Last week we responded to an email from a consumer who felt she had been abused by Prokard. This worthless hotel discount scheme employs telemarketers who call people and apparently sign people up for their scheme without their explicit permission. We heard from several people who had given their credit or debit card details to Prokard. That might sound foolish to you but one said she had only given the details “to establish if I would be Gold or a normal member”.
However she later found that she had been charged over P1,000 and was now a Prokard member.
We got in touch with Prokard who have now decided to refund one of the consumers everything she was charged. Hopefully this will happen with the others as well.
Our message remains the same. Never, EVER give out your personal and banking details to anyone you don’t already trust. Don’t also sign up for hotel discount schemes unless you know exactly what you are guaranteed first. Finally, if you want to get a cheap hotel stay in South Africa go to Bid2Stay where you tell them what you are prepared to pay for a hotel. You can save a fortune and, most importantly, it costs you nothing.
Consumer Watchdog is a (fiercely) independent consumer rights and advocacy organisation campaigning on behalf of the consumers of Botswana, helping them to know their rights and to stand up against abuse. Contact us at watchdog@bes.bw, call us on +267 3904582 or find us on Facebook by searching for Consumer Watchdog Botswana. Everything we do for the consumers of Botswana has always been and always will be entirely free.
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