Consumer Hacks with Wendy Knowler

Summer's on its way, and so is a lot more aircon use.

Australia's consumer organisation CHOICE says your aircon should be set no more than 8°C cooler than it is outside. So on a 32°C day, set it to 24°C.

According to CHOICE, every degree cooler than that adds about 10% to your running costs. A clogged filter can push energy use up by another 5 to 15%.

So, check your weather app, set your aircon to 8 degrees lower, clean those filters, and keep doors and windows shut. A fan helps spread the cool air further.

You pay by card, your phone pings with a notification from your bank confirming the payment, but the cashier says it didn't go through and asks you to pay again.

Who's right?

Generally, the shop's card machine. Sometimes the bank's approval doesn't reach the machine because of a timeout or network glitch, so the machine declines the transaction, and your bank should then reverse that first payment.

So insist on the slip showing the error, and pay again.

If you later find you've been charged twice, take your bank's proof of both transactions back to the store and ask for a refund.

Having an operation? Then ask this before you go under: when is my post-op check-up, and will I pay for it?

According to the Council for Medical Schemes, a surgeon's fee for an operation includes normal after-care for one month. So follow-up consultations within that month shouldn't cost you anything.

One listener says a surgeon’s practice booked her first post-op consultation for eight weeks after her neck surgery. Then she was then billed R2 500 for it.

So have that conversation with your doctor's admin people upfront and make sure your first follow-up falls within the month.

When a company asks for your bank statement as proof of address, all it needs is the top bit: your name and address.

Yet a Cape Town man trying to buy a car from We Buy Cars was told his statement would only be accepted if at least seven transactions were visible.

We Buy Cars says that's not company policy, and has corrected the branch.

By law, companies may only collect personal information that's relevant and not excessive for the purpose.

So, blank out your transactions or offer a municipal or cellphone account instead. And write "Copy for proof of address only", with the date, across it.

A woman was excited to hear she was a potential winner in a competition after buying the qualifying products.

But during verification, the company found she'd bought them through an online marketplace, and that disqualified her.

She asked to be shown where the rules excluded that platform, and when she wasn't satisfied, she went to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud.

But the rules did expressly exclude purchases made through certain e-commerce platforms, so the Ombud couldn't find in her favour.

So before buying to enter a competition, read the terms and conditions, especially where you may buy the product.

When you sell, your bond has to be cancelled. A buyer can't take ownership while your bank still has a claim over the property.

But this is what catches people out.

If you haven't given your bank three months' written notice that you intend to settle, it can charge you up to 90 days' interest on what you still owe. On a million rand outstanding, that's around R25 000.

Give the full 90 days’ notice and the charge falls away.

So email your bank the day your house goes on the market, not the day you accept an offer. And renew it in three monthly intervals until transfer is done.

Two thirds of us don't have a will. That’s what emerged from legal insurance company LAW FOR ALL’s recent survey of 1800 South Africans.

And plenty of us are wrong about what happens next.

Four in ten believe a spouse automatically inherits everything. Not so. Without a valid will, the Intestate Succession Act decides, according to a set formula, and if there are children, your spouse could be sharing the estate with them.

A quarter thought the family decides. It doesn't.

And no, you are not obliged to appoint a bank as your executor, despite what some free will-drafting offers suggest.

So get a will.

A listener imported a car radio and got a R412 bill from the clearing agent. Car radios are duty-free, he says, so what's this for?

Here's the thing. Duty-free refers to one line in the SARS tariff book. Car radios also sit in a category which attracts a 9% ad valorem excise duty, the luxury tax. Then VAT of 15% is charged on the value of the goods plus 10%, plus any duty. And the agent's own clearance fee goes on top of that.

So ask clearing agents for the customs release notification. It shows the tariff heading and exactly what SARS charged, and the agent should list its own fees separately.

A security company employee reverses into your stationary car in his response vehicle and admits fault. Surely the company or its insurers should pay for the repairs, not your own insurer?

That instinct has cost a Durban pensioner six months and half the repair bill.

She lodged a claim with her insurer, her car was assessed and approved for repairs, but she was advised by her broker to withdraw it and go after the driver's company instead. Five months on, their insurer offered her R12 000 against repair quotes of R26 000.

Third party claims are slow and pay-outs are generally small.

Claim on your own policy, every time. Your insurer repairs the car, then recovers the costs from the third party’s insurer, including your excess which will then be refunded to you.

A woman bought a car from a private seller six months ago. It has given her serious trouble ever since, and the seller's answer is one word: voetstoots.

He's right.

Voetstoots means "as is", or “with all faults” and it means no recourse. The Consumer Protection Act protects you when you buy from a dealer, or anyone else selling cars in the ordinary course of business. It does not apply to a private sale between two individuals. Cars sold on auction are voetstoots too, so you can't rely on the Act's six-month right to return a defective car in either case.

So unless you're a car expert or in the trade, it’s incredibly risky to buy a car either of those ways.

If you're going to anyway, pay for an independent inspection before you commit to the deal - not after.