East Coast Radio - Catch Up ECR Consumerwatch

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
48 – 68

Students' safety compromised and trip cancellations - Wendy Knowler investigates

It’s Christmas time and we’re experiencing a second wave of coronavirus infections. Not a great combo. Quite a few people have voiced their concerns to Wendy about employees in shops and restaurants not wearing their masks properly and making them feel unsafe. And yes, many consumers don’t do their bit…
17 Dec 2020 10 min

Dealership fees & other extras mandatory on your car deal? Nonsense!

Recently Tim shared with Wendy Knowler email correspondence he had with a salesman at the Honda & Suzuki dealership in Pinetown, part of the massive CMH dealership group.The salesman told him in an email that R1100 was for the licensing of the car - “an outsourced company does our licensing…
10 Dec 2020 10 min

Wendy Knowler offers solutions to Keri Miller’s municipal bill issues

Keri Miller was unexpectedly pushed into a tight budget this December after receiving a letter from the Municipality to settle a very big electricity bill, lest her lights are cut out by the 7th of December. This has been giving her sleepless nights and to get to the bottom of…
3 Dec 2020 5 min

It never rains but it pours - best you get your roof checked out!

With the rainy season well underway in most parts of South Africa, the office of the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance is bracing itself for a spike in complaints from distressed homeowners whose building insurance claims have been rejected. The office dealt with 1800 cases of rejected building insurance claims during…
3 Dec 2020 5 min

Paid then, fly later... much later

The good news for those holding Kulula or British Airways tickets for domestic flights they couldn’t use during hard lockdown is they can use the value of those tickets towards new bookings on those airlines, both owned by Comair. The bad news, says Wendy Knowler, is that while Kulula planes…
26 Nov 2020 8 min

Companies - get your own (throwaways) back!

FINALLY! Manufacturers will be forced to take responsibility for recovering their products or product packaging and getting it recycled. From cardboard boxes to electronic goods, lightbulbs, all forms of plastic and glass jars and bottles, the manufacturers or importers will have to make a plan to get it back from…
12 Nov 2020 12 min

Road Accidents - what’s driving them?

So what category of vehicles are involved in most serious accidents on South African roads? If you said minibus taxis you’d be wrong. The answer, shared by Wendy Knowler in today’s Consumerwatch, will probably surprise you. A renowned, Durban-based forensic accident investigator has shared his findings and road safety suggestions…
5 Nov 2020 13 min

About those extra costs on your store account...

In this week’s Consumerwatch, WENDY KNOWLER explains why so many people are battling to pay off their store accounts. All those extras - club fees, service fees, and fees for calling you about your overdue account - add up. Also in today’s episode: how not to buy a puppy.
29 Oct 2020 9 min

Edgars: this week’s drama for accountholders is an interest-related bill shock

Last week, Edgars hastily reinstated its 6-months interest-free account plan after announcing it was scrapping it just days before. This week, a “valued customers” got another interest shock - double interest charged to their October accounts because a “system glitch” meant that no interest was charged last month. Consumer journalist…
15 Oct 2020 12 min

New Edgars owners feel the heat + what is up with J&J’s baby wipes?

The company which recently bought the 91-year-old retail chain Edgars decided it would be a good idea to scrap the six-month interest-free account plan, but its accountholders were having none of that… Wendy Knowler waded in on that story on today’s Consumerwatch. She also investigated what’s up with another iconic…
8 Oct 2020 10 min

FlySafair adopts zero tolerance re mask dodgers

FlySafair has adopted a zero tolerance policy regarding mask dodgers on its flights from this week. This after Wendy Knowler raised the issue after experiencing, first-hand, cases on recent flights in which passengers were not fully compliant. She’d also received numerous complaints about it from other passengers. Wendy takes up…
24 Sep 2020 11 min

Dos and don'ts when flying & a follow up on the gym debacle

It’s been a very hot topic throughout lockdown - how the various gym companies treated their clients during the five months they were unable to open. So Wendy Knowler did a follow-up on contract cancellation. With borders set to open soon, and local flying already in full swing, Wendy also…
17 Sep 2020 8 min

Drink on this - it wasn’t glass after all

The surprising result of lab tests on the “glass” found in Liquifruit red grape juice cans, and what the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman thinks of what some gyms have been doing with their members’ contracts were the issues Wendy Knowler looks at in this week’s ECR Consumerwatch. Listen here…
10 Sep 2020 9 min

Non-paying tenant and mounting interest on a debt - Wendy Knowler wades in

Banks are morally required to be sympathetic towards vulnerable customers which are; financially illiterate, old or sick. But what happens when you are unemployed because of COVID-19 and even though you are paying a small fee, your bank charges you more interest than you can afford? Wendy Knowler has all…
27 Aug 2020 13 min

Can you be charged for early settlement of your loan?

The scathing truth is that although we are advised to pay off our debt earlier than our agreement with our lender, some of us will incur penalties for settling our debt early, which forces us to maintain a substantial debt. But is this legal? Wendy Knowler answered this question and…
20 Aug 2020 11 min

You might be paying decade-old cellphone insurance! Wendy Knowler can help

This week Wendy Knowler took the opportunity to cover some of the most asked questions she received on social media. Many consumers are unaware that they are paying insurance on cellphones they haven't used in a decade, fly-by-night companies are scamming innocent lay-bye customers and what is the policy on…
13 Aug 2020 7 min

Electricity bills and rental disputes - Wendy Knowler gives her advice

Can the municipality demand full immediate payment for electricity usage they neglected to bill for during the previous two years? Can landlords and rental agents insist on a two-month notice period, and when are landlords entitled to withhold deposits? These are among the issues listeners raised with Wendy Knowler in…
6 Aug 2020 10 min
48 – 68