The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) has published its annual report for the period ending February 2023, highlighting the most complained about businesses and services over the past year.

It is published in compliance with the provisions of clause 9.2.11 of the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct (CGSI Code), promulgated by the Minister of Trade and Industry on 29 April 2015.

The Ombud is mandated to mediate disputes between consumers and suppliers of goods and services in South Africa and ensure that industry players abide by the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct.

The group said it received 10,562 complaints, compared to 11,834 cases in the previous period. Of these, 2,044 fell out of the CGSO’s jurisdiction and were referred to other Ombud offices, regulators and sector-specific alternate dispute resolution entities.

The Ombud attributed the decrease to a return to pre-pandemic trading conditions and the subsequent reduction in the forced cancellations of holidays and events.

“For the last two years, a sizeable portion of complaints followed the switch to online shopping. While vendors struggled initially to keep pace with the surge in e-commerce, many have since refined their systems and improved on-time delivery, resulting in fewer complaints,” it added.

Despite the drop in the number of complaints, year-on-year, the CGSO recovered an amount of R12.9 million for consumers – a 12.5% increase on the R11.5 million paid out to consumers in refunds during the previous reporting period.

Following numerous unresolved complaints against the same online retailers and the continued lack of cooperation by these entities with the CGSO office, consumer alerts were issued for four online outfits for accepting payment from consumers and then failing or refusing to deliver the goods or services.

The Ombud warned consumers to exercise extreme caution when trading with:

• PC Link – Supplier and dealer in computer and office accessories;
• Online at Liepies – Online clothing outlet;
• Sassy Heels – Women’s footwear; and
• The Reliable Store – Online store for electronics, smartwatches, projectors, fitness and health.

The report showed that e-commerce continues to grow in popularity and accounted for 34% of all complaints by sector, compared to 25% in FY2021/22.

It further noted that online transactions, appliance manufacturers and retailers, and satellite and communications generated 63% of all consumer complaints received by the office.

Complaints relating to goods, services and agreements comprised 94% of all complaints received in 2022/23.

What consumers complained about

The Ombud noted that the most common consumer complaints related to delivery, cancellation of agreements, and defective goods.

The office highlighted the following issues as the most common:

• Goods not being delivered on time;
• Cancellation of agreements;
• Goods becoming defective within six months; and
• Poor service in either the handling of the complaint or the after-sales service.

Just under half of the complaints were received from Gauteng (47%), followed by the Western Cape at 19% and KwaZulu-Natal at 13%, with the remainder spread across the other six provinces.

Products or services consumers complained about

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