***** at Cash Converters Hillfox

My 14 year old daughter has been looking to buy a digital camera on her own. She found a Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR advertised by Cash Converters Hillfox for what she thought was a good price. Very excited and enthusiastically she made arrangements to go through and purchase the camera. Drove the almost 70km round and then started the excitement of setting it up and taking pictures.

Her disappointment started with searching for a memory card for the camera which should be an easy task but none of the stores seamed to have what the camera needed. More hours of research, phone calls & driving around we find a very helpful assistant at Digital Experience Fourways Crossing that explains that the camera takes a Compact Flash Card at R1395 which is R1000 more than an equivalent SD Card but then goes on to explains that my daughter has not bought a Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR as she was lead to believe but rather an older Canon EOS 7D. Hence the reason for my review!

It gets better...

I (Dad) phone the store yesterday to talk to the manager (Jeanette) who immediately tells me they know it was not a Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR and I must please check the receipt but she is sorry and I am welcome to return the camera for a full refund or keep the camera & they will give me R500 back. She wanted proof that it was advertised as the Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR which I sent to her the same screen shot my wife showed their sales person in the store on her WhatsApp, to which she asked for time to talk to the owner & would get back to me today.

This afternoon she sends me a WhatsApp message explaining that she spoke to the owner of the store & their WEB store manager and then highlights the clause 9.2 under their T&C's and attached a photo of the T&C's to excuse their actions and responsibility but still offers a full refund if my daughter returns the camera.

I then phone Jeanette to discuss the WhatsApp message to which she again apologises. I tried to explain my dissatisfaction with the offer as we have incurred additional expenses on time, travel & the accessory card which she has no interest in paying for. She even laughed at me when I suggested that it is ***** & when I requested that she discuss the refund amount with her boss and get back to me, she cut me off & never returned my call! I honestly think that this is not just a simple typo but rather a very clever tactic on their part to make a sale of an item disguised as something newer.

They had every opportunity to tell my wife when she arrived at the store to pay for the camera that it was not a Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR as advertised when she showed the sales person (Shane C.) the advertised item she was looking for.

Which they did not!

If as Jeanette immediately admitted when I phoned her that it was not a Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR and all the staff were well aware of this fact, then they should have made a definite point of explaining to anyone that came into the store with the copy of the on-line add requesting the product, that it was not the product advertised but rather an older product. Even go so far as to make the customer sign a document acknowledging the fact that they are purchasing an item that was falsely advertised.

Which they did not!

So at this point I think I will give her boss time to call me tomorrow morning and either resolve this matter to my satisfaction or I rather just open a case of ***** at my local police station.

Looking forward to their response!

Regards Miguel