Frustrating Exchange Experience and Voucher Dispute

I purchased a jacket from Adidas Online using a Sanlam Marathon voucher. Upon receiving my order, I realised that the jacket was too large (XL). I contacted the Adidas Canal Walk store to enquire about exchanging it for a Medium (M) size. I was advised that exchanges for online purchases could not be processed in-store and that I would need to arrange the exchange through Adidas Online. As I could not find an exchange option on the website, I contacted Adidas Online Customer Care (***) on 1 June 2026 and spoke to Victor. He sent me a link and attempted to process the exchange on his end. However, while I was still on the call with him, I noticed that the link required me to make payment again. Victor then advised me to return the jacket and assured me that once the item was received at the warehouse, Adidas would process the exchange internally, as their website does not provide a customer exchange option.

The jacket was delivered to the warehouse on 4 June 2026. When I contacted Adidas to follow up on the promised exchange, I was informed that they would only refund the top-up amount of R259 and that the voucher portion of the payment would not be refunded because it had been issued by a third party. This effectively meant that I would forfeit my voucher. My concern is that Victor never disclosed this information before advising me to return the item. Had I been informed that returning the jacket would result in the loss of my voucher, I would have considered alternative options. Instead, I was assured that the exchange could be processed once the item reached the warehouse.

I believe Adidas Online should honour the exchange and provide me with the correct jacket size. It is unreasonable for customers to bear the consequences of incorrect information provided by customer service representatives or limitations within Adidas' online systems. On 8 June 2026, I spoke with Deborah and her manager, who assured me that a replacement voucher would be issued so that I could purchase the jacket in the correct size. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the promised email and have received no further communication.

This experience has been extremely disappointing. I simply want to exchange my jacket for the correct size and expect Adidas to honour the commitments made by its customer service team.