{"id":198358,"date":"2017-09-15T18:28:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T16:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=198358"},"modified":"2017-09-15T15:28:59","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T13:28:59","slug":"the-types-of-companies-and-products-south-africans-complain-the-most-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/telecommunications\/198358\/the-types-of-companies-and-products-south-africans-complain-the-most-about\/","title":{"rendered":"The types of companies and products South Africans complain the most about"},"content":{"rendered":"

The consumer goods and services ombudsman has released its annual report<\/a><\/strong>, detailing how South Africa’s biggest companies deal with complaints.<\/p>\n

The report found that there was a significant increase in the number of complaints over the past year with\u00a05\u201a595 cases reported in the 2016\/17 – compared to the 3\u201a495 cases received in 2015\/16.<\/p>\n

This increase was likely due to increasing awareness among consumers about their rights to approach with complaints, said the ombudsman<\/p>\n

As in past years, satellite and telecommunications companies were the most complained about with 1,142 cases.<\/p>\n

These were followed by clothing retails stores with 372 complaints, and fitness\/gym outlets with 244 complaints.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch of the report, ombudsman Magauta Mphahlele said that the majority of telecommunications complaints dealt with broken screens <\/strong>and contractual disputes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Specifically, she indicated that there was still confusion among contract-holders as to when they are allowed to cancel their contracts and the penalties in doing so.<\/p>\n

“Consumers don\u2019t understand the cancellation clause in the Consumer Protection Act,” she said.<\/p>\n

“They think if they have given the supplier notice\u201a then they can get away with not paying a penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Contract cancellation fees<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a Tariffic report based on the same timeframe<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0as\u00a0the above findings,\u00a0Vodacom was usually the most expensive when it comes to cancellation fees.<\/p>\n

Vodacom was the most expensive in 3 out of 4 cases, followed by MTN \u2013 while Cell C and Telkom were usually the cheapest.<\/p>\n

The cancellation fee that users pay is based on a number of factors, including:<\/p>\n