Giving online shopping a bad name

<p>I collected money from over 20 people to purchase a 40th birthday gift for a friend. She requested a Magimix and suggested ANS wholesalers as they had them on offer for a good price of R4593,62. I was nervous to pay such a big amount to a company I had never heard of, but they had a good online review, no negative reviews and were helpful on the telephone. I ordered the magimix, received my order confirmation and tax invoice.</p> <p> </p> <p>A few days later on the 14th November, I received an email saying that my order had been shipped. I received a call on the 16th November to say the courier truck had been involved in an accident and the Magimix was damaged.</p> <p>I was told they can replace it in January but I will have to pay the new price of +/- R5899 Excluding VAT or I can get a refund. I did not feel I should have had to pay more for the Magimix, I had 23 people relying on me and I would have had to pay in over R1000. I felt thathaving paid for an item that was damaged (due to no fault of my own) the retailer should replace it at their own expense. </p> <p> </p> <p>I therefore had to accept a refund and purchase the magimix elsewhere at over R5800 and have the birthday girl cover the difference - this is unacceptable and I do not feel that ANS wholesalers dealt with the issue appropriately at all - they should have covered the cost. </p> <p> </p>