A Laudium motorist is all charged up, after reportedly receiving poor service from a local business.
Aftab Ali, a resident of 9th Avenue, approached the Laudium Sun, to explain his story which goes back to last year, just the day before Christmas, but with his ordeal starting a month back. Aftab said that he has lost his energy running up and down in trying to resolve the matter concerning a car battery bought from a local spares shop, which has given him endless problems. Aftab claims that the shop did not honour its one year guarantee agreement, pledged to him. He added, “I experienced problems with my car battery last year and despite having it charged and serviced, the problem continued. Eventually, I decided that it was time to buy a new battery as I had enough problems with the old one for a while. I often drive past Laudium Motor Spares, on Jewel Street, Laudium, so on December 24 last year, I decided to stop at the spares shop to buy a new battery. When I got there, I explained to the person who served me, Zain Patel, that I wanted a good strong battery for my car, a BMW. The guy asked me to open the bonnet of my car to check what kind of battery I had and he also tested the old battery of the car. Zain told me that I definitely needed a new battery for the car and then told me to take a specific battery which he said was a little more expensive but that it had a one year guarantee. They then replaced the old battery with a new one. Since then, I had no problem with the battery. However, last month, the battery started to give me issues. I had problems starting my car, so I then went back to the spares shop and told them about my problem. They checked the car battery and then replaced it with another one, which did not seem to be new. Nevertheless, I accepted it. But then after a few days, I again had a problem with the battery. I again went back to them and again they changed the battery. This problem continued for about another 5 times. I then realised that they gave me a wrong battery, as my car had a different type originally and they gave me some other make, seemingly a much cheaper make”, he said.
Aftab continued explaining, “I then told Zain that he should give me the original make or my money back. He told me to come the next day, but when I went back the next day, he was not there. Each time I went there or called, they told me that Zain was not there and that only he could help me. I was shocked, because I trusted him and did not expect him to play hide and seek with me. Finally, I went early one morning, and I found him at the shop. But then he started with excuses and changed his tune. He said I should pay him R5000 for a new battery, if I wanted the same make as the original one. I saw this as daylight robbery. Why should I pay so much money again? I refused! I told him that he should return my money and take his battery back. Zain then told me that he would charge me 20 percent for returning the battery. I refused to accept that as he had given me another battery (for the fifth time) like two weeks before. I told him that he has not treated me fairly as a customer and that I will open a case against him. He then abruptly told me that he did not care if I went to the police as they could not do anything and added that he was doing me a favour. What favour, I asked him, when I paid R1850 for the new battery and he even took my old battery. I want my money back. Zain is now looking for an excuse not to refund me, as he is now insisting on seeing the original receipt, after I explained to him that it was kept in the house of a friend who was now deceased, so I could not get into his house. He knows me very well by now and if he did not believe that I bought the battery from him, why did he change the battery so many times without a receipt?”
Zain Patel, the owner of Laudium Motor Spares, said, “That guy called me and shouted at me and was extremely rude. I know he bought the battery from me, and we helped him out many times with the battery problem, but now he is insisting he wants his money back. For any refunds we require the original receipt. He is trying to bully us and we won’t accept that.”
