adminFollowing last Sunday’s exposure of Garikai Mwaruta as a bogus borehole driller, fronting Whitedron Boreholes, readers reacted to the story, sharing their own experiences. The following are some of the responses.
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You are not the only one, Whitedron conned us US$2 500 way back in 2011 which I am yet to recover. I guess it is his way of operating. Your story is similar to mine whereby you go around in circles for months before you realise you have been duped. Below is the official letter that we sent to them:
“Good afternoon Mr G Mwaruta. This is to officially inform you that the contract for drilling a borehole at Number 17 Truro Road, Cotswold Hills has been cancelled. The security guards at the premises have been duly informed of this position and will not allow anyone from Whitedron to enter the premises. Please inform your guys of this position and prepare to make refund today latest 1700hrs. Regards.” – Tinahwoushe Zizhou
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Thank you very much for your article in The Sunday Mail Extra. I am one of the victims. I paid US$2 000 into a bank account of Water Logistics (Pvt) Ltd based in Arcadia Harare, owned by a Mr Mazorodze on the understanding that they will drill my borehole within two weeks. That was in December 2015. Up to now nothing has materialised. It is story after story.
I have tried to report this to the civil court, but I was told that they will accept this and then they might say we get US$100 a month until they finish. This I was not happy with. How best can I recover my money without terms? – Felix Sengudzwa
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I read your article in The Sunday Mail Extra last week. It made interesting reading. I fell prey to a company called Borrowdale Boreholes of 56 Campbell Road, Borrowdale, Harare, fronted by a gentleman called Chinzara.
I was referred to this gentleman by a friend of mine when we wanted to drill boreholes for an organisation I was working for. We called him and he sited seven sites. He drilled the first two boreholes without any problem. The organisation decided to stop the project for a while after the two boreholes.
On a personal note I approached the guy for a quote on siting and drilling a borehole in Chivhu on my plot. I was quoted US$200 for siting and US$3 500 for drilling 60m. I paid the US$200 for siting and they sited and produced a report.
I was asked to pay the full amount for drilling and this I did on October 3, 2013 and a drilling agreement was signed on October 8. I was told their rigs were in Gutu and on their way to Harare they would pass through Chivhu and drill. I was told that this would happen in the following two weeks and I thought my borehole will be drilled, at the latest by October 25. This never happened.
The rigs were said to be in Chivhu and would be coming to my plot any time and at one time I drove to Chivhu in the hope of meeting up with the drillers on site but this never happened. At times I would be told that the there is a breakdown on the drillers and the spares needed to be imported from SA but still the borehole was never drilled.
At times I would be told that they ran out of casings because of unforeseen circumstances and the casings were to be imported.
The gentleman never ran out of excuses. This went on for the better part of 2014 until I decided to recover my money.
He was no longer answering my phone. When I went to the provided physical address I was told that he never rented the premises but he would just come from time to time but he was no longer coming.
I did my investigations and I got to know where the wife was a hair dresser. By the time I got there the wife had left and no one knew the residential address. I was stuck.
I approached a debt collector with offices at the corner of Sam Nujoma Street and Hebert Chitepo Avenue. He charged me US$50 consultation fee. For the services he said he would charge 10 percent of the money collected. I was desperate and I paid.
He started working and I was told he had established contacts for Chinzara and he wanted to take him to court. For the summons he wanted US$370 which I paid through desperation. I was then told he was now paying but the instalments were low and he wanted to collect and then give me a lump sum. This never happened and he started giving a lot of excuses.
The debt collector was now finding it difficult to give me the money collected. I made several visits to his offices without success until I reported the case to the police. He started to avoid people at his offices since every time I went, there would be other people looking for him. He was now working from home giving instructions to his office staff. I drove to his residence with police and he was arrested.
He admitted having collected about US$1 000 from the driller and he agreed to pay me the money. He proved this to the police and he agreed to pay me through his lawyer. He was to pay me two equal instalments within two weeks. I only got US$500 and the guy disappeared.
I continued looking for the driller and I managed to locate him. Initially he said he had paid all the amount to the debt collector. When I asked him to show the proof of payment he failed and then finally agreed that he had paid only US$1 000. So as I write this letter I am still pursuing my money and I am praying that I recover it in full. – Passvelly Chiminya
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And here is a bit of advice from a reader called “BC”
Insist on the following if you are able to: (1) if required, pay the deposit on commencement of the actual work on the ground, and the balance either on completion or as per agreed instalments; (2) use only reputable contractors with a track record; (3) carry out background checks on contractors you have just met (4) have agreements reduced to writing for purposes of re-course in the event of non-delivery or other problems. Otherwise walk away. There are many contractors and service providers competing for work.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter