Happy 2020 all!

Already the “please help” and “at my wits’ end” e-mails are streaming into my inbox.

Inevitably, even the most clued-up consumers get “taken” by a supplier or a flat-out fraudster every now and then: I bought a dud dishwasher off Gumtree last year, believing the seller’s story about it being a new-ish model without doing my own checks. (When you buy something privately, it’s voetstoots – the Consumer Protection Act does not apply.)..