A Cape Town vehicle repairer, who has had a consumer’s vehicle for almost two years and failed to complete repairs to the vehicle by an agreed date, has been fined R100 000 by the National Consumer Tribunal and ordered to refund the vehicle’s owner the R77 000 he paid for the repairs.

The tribunal declared that the conduct of Cape Town Motor Repairs (Pty) Ltd as prohibited and ruled that the company had failed to repair the vehicle within a specific period and thus contravened Section 54 (1)(a) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

That section of the CPA states that consumers have the right to have services carried out on time and to be informed promptly if there were any avoidable delays in delivering the service.

The tribunal’s judgment follows the National Consumer Commission (NCC) receiving a complaint from Mbulelo Tongo in October 2023 alleging that on 31 January 2023, following a collision, he requested a quotation for repairs to his vehicle.

Cape Town Motor Repairs issued a quote for R124 900.17, which was forwarded to Tongo’s insurer.

Before the finalisation of the insurance claim, Cape Town Motor Repairs agreed that Tongo would make an upfront payment of R60 000.00, with the balance to be paid in instalments after the completion of the repairs.

Cape Town Motor Repairs indicated that it would take four to six weeks to complete the repairs.

The tribunal said the repairs were therefore expected to be completed on or before 24 April 2023.

It said Mbulelo deposited R60 000 into Cape Town Motor Repairs’ bank account on 11 April 2023 but he was informed by the repairer on 26 April 2023 that the necessary parts, except for the windscreen, rim and tyres, had been obtained.

In addition, Cape Town Motor Repairs said the right front suspension had been completely damaged and needed to be replaced, so and an additional R10 000 to R15 000 was required.

The company advised Mbulelo on 4 May 2023 that the mechanical repairs were completed and only three brackets were needed to replace the damaged brackets and a test drive to ensure the vehicle’s safety was outstanding.

Mbulelo deposited a further R10 000 into Cape Town Motor Repairs’ bank account on 8 May 2023 plus an additional R7 000 on 22 June 2023 for dashboard repairs because the repairer claimed this was the reason for the delay in completing the repairs.

The tribunal said despite promising the repairs would be completed by 6 July 2023, Cape Town Motor Repairs failed to perform as promised and Mbulelo consequently requested the company to return his vehicle so he could have it repaired elsewhere.

The tribunal said it was evident that the company had failed to complete the repairs within the agreed four to six weeks and its excuses continued indefinitely, leading to Mbulelo realising that he was being misled.

The NCC said Mbulelo paid R77 000 to Cape Town Motor Repairs but refused to return the vehicle to Mbulelo.

It said Cape Town Motor Repairs had still not completed the repairs by 6 July 2023.

The tribunal said there was no evidence before it that Cape Town Motor Repairs had, in fact, made any repairs.

It said throughout the history of this matter, Cape Town Motor Repairs had shown

no regard for consumer rights enshrined in the CPA, and an NCC investigator had to travel to Cape Town at a cost to taxpayers to conduct the investigation.

The NCC further said Cape Town Motor Repairs benefitted from the R77 000 Mbulelo paid to the company and refused to cooperate with the NCC, which compelled the NCC to issue a summons.

Despite the summons, Cape Town Motor Repairs still refused to cooperate with the NCC.

The tribunal said it was evident that the conduct of Cape Town Motor Repairs has had a negative impact on Tongo, whose vehicle has been in the repairer’s possession for almost two years.

It said Mbulelo paid a lot of money for the repairs but had been treated “dishonestly and contemptuously” by Cape Town Motor Repairs.

“Such conduct must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The tribunal must send out a strong message that undermining the rights of consumers enshrined in the CPA and refusing to cooperate with the NCC would not go unpunished.

“Such conduct must be visited with significant penalties that will, hopefully, deter the respondent [Cape Town Motor Repairs] and other suppliers from abusing consumers and committing prohibited conduct,” the tribunal said.

The NCC welcomed the tribunal’s judgment.