Geite - unprofessional and inconsiderate with zero customer service

After seeing a FB post from Geite & Goeters stating that the final date for placing orders that would be received before Christmas for personalized doormats was 16 December I decided to place an order. I called early on Tuesday, 17/12 to confirm that the order was received and to ask when delivery would be made. I was assure that it would be done by the latest at the end of the week (20/12). This was going to be perfect because I was leaving for my holiday on 21/12. The entire experience however turned out to be so far from perfect that I will never purchase from Geite again and will dissuade everyone I can from doing so too.

On Thursday evening, 19/12 I realized that I had not received the order and proceeded to try and contact Geite on Friday from 08:30 onwards. There was no answer on the contact number listed on the website (either by telephone or on Whatsapp) and the email responses seemed to be auto-generated as they did not reply to my questions nor call me back which I requested several times. In fact, there was zero customer service involved – no acknowledgement that there was an issue or accountability on the part of Geite at all. Only after resorting to posting on FB did I get a reply. It was unprofessional, aggressive and entirely unapologetic to say the least. Geite also saw it fit to post my personal contact information on FB which they only took down upon my request.

I suggested on one of my emails that the parcel be mailed to an alternate address which was eventually agreed to. I was once again assure that I would have the parcel by Monday, 23/12, at the alternative address provided. I received an email on Sunday evening saying that the parcel had been dispatched. On Monday I was again not able to contact anyone by phone at Geite. I requested a tracking number (on email) and was told that I could not have one as the “paperwork was lost”. I contacted the courier company and asked for their help. After searching against all parameters possible, the courier concluded that there was definitely no parcel en route to me.

The parcel arrived on 24/12 at the original address making it entirely useless to me. I received a Whatsapp on 25/12 asking whether I had received my parcel. I informed Geite that I had not and since it was now at the incorrect location - despite all assurances - it was completely useless to me. The last message received was "I do apologise and will find out why this was done." I requested a refund.

Not only did I not receive the gift as promised (either on 20/12 or 23/12) but since that message of 25/12 I have also not received a refund or heard anything at all from Geite. The entire experience was horrific and most disappointing; it was made all the more so because of the fact that the item was intended as a Christmas gift.

Upon checking HelloPeter it became clear to me that this type of terrible service seems to be the norm for Geite as the same thing has happened to several other people too.