Trish Wright, Fish Hoek,
I have always received very good service and advice from the staff at Valyland.
On Monday May 20, I was taught an expensive lesson.
It is a privilege to take an elderly friend shopping on most Wednesdays, and I combined her shopping trip with taking a 7kg Cadac gas bottle in for refilling. I got a trolley for her, walking stick safely inside, then I went to Mica (Central Mica Hardware).
I asked if it was okay to leave the bottle and come back for it after shopping at Spar. No problem.
A short time later, I paid for the refill and took the bottle home.
This last week, my sister brought it into the house and started using it. It was difficult to open (older models have a key) and the gas supply was erratic.
When closing, the gas would burn for about five seconds before going out.
She was very concerned and showed me what was happening. Only then did I realise that it was not my gas bottle.
The supervisor in the gas/wood section advised that the valve was defective and they did not repair bottles and to take it to Retreat.
I repeated it was not my bottle. He showed me a disclaimer sign, which I had never seen nor had it been brought to my attention.
He then said he would speak to the manager who was not available. I left the bottle and my details with Allison at Mica.
She phoned to advise they could not assist me, but the bottle had been repaired and I could collect it.
Moral of the story? Do not let your bottle out of your sight. Read notices carefully.
Lastly, will the person who took my bottle please return it to Central Mica and collect your own bottle, which has a string tied to the handle for ease of identification. Unfortunately, I did not see that string until my sister asked me to check the bottle.
• Central Hardware Mica owner Jan Uys responds: It is very difficult to assist if we do not know who the customer is and we can’t get all the input from the staff
However, if customers leave to go to Spar, you would assume the customer would have taken note of the cylinder left as there are a multitude of gas cylinders being filled especially now as the weather gets more chilly
The responsibility lies with the customer in this case. The disclaimer has been there for years.
The obvious difference as well is that she spent less that R100 to refill a 7kg bottle. This should have already pointed out to the customer that it makes no sense to refill as a 7kg should be around R250.
Allison assisted and advised her with regards to the state of the bottle as well, and we have also, this season particularly, raised awareness regarding gas bottles and maintenance of these on various social media platforms to ensure the broader public is informed.
It is very unfortunate. However, we try to assist where we can, and in this case, the cylinder was only returned to us two weeks after the fact.
From our side, if she would like a new cylinder we can support on price. I will caution the broader public to ensure their private cylinders and exchange cylinders are kept secure and safe. Also mark them clearly.
I trust this will bring closure to this unfortunate incident.
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