Refund “processed” weeks ago — still not received, no proof provided

I am still waiting on a refund for a missing item from my order (Case ***5, Order ***), which Estée Lauder has claimed was “processed” since 27 May 2026. It is now the end of June and I have contacted their support team more than 8 times across multiple chats.

Every time I follow up, I get a different agent telling me the same thing — “the refund was approved,” “please wait 5-7 business days,” “I’m sorry for the inconvenience” — but when I asked for actual proof of payment (a transaction ID or EFT reference), nobody could provide one. I contacted my bank, ABSA, directly, and they confirmed no such refund has been received.

This has been over a month of being told to “wait” for a refund that, according to my bank, was never actually sent. I’ve now had to escalate this to the National Consumer Commission, since Estée Lauder’s customer service has been unable to resolve this or provide any real evidence the refund exists. I would not recommend shopping with Estée Lauder South Africa until they can demonstrate they actually process refunds as promised.