Refund taking way longer than expected

I purchased a pair of shoes online and had to return them because the sole was coming loose, they agreed to refund me and said that it would take 14 business days to process, That was from 16/01/2024. I have since been requested to send my bank statements and I did that too. It has now been passed onto a special team to investigate. No news as yet obviously! This is an international brand, is it just a South African thing or does this happen all around the world?