Consumer Rights- How And Where To File Complaints South Africa
If you are looking for expert advice or assistance regarding the Consumer Protection Act in South Africa, you have come to the right organisation to assist you; we can assist you to resolve any dispute with a supplier without the exorbitant Legal Fees that is normally charged as we make use of alternative dispute resolution.
Our founder, Duón Odendaal is involved in alternative dispute resolution, conflict management and negotiations for the past twenty years. Duón is a highly qualified, experienced and resilient Mediation and Arbitration specialist, who possesses excellent skills in conciliations, arbitrations, communication and negotiating.
From the implementation of the Consumer Protection Act, he is involved in disputes in the motor industry as well as the electrical and plumbing industry. Duón is a registered member of “Arbitration Foundation of South Africa” since 2008 and he is also a panelist of ADR-Network Kwa-Zulu Natal and registered at Arbitration Foundation of South Africa, registered as a Professional Mediator and Arbitrator since 2011.
As consumers we must keep in mind that the enforcement of any Act is not a simple process and involves a lot of skills and processes to get an amicable resolution within the guidelines and regulations of the various forums, if you do not comply with the rules your case might be dismissed on some technicality or ignorance of the rules or you have to bring a condonation application to continue with your case. We do have the necessary tools and skills to keep your dispute or complaint on track and within the prescribed timeframes.
The Consumer Protection Act is a distinct field of law and the concept is still relatively new in South Africa. The promulgation of the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 on 1 April 2011, consumer law has suddenly become a new headache for businesses and they had to make a lot of adaption’s to operate within the specific act.
The South African Consumer Protection Act, No 68 of 2008 was signed on 24 April 2009 and the purpose of the Act is to protect the interests of all consumers, ensure accessible, transparent and efficient redress for consumers who are subjected to abuse or exploitation in the marketplace and also to give effect to internationally recognised consumer rights. The Consumer Protection Act defines a consumer as any person to whom goods and services are marketed, who is a user of the supplier’s goods, enters into a transaction with the supplier or service provider of any services and products.
The interest of consumers in the Act has shown enormous growth in the last few months. It is our belief that this will continue to escalate as consumer awareness increases and the National Consumer Commissioner finds its feet.
The core concept of the Consumer Protection Act is to disclose all necessary information pertaining to the services and goods as to allow the consumer to make informed decisions before purchasing a product or service.
As leaders in the market, it is our vision to educate our clients to understand the basics of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) as well as your rights in terms of the specific legislation, we believe that this information will be of interest and benefit to you.
In short we offer a comprehensive solution to any type of consumer complaint covered by the South African Consumer Protection Act and the biggest advantage is that you can lodge your complaint online from anywhere in South Africa, thus you save on travelling and legal fees as we will evaluate your complaint online and submit a free of charge evaluation. You will receive feedback by e-mail and we will guide and assist you in the way forward as well as an estimate of the costs involved in solving your dispute.
Our services are based on exceptional Technical and Legal Knowledge in the following major industries but we also assist with any other disputes:
- Motor Industry
- Building Industry
- Electrical Industry
- Plumbing Industry
- General Repairs and Maintenance
The biggest advantage of our services is that we do not charge our clients on a fee structure common to the Legal industry but have based our fees on a fixed rate depending on the stage where the dispute is settled. We also guarantee that we will not exceed the amount quoted for assistance but in certain cases, there might be small disbursement fees for registered letters and or parcels. Click Here To Find Out More About Your Rights
SA Consumer Complaints is a private organisation and has no association with the National Consumer Commission or the Department of Trade and Industry.