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ECR Consumerwatch

Wendy Knowler is arguably South Africa’s most experienced consumer journalist. She’s helped more consumers over her 20 year career in consumer journalism than she could count. But while known as a champion of consumer rights, Wendy is also known and respected by corporates for her fair, accurate and balanced reporting. Want to be a more sussed consumer or corporate? Listen to Wendy's episodes here.
Weekly English South Africa Leisure · Business
239 Episodes
112 – 132

So you've said no to the straw. Now what?

Demonising all plastic is misguided. Plastic remains an excellent form of packaging - cheap, strong, light - it's single-use plastic that’s not okay. The issue is that plastic - and particularly Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - denoted by the recycling number 1 - has no business being on a landfill site,…
25 Jul 2019 6 min

A Drone Moan

What gives an online retailer the right to cancel a confirmed purchase?
11 Jul 2019 10 min

High Court outlaws banks’ controversial money grabbing

For years, South Africa’s banks have taken it upon themselves - without warning - to grab money from their clients’ current accounts to settle their credit card debt, often leaving them with too little money to honour their debit orders or buy food for the month.
4 Jul 2019 13 min

Scam Tenders - a cautionary tale

This week’s Consumerwatch is a cautionary tale for small businesses. I’m very grateful to a Durban businesswoman for sharing her story with us in a bid to warn others. She'd found no warnings online about any of the companies involved, but she did miss some tell-tale signs in her dealings…
27 Jun 2019 11 min

Flooded then flogged as flawless

Wendy Knowler thought she’d heard it all in her 20 years of investigating dodgy car deals - but then came the flooded Fiat.
13 Jun 2019 10 min

How safe is your child strapped into a car seat in the back?

If you don’t know your ESC from your ABS, you could be part of the reason why most of the non-premium cars sold in South Africa don’t have some basic, lifesaving safety features which have been legally compulsory for about six years.
30 May 2019 14 min

You break it, your waiter pays for it

As anyone who has every worked tables in a restaurant will know, waiters and waitresses are often on the receiving of some pretty unpalatable treatment at the hands of restaurant owners and managers.
16 May 2019 10 min

Ombud warns consumers about 5 online retailers

When a company takes a customer’s money and promises to deliver the goods a few weeks later, and then fails to do so - for many months, refuses to refund them, and then ignores them, they’re asking for trouble. When they do that to enough people, the trouble, when it…
2 May 2019 10 min

If things fall apart - are you covered?

The short-term insurance industry is no doubt bracing itself for a flood of flood-related damage claims from the people of Durban after the monster storm of Monday night and Tuesday. Wendy Knowler asks though, will you be effectively covered?
25 Apr 2019 9 min

What’s your data privacy worth to you?

Do you value your ID number, employment history, address, relationship status, cellphone number and email address enough to stop people who don’t have a legitimate right to it from accessing it?
18 Apr 2019 7 min

Extended warranty - sign up or lose out

There are warranties, and then there are warranties - says Wendy Knowler. The best one is the Consumer Protection Act automatically bestows on everything you buy - it’s for SIX MONTHS, irrespective of whether what you buy is new or used, on sale or not.
7 Mar 2019 7 min
112 – 132