This week the Carte Blanche Consumer team will pinpoint ways for small businesses to survive in this tough economic climate. They will also show a follow up story on the exposure and liquidation of Planet Wheels from earlier this year.

Small business

Big business and corporations are slowly recovering from the recession, but spare a thought for smaller companies, where it takes much longer to bounce back. Many of them simply don’t recover because their customers aren’t able to pay them. Carte Blanche Consumer visits some struggling businesses and gets a few tips from those who have survived through tough times. Presenter: Annika Larsen; Producer: Kim Cloete.

Planet Wheels III

Five months ago we exposed wheeling and dealing at a used car dealership in Johannesburg. Complaints about Planet Wheels indicated that owner Lynne Schreiber was rolling over payments. Reports were that she was leading a quality lifestyle, but seldom reimbursing her clients. Shortly after our first story, the business was liquidated, leaving many out of pocket and with no wheels. What’s happened since? Carte Blanche Consumer catches up with still car-less clients, finds out what Lynne’s been up to and locates her former partner John Griffin, who hangs out in Durban. Presenter: Derek Watts; Producer: Este de Klerk; Journalist: Tshediso Sesioana.

Catch the show at 7pm on M-Net tonight.

Sources: CarteBlancheConsumer; Image Source: asobec.com

The Consumer Protection Act is due to come in to effect on 24 October 2010, however South African consumers may have to wait a little longer than expected to benefit from this new legislation. According to an article on Fin24.com, all indications suggest Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies will extend the date of implementation by another six months.

Applications for the positions of commissioner and deputy commissioner of the National Consumer Commission only close today, 31 August 2010, indicating that the commission is a long way away from being ready to take on its first complaint.

Another possible set back is that the draft regulations with guidelines on how the new legislation is to be applied have not been published yet. They are likely to come out at the beginning of September, when opportunity for comment will be given for at least a month. Rosalind Lake, an associate at law firm Deneys Reitz Inc, argues that one month is not sufficient for public comment given the act’s vast scope: “Even if all comments are received in time, there is scant time for changes or incorporating comments into the regulations ahead of the scheduled implementation date and for businesses to adapt their business practices accordingly.”

Watch this space for updates over the next few weeks. In the meantime, read our CPA series to find out how the act will affect you once it does come in to effect.

Sources: Fin24.com/PersonalFinance; Fin24.com/Business; Image source: confonet.nic.in

Having Home Insurance doesn’t necessarily mean you’re fully covered. To avoid finding this out the hard way, watch Carte Blanche Consumer this evening and find out how to ensure that you are properly protected. Other stories cover overdraft facilities, home affairs issues, spot checks at supermarkets and handy hints for keeping kettles clean.

Handy Hints: Kettle

Another in Carte Blanche Consumer’s series of hints for the not-so-handy – be it dealing with oil on one’s paving, burns on the carpet, a scratched DVD, or a scale-encrusted kettle. Producer: Petri Kleynhans.

Home Insurance

Faye and Fuzzy Abdullah were proud home owners until they discovered leaks and concealed cracks caused by bad workmanship. Things got worse when they realised they weren’t covered by their home owner’s insurance. Carte Blanche Consumer finds out how to properly protect one’s home when the roof starts caving in. Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender; Producer: Nguni Productions.

Just Checking: Fluids

Carte Blanche Consumer does spot checks on liquids at supermarkets and finds out if we’re getting what we pay for. The bottle says you’re getting one litre – but, are you really? Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender; Producer: Eugene Botha.

Overdrafts

An overdraft facility is a formal arrangement with a bank, allowing the account holder to draw funds that aren’t in the account. That’s all good and well, but why on earth do we get charged if we don’t use it? Carte Blanche Consumer goes into the red. Producer: Backyard Products.

Home Affairs

In this week’s Service Check, Dorothy Dearheart complains to Home Affairs about services unrendered. Producer: Backyard Productions.

Source: Carte Blanche Consumer. Image sources: cookingtime.co.uk; squidoo.com

Following on from the success of location based services such as Foursquare, Facebook has decided to launch their own version to allow its virtual world to take one step closer to each user’s offline existence.

Facebook Places, due to be rolled out over the next few weeks, will enable you to “check in” from your smart phone and broadcast your location to your Facebook friends. You will also be able to tag friends at the same location as you and look up the locations of friends who are similarly “checked in”, either via status updates or on a separate web page.

The launch of this application has resulted in privacy issues bubbling to the surface once again. The good news is that Facebook will allow users to block Places functions in their privacy settings if they want to. The real question is, how many consumers actually know how to change these settings?

Here are a few simple steps to tighten up your security settings on Facebook:

• There are a couple of things that you can never hide on Facebook, including name, profile picture, location, connections and hobbies. Make sure that you are comfortable with the information that you have included in each of these sections. You also have the option to leave some of them blank.
• To edit your privacy settings, click on “Account” in the top right of the page. Then select “Privacy settings” from the drop down list and select “Custom” from the left side of the page. Click on “Customize settings” to view and change your privacy options. One of these options is “Places I check in to” which is relevant to the location based application mentioned above.
• To select the level of privacy you want for each section, choose one of the drop down options on the right hand side:

• Although “Friends of Friends” sounds harmless, it refers to everyone that your friends have added as friends, and all it takes is one careless friend to give a dodgy person access to all your information and photos.
• You can control what information applications can access and remove all unwanted applications. To do this, go to Privacy Settings –> Applications, Games and Websites.
• Decide whether you are comfortable to have your Facebook profile appear when people enter your name in to search engines. You can also edit this setting from the Applications, Games and Websites section of your Privacy Settings.

Sources: news24.com; Connect Magazine. Image sources: facebook.com

Have you ever wondered how telemarketers manage to get hold of your phone number? The Carte Blanche Consumer team investigates to find out. They also look at what value debt counsellors actually provide and whether food sold by weight includes the weight of the packaging. On a lighter note, they give us some great tips, including how to rescue a scratched DVD.

Handy Hints: Scratched DVD

Another in Carte Blanche Consumer’s series of hints for the not-so-handy – be it dealing with oil on one’s paving, burns on the carpet, or a scratched DVD. Presenter: Bongani Bingwa; Producer: Petri Kleynhans.

Just Checking: Fresh Produce

Shoppers with busy lifestyles seldom have time to figure out if they’re being ripped off or not. Does 100g of fresh fruit really weigh exactly that? Or is packaging part of the deal? Carte Blanche Consumer weighs up the pros and cons. Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender; Producer: Eugene Botha.

Debt Counsellors

Recession, strikes, job losses and the ever-rising cost of living leave many consumers caught in a cycle of debt. Debt counselling could be a way for over-burdened consumers to satisfy their creditors, but thus far it seems to have had little impact. Find out more on Carte Blanche Consumer. Presenter: Chantal Rutter; Producer: Peter Groenewald.

Telemarketers

If you’re on a telemarketer’s list, you will know how irritating unsolicited phone calls can be. But exactly how do telemarketers get your details? Carte Blanche Consumer tries to answer this question. Presenter: Devi Sankaree Govender; Producer: Backyard Productions.

Toy Story

She’s every store-owner’s worst nightmare. Now, Dorothy Dearheart, tries to exchange broken toys without a receipt and lots of attitude in this week’s service check.  Producer: Backyard Productions.

Catch the show at 7pm on M-Net this evening to find out more.

Source: Carte Blanche Consumer; Image source:prawfsblawg.blogs.com

Complaints and compliments are an essential part of a business. There is always room for improvement and there is always a need to recognise the moments that necessitate repetition.

When it comes to complaints vs. compliments, there should always be a balance. You should start to worry if you’re not receiving either, as this could mean you’re operating something average.

If everything is average about your business, customers will be less inclined to complain or compliment because nothing in the customer journey irritates or impresses them enough to take the time to say something.

Many businesses like to receive complaints, because it’s a way to improve customer service and help develop their staff. The same applies to compliments, it’s a great way to learn what impresses customers and to make sure your business keeps doing just that.

There are various ways you can learn more about the customer process and how to find the stages or the single moment that leads to critical mass i.e. the need to complain or leave.

Market research offers options such as mystery shopping to view the customer experience through the eyes of the consumer, from entering a business, the aesthetics of the location, interacting with staff and transacting.

Customer surveys are also an effective tool for learning more about how a customer thinks each stage of the customer journey can be improved or which parts impressed them the most.

No matter how well your business is doing, there is always room for improvement and there are many opportunities to create an experience and learn more about your customers.

Article by: Mike Metelerkamp of www.clandestine.co.za. Clandestine Marketing is a market research company in Cape Town that specialised in mystery shopping and consumer insights.

Be wary of prompts on Facebook to download an application with the message “Download the official DISLIKE button now” as it is a scam.

This scam tricks users into allowing a rogue application to access their profile page, which then posts spam messages. So if you do give the app permission to run, it silently updates your Facebook status to promote the link that tricked you in the first place, thus spreading the message virally to your Facebook friends and online contacts.

According to Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos, agreeing to install the application also requires you to fill out a survey that makes money for online scammers before ultimately pointing to an add-on for web browser Firefox developed by a legitimate company called FaceMod. “As far as we can tell, FaceMod aren’t connected with the scam — their browser add-on is simply being used as bait” said Cluley.

To keep an eye out for other looming Facebook security threats, check out the Sophos Facebook page.

Sources: bbc.co.uk; sophos.com

I’m sure you’ve all heard about this fantastic Primedia Broadcasting initiative, but for those of you that haven’t browsed around the Lead SA site yet, here are some great tips on how to become a proactive leader in your every day life:

1. Stand up for what’s right. If you’ve had a glass too many, let a designated driver take you home.
2. Stand up to corruption. Don’t bribe.
3. Stand up for morality. Report crime.
4. Stand up for your community. Get to know your neighbours.
5. Stand up against indifference. Take an interest in those around you.
6. Stand up for free speech. Listen to the other side.
7. Stand up for your future. Respect the environment.
8. Stand up for education. Read to your children.
9. Help instead of Hinder. Say yes when asked to do a favour, don’t look for excuses.
10. Acknowledge goodness. When you have something good to say, say it.

Source: leadsa.co.za

As the getclosure service is constantly developing and expanding, we are always on the look out for bright young South Africans to add to our team, and are thrilled to have Nicki de Beer join us this month:

What is your role at getclosure?

My role at getclosure! is to assist the senior team members, working with various brands and on the complaint driver side of the business.

What do you enjoy most about your position so far?

I enjoy learning new aspects of the online realm that I was not aware of before and this happens on a daily basis at getclosure!

What is your favourite brand and why?

My favourite brand is the YDE brand because they are young and trendy and cater to the specific target market which I fall into.

What constitutes good customer service in your opinion?

In my opinion good customer service is not hard to achieve, if I am dealt with politely and in a friendly manner and the staff member makes an effort to assist me when I need assistance, then I will be a happy customer.

What is your favourite social media platform and why?

Facebook is my favourite as it is the platform most used by my peers and it enables me to connect with them on a regular basis.

Where have you experienced great customer service recently?

Wildfire in Canal Walk – the staff were very friendly and extremely helpful.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I like to do a variety of things, including spending time with friends and family, reading and spending as much time at the beach as possible.

What is your motto in life?

Live life for the moment and the future will happen in time.

Whether you are scheming about ways to burn down your office block or love your job and are just in the mood for a bit of fun, check out www.iresign.co.za.

This tongue-in-cheek site introduces a ’10 second resignation letter’ with drop-down fields for each section that needs to be completed. Here is an example of a letter, using some of the more far fetched options on offer!

30 July 2010

Dear Mr. Smith

This is one of the most difficult letters I have ever written, as they don’t make keyboards with rude gesture keys. But I’ve realised that my ambition is no match for your stupidity. This is to inform you that I can no longer work here as the aliens are taking me to their mothership.

I’ll always remember my time here and look out my window to make sure you haven’t found me. You’ve taught me that a monobrow is not a sign of wisdom. Working for you has been a good indication what eternity must feel like. You remind me of Satan’s armpit. I’d like to thank you for the company petrol card.

Please accept my resignation and may it serve as a warning to others who contemplate joining here.

No hard feelings.

Joe Blogs

P.S. don’t forget to pick up your own laundry, gimp.

On a more serious note, there are some useful suggestions if you are planning to write a genuine resignation letter.

On the flip side of the coin, if you’re an employer and want to avoid receiving any of these letters in the near future, you may want to read our tips on how to boost staff satisfaction and productivity on the Clandestine blog.

Image source: critcalcomputer.com