The powers of Manie van Schalkwyk, the Credit Ombud, were extended at the beginning of this year, and his office should be your first port of call if you have a complaint against a credit provider or credit bureau.
Previously, the ombud's office dealt only with complaints against credit bureaus.
The ombud's increased jurisdiction is intended to ease the workload of the National Credit Regulator (NCR), which will focus on the regulation of credit providers and debt counsellors.
While the NCR is responsible for the regulation of interest rates creditors charge you, any complaints you have regarding creditors or the interest you are charged can be taken to Van Schalkwyk's office.
However, if you are dissatisfied with a ruling made by the Credit Ombud, you can take your complaint against a credit provider to the NCR for further consideration.
Van Schalkwyk says his office has resolved several cases since January. Three of them were:
Robert Richardson thought his account with a credit provider was up to date. His statement for December last year reflected a balance of R405.59, which he paid in full on November 28.
However, in December he started to receive calls from the credit provider requesting payment. Richardson went to the store where he had made the payment and asked the manager to help him resolve the matter. The manager twice faxed a copy of the payment receipt to the company's head office, but Richardson continued to receive calls claiming that he had not paid.
On December 18, Richardson went back to the store and asked the manager to refund his payment, which he then repaid to the store to settle his account for the second time. However, the credit provider's head office still claimed that Richardson's account was in arrears and refused his request to close the account.
Numerous calls to the company's customer services centre also failed to resolve the problem, and on January 26 this year Richardson complained to the ombud.
In its response to the ombud, the credit provider acknowledged that a computer error had resulted in some payments being reflected as purchase refunds. The error was rectified and Richardson's account was settled.
Moses Buthelezi had an account with clothing store A. In February last year, he noticed that another company, store B, had started to deduct R55 for airtime from his account with store A.
In October, Buthelezi complained to store A and was referred to someone at store B, who promised to address the complaint within 24 hours, but this failed to happen. Buthelezi continued to complain to store B. On three different occasions, he spoke to three different people, none of whom could help him.
On January 19 this year, Buthelezi complained to the ombud that he had not entered into an agreement with store B and had not received any of the airtime for which he was being charged.
Store B confirmed to the ombud that Buthelezi had been billed in error and agreed to reverse all the charges, which amounted to R385.
Vusi Mazibuko had a garnishee order on his salary. He paid off the debt and had the garnishee order rescinded and removed from his credit profile.
However, the following month, Mazibuko found that the garnishee order was still in place and that R2 820 had been deducted from his salary.
He contacted the Credit Ombud on January 27 this year for help. The ombud ruled that the garnishee order must be cancelled. The creditor, a microlender, refunded R2 659.26 to Mazibuko. The difference of R160.74 was the administration fee his employer charged for administering the order.
- Contact the ombud at 0861 662 837; fax: 086 675 6217; or post to Postnet Suite 444, Private Bag 1, Jukskei Park, 2153. Email ombud@creditombud.org.za or visit www.creditombud.org.za