Clicks stole my money and never processed my refund!

On 29 February 2020 I placed an order with Clicks online for R599.97. The goods were delivered on 4 March. Since placing my order for the goods, I changed my mind about needing the goods. There was nothing wrong with the goods received. I changed my mind after I received them and no longer required them. The merchant allows for this as long as the goods are returned in brand new condition, which they were. The goods were returned to Clicks Rosehill Mall store and were happily accepted back. A refund was processed to the same card used to purchase the goods online, which was my cheque card. However, after 3 weeks the refund never came through to my account.

On 20 March 2020 an email was sent to the Standard Bank Prestige Banking email address to question this with Standard Bank. I was told to fill out a "Chargeback Dispute" form and email it to another email address, which I did on 29 March 2020.

I have been contacted by Lebo Monare from Standard Bank asking for copies of the till slips from Clicks to proof the refund was processed. These were provided. On 2 April 2020 an amount of R599.97 was credited to my account without receiving any communication from anyone at Standard Bank, but I assumed the matter had been settled as the amount was refunded to me.

On 17 April I received an email from Julia Kelabetso from Standard Bank which I could not understand as it used technical banking language. The result of the email said that my account would be debited for the amount of R599.97 again. I rep**** to the email to try to understand why this was happening, but have not received a response.

On 21 April 2020 I received a phone call from Lebo Monare saying that Clicks’ bank (Nedbank) is refusing to refund the money as the goods have been received. This was never the issue – I never claimed the goods were not received, but I have returned them and have proof of this.

On the same day (21 April) I then contacted Clicks directly advising them of the issue. On approximately 18 May I was finally phoned by “Willeen” from the Clicks Online team and advised that I could either go to Clicks Rosehill to collect the cash that I was owed, or wait for a refund to be processed to my card, which would take 14 business days. Due to the COVID crisis, I opted for the refund to be processed to my card as I did not want to put myself at risk by going into the store. I asked her to send me an email as proof in writing of what we had discussed and to confirm that the refund would be processed.

I have still not received any confirmation of this telephonic conversation and have yet to receive any kind of refund in my account. It has now been more than 14 working days.

This refund should have been received on 4 March. It is now 5 June and I have not received my money. That is 3 months. I expect my money back with interest as well as an apology and an explanation as to how this situation was handled so incredibly badly, and what will be done to ensure this does not happen to anyone ever again.