Not a day goes by without heartbreaking stories of people whose dreams have been shattered by fraud, scams or other nefarious practices and the concomitant shaky financial position it has put them in.
Today, we report on two such cases and, though the type of incidents and amounts are vastly different, the impact is the same.
The victims all had something special planned — and paid for — and were let down by the people who were meant to bring it to fruition.
In one case, a group of rugby fans was left stranded and out of pocket; in the other, a municipal retiree’s hoped-for idyllic retirement home never even got off the ground.
Sadly, incidents of this nature have become so commonplace in SA that people have become almost inured to them. Until they, too, fall prey to something similar.
For the victims, the pain is real.
In the case of the disappointed rugby fans, the person who sold them the travel packages for the trip to Cape Town to watch a mouthwatering clash between the Springboks and All Blacks last year and dropped them at the last minute, was arrested.
He appeared in court, is out on bail and will appear again next week.
While the fact that he will have to answer in court for what happened will give the alleged victims a degree of satisfaction, that missed magical moment in time — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many — is gone forever. And most of the complainants have not been refunded yet.
In the case of the retiree, he did what he thought was sufficient due diligence in finding a builder, but in the end it was not enough and he was left R500,000 out of pocket and with nothing but an empty plot.
He has lodged a criminal complaint against the builder and also pursued a civil case against him, with the man ordered to repay the money plus interest and legal costs.
To date, however, the retiree has not seen a cent of the money. He eventually had to sell his car and take out a loan to finance the building project.
These incidents should be a lesson for us all.
Though determining whether a provider is dodgy or solid is not foolproof, it is our responsibility to check, double check and triple check before parting with our money.
The Herald
Check and check again before parting with your money
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Image: SUPPLIED
Not a day goes by without heartbreaking stories of people whose dreams have been shattered by fraud, scams or other nefarious practices and the concomitant shaky financial position it has put them in.
Today, we report on two such cases and, though the type of incidents and amounts are vastly different, the impact is the same.
The victims all had something special planned — and paid for — and were let down by the people who were meant to bring it to fruition.
In one case, a group of rugby fans was left stranded and out of pocket; in the other, a municipal retiree’s hoped-for idyllic retirement home never even got off the ground.
Sadly, incidents of this nature have become so commonplace in SA that people have become almost inured to them. Until they, too, fall prey to something similar.
For the victims, the pain is real.
In the case of the disappointed rugby fans, the person who sold them the travel packages for the trip to Cape Town to watch a mouthwatering clash between the Springboks and All Blacks last year and dropped them at the last minute, was arrested.
He appeared in court, is out on bail and will appear again next week.
While the fact that he will have to answer in court for what happened will give the alleged victims a degree of satisfaction, that missed magical moment in time — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many — is gone forever. And most of the complainants have not been refunded yet.
In the case of the retiree, he did what he thought was sufficient due diligence in finding a builder, but in the end it was not enough and he was left R500,000 out of pocket and with nothing but an empty plot.
He has lodged a criminal complaint against the builder and also pursued a civil case against him, with the man ordered to repay the money plus interest and legal costs.
To date, however, the retiree has not seen a cent of the money. He eventually had to sell his car and take out a loan to finance the building project.
These incidents should be a lesson for us all.
Though determining whether a provider is dodgy or solid is not foolproof, it is our responsibility to check, double check and triple check before parting with our money.
The Herald
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