I generally refrain from mentioning names, id-numbers or even telephone numbers, but in a case where someone misrepresents the service offered, refuses to answer or return phone-calls in 3 weeks and then walks off with 800 Rand of my hard-earned cash, this is in my opinion more than justified.
About 8 weeks ago I engaged the services of Kya Sands Testing Station to have my car’s license renewed and get a duplicate of my traffic register. This request was then handed over to Adrian Charles Maritz (ID: 7805285034083, Cell: 083 731 1986) and I transferred R803,00 to the testing station.
While the above should have been a trivial exercise not taking more than a few days, it took 3 weeks for Adrian to realize that he needs my passport. I gave him the passport on 8th February and two weeks later still nothing happened and by then he needed to have copies of my permanent residence and a number of other documents. While I had never been kept in the loop of the progress it was impossible to get hold of him and voice-mails/SMSs remained unanswered. I only received a returned phone call after two weeks once I threatened with a criminal charge.
So don’t request his services because it is not worth the effort and to sum it up:
- It took all of 2 hours (including driving to the traffic department) to have the above done. Adrian was not able to do this in over 2 months
- The traffic department was more than satisfied with copies of the documents and did not require originals.
- He refused to return phone-calls or SMSs. Even my SMS to ask for the money back remained unanswered – eventually resulting in this post and a visit to the police station in a few days.
In defense of Kya Sands Testing station: Although Maritz stopped working for them a number of days after I engaged with them, they are partially to blame for this fuck-up, since I engaged with them and paid all money to them. Maritz however is to blame for his incompetence to fulfill a simple request.
REFUND OF THE MONEY? Can pretty much forget about this – would you think that a dishonest person would return the cash (and some of my original documents)?