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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
212 – 232

Sleepless nights for customers after bed store closes

Beds for Africa was a major national bed retailer with at least 14 branches around the country, seven of them in KZN, but many of them have been closed or sold in the past six months, including the Hillcrest, Newcastle and Richards Bay branches, leaving only a few open for…
18 May 2017 7 min

Online scams: Spot them before they catch you

The reality is that e-fraud is growing as fast as e-commerce, so while you may be thinking "no way would I ever fall for that puppy scam", you may go online to buy something else - a football jersey, maybe, or a camera - and end up unwittingly transferring money…
11 May 2017 7 min

A decade on, the Edcon club fee is declared illegal

South Africa’s biggest non-food retailer has been found guilty of charging hundreds of thousands, if not millions of its account-holders an illegal fee. Find out more with Wendy Knowler in today's ECR Consumerwatch.
4 May 2017 5 min

What’s your beef?

How can it be legal for a product called a beef patty to have as little as 36% beef in it? That’s generally how people react when they hear that a beef patty contains little more than a third beef. But it’s perfectly legal - provided the percentage of beef…
27 Apr 2017 6 min

KZN’s got heart (problems)

While cancer is what most people are suffering or dying from in all other provinces, in KZN it’s cardiac or cardiovascular events - heart and blood vessels issues, in other words. The data doesn’t apply to the entire population, but to the 40% who have long term insurance products -…
6 Apr 2017 4 min

No party for Ford as Fiesta recalled

I think it’s fair to say that 2017 has not got off to a great start for Ford South Africa. And late yesterday it got a bit worse - the manufacturer announced the voluntary recall of another Ford. Wendy Knowler has the details…
30 Mar 2017 6 min

Consumer implications of airlines' new tech ban

The ban on taking laptops and tablets into the cabin on certain flights into the US and UK is about a lot more than not being able to do some work on your laptop on that long haul flight, says Wendy Knowler.
23 Mar 2017 6 min

Looking for loans in all the wrong places

There’s a terrible irony in someone trying to get a loan and losing money instead, but sadly it’s a very common scenario, says Consumerwatch's Wendy Knowler.
16 Mar 2017 5 min

Cruise to nowhere

A promotion guaranteed to get people signing a cellphone contract involved a free cruise - however almost 1700 people were left cruise-less. Consumerwatch's Wendy chats to Durban residents who followed all the required steps, but still lost out on the deal.
9 Mar 2017 5 min

Fancy a little syrup with your honey?

When a food product carries a premium price, there will be those in the industry who’ll pass off a cheaper, adulterated version of what the label claims it to be. Wendy Knowler investigates…
2 Mar 2017 7 min

Is there such a thing as a non-refundable deposit?

It’s been almost six years since the Consumer Protection Act made it illegal for companies to impose a blanket “non refundable deposit” policy on their customers. In today's Consumerwatch, Wendy Knowler spoke to a Morningside resident who had trouble reclaiming her deposits after her wedding was called off last month.
2 Feb 2017 3 min

Holiday stay gone wrong? Take photos!

Many people complain about shoddy holiday accommodation - they make a booking and pay a deposit based on what they've seen and read on the establishment’s website, but when they get there, they are horrified by what they find. When your holiday stay goes wrong - here's why you should…
19 Jan 2017 5 min

LISTEN: Wendy's take on the Ford Kugas-on-fire drama

There are 44 Ford Kugas which are said to have caught alight. So far. That’s a lot of flames, one loss of life, and many hefty insurance claims. Some have been settled and some not - much trauma for the car owners and a public relations disaster for Ford South…
12 Jan 2017 6 min

Clash of the Christmas Custards

The festive season is traditionally a very merry one for custard sales, and Parmalat is aiming to increase its market share with an advert claiming that in an independent blind tasting test, 7 out of 10 “custard lovers” prefer Parmalat, it’s line “Thought your old favourite was ultra-delicious?” clearly referring…
8 Dec 2016 5 min

Spammed by a Recording

Companies have a new way of contacting us, as if email, SMS, landline and cellphone calls, Twitter DM, snail mail and fax mail wasn’t enough. It’s called AVM - automated voice messaging. You phone rings, you answer, and instead of real, live person talking-to you, you hear a recorded message…
1 Dec 2016 5 min
212 – 232