Car dealerships, clothing shops, hardware firms, travel agencies and IT solutions are among businesses that have been identified for not being traceable after accepting payments from customers.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has identified 20 additional suppliers who have accepted payments from consumers but failed to deliver goods or services or delivered defective goods.
Since November last year, the NCC identified at least 59 untraceable businesses. See the full list here.
The NCC has urged consumers to be cautious when transacting with these suppliers.
In many cases, these suppliers have vanished from their known addresses, while some have shut down their websites, making it impossible for consumers to contact them for redress, said the NCC in a statement on Friday.
The NCC's efforts to contact these suppliers to facilitate redress for consumers failed, as the preliminary assessment indicates that these suppliers have either closed down or never existed.
— NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba
“Consumers filed complaints with the NCC alleging that they cannot obtain redress as the suppliers are unresponsive. The NCC's efforts to contact these suppliers to facilitate redress for consumers failed, as the preliminary assessment indicates that these suppliers have either closed down or never existed,” said NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba.
She added that they viewed this conduct as a deliberate attempt to evade the law and avoid accountability.
“The purpose and policy of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), among others, is to protect consumers from unconscionable, unfair, unreasonable, unjust or improper trade descriptions, and deceptive, misleading, unfair, or fraudulent conduct. The CPA also mandates that suppliers provide consumers with their addresses and communication channels to reach those suppliers,” she said.
She said suppliers who believe they have been listed erroneously are encouraged to contact the NCC. Meanwhile, the NCC has appointed tracing agents to locate these suppliers.
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