20% of all complaints had to be closed due to a lack of cooperation from nonparticipant suppliers. These were suppliers that either refused to engage with the CGSO, could not be contacted or where a supplier stopped cooperating during mediation,” the ombud said.
This category is strictly used for non-participant suppliers — 1 663 businesses are registered with the ombud scheme, which, apart from their legal obligations in terms of the National Consumer Protection Act, have agreed to comply with its code of conduct.
In these cases, complainants are issued with a termination notice together with an National Consumer Commission complaint form and advised to lodge a complaint directly with the NCC to escalate the matter.
Most consumers filed complaints with the office through its website (96%), followed by email (2%) and its mobile app (1%).