ECR Consumerwatch

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 the story… ECR Consumerwatch

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 gives consumers some flying tips. ECR Consumerwatch

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 for the details. ECR Consumerwatch

Is it legal for airplane companies to have flights packed to capacity? What do you do if you want to terminate your gym contract because you do not feel safe? How do you deal with event argonisers refusing to pay back your breakage deposit? KZN asks Wendy Knowler for her consumer advice. ECR Consumerwatch

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 the answers on this issue, as well as other issues posed by a landlord, a new home-owner and others. ECR Consumerwatch

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 more. ECR Consumerwatch

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 returning online purchases? ECR Consumerwatch

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 this week’s Consumerwatch. ECR Consumerwatch

Gyms that are still debiting members’ bank accounts while gyms remain closed during lockdown; a cruise company refuses to refund a family for their cruise which the company was forced to cancel because of Covid-19, and instead has unilaterally re-booked them on a specific cruise next year; the multi-branch paving company which won’t honour a client’s warranty because the branch closest to her home has closed, and events organisers which use “force majeure” to defend their decision not to refund at all or only a small percentage of ticket prices.

Where does that leave those customers? Our consumer journalist Wendy Knowler shed some light on those scenarios, and others, in this week’s Consumerwatch. ECR Consumerwatch

With the many financial changes that have been brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, employees have had their eyes opened to the corruption that their employers have been involved in. Wendy Knowler sheds light on the topic - as well as on other questions asked by you. ECR Consumerwatch