HIFI Corp Run Around

Foreword: I have been eyeing the TCL TV brand for about 30 months now and always told myself that if I saw one at a really good price, I would buy it. I was looking online for retailers I know that they normally sell the brand for what the prices are since I am busy with a mini remodel of my home and need a TV for my daughter's room. One of the first places I looked at was HIFI Corporation, their prices are normally not very good, but they do carry a wide variety of TV brands. I was pleased to learn that HIFI Corp was having a really good "Black Tag" sale and the TCL brand was heavily discounted. I then decided to apply for store credit as the mini remodel had drained all my available funds.

01/11/2023 I was online and decided to apply for credit on the HIFI Corporation website, and the application process wasn't too intense and a few minutes after supplying all the required information, I received the following SMS from HIFI Corp. "Dear Chad Fell. You provisionally qualify for R65,000! Visit N1 CITY - HiFiCorp, Shop 31 & 32, N1 City Mall, Louwtjie Rothman Road, Goodwood, Cape Town with your ID, 3x Bank Statements, latest Payslip and quote your reference ***. Offer valid for 7 days", Needless to say, I was excited because I eye was also hoping to buy the "Sony 65-inch 4K OLED TV 65A80J" for R 29,999, marked down from R 54,999.

04/11/2023 I went to the HIFI Corporation store in N1 City with my bank statements and payslip. One of the friendly cashiers helped me. After struggling for about 30min with a reapplication as she explained to me the online application as no bearing or link to a store application. I thought why didn't HIFI corp just tell me this online. We then waited for her to do her thing for about 30.40 minutes before she called the manager over "Matthew". He was friendly as well, he then attempted to re-submitte my application and became stuck in the same place the cashier did. He also did a bank-mandated debi check on my current account, which I thought was weird, as I don't even know if I qualify for credit and for how much. He informed me that I provisionally qualify for R1 7000.00, which still wasn't bad as I have already set my heart on the TCL deal (TCL 65 C645 4K HDR Google TV + 2,1 Channel 200W Sound Bar) for R 9,999. Matthew then asked us if we could walk around or go have something to eat while he tried to submit the documents. We went to Mugg & Bean and were back in the store after about 45 minutes. after 20 minutes I received a call and Matthew informed my friend that he would call me on Monday morning, as it seemed the documents did not want to submit. We then left the store as we had wasted 2.5 hours trying to submit a few documents.

06/11/2023 After waiting all-day I decided to call HIFI Corp at 16:05. I spoke to a young lady who could not spell or listen to dictation as I had to repeat my ID number several times to her. She informed me that Matthew was off but she will get someone from finance to give me a call. I waited and around 5 thought they would not call as it would be the end of the day for office staff.

07/11/2023 At around 14:07 I decided to call the store again, this time I spoke to a young gent "Timothy" I think, who informed me that Matthew was working, he is just busy with a customer, he took my details and promised that Matthew would call back. I called the store again at around 16:34, and was told the same story. I was starting to get annoyed.

08/11/2023 At around 05:49 am, I reached out to the HIFI Corp WhatsApp bot and tried to get some assistance from them. Chat lasted around 8 minutes, and the following text was the last message I received from them "We have received your request, An agent will contact you during our working hours. Click below to return to the Main Menu". I then waited for the agent and at around 11:34 I received a call from an agent, who informed me that they needed to re-submit my application and would have an answer for me at around 14:00 pm. At around 16:35 I called the store again, as I wasn't getting the promised call, and was informed that the application was successful and that I qualified for 17K. Now I can by the the TV, well that's what I thought. I went straight online and selected the products I wanted to buy, it was the TV, TV bracket, and USB C cable for my daughter. Everything went well, until I tried to pay for the items, when I chose the delivery option as it was free, and clicked on to "continue to payment", I received the following message, "With limited TCL 65-Inch QLED Google TV-65C645 stock, limited delivery areas apply. We apologize for the inconvenience, please remove the product from your cart to proceed. We are working hard to make sure more products become available to your location in the future.". I then decided to choose the click-and-collect option. I clicked on the collect option and then received this message "No stock available for Click and Collect or In Store purchase. Please purchase using the delivery option.". I then decided to call the store again, at around 17:48 and spoke to Tobin. He informed me that they had no stock and that Mitchells Plain had no stock either. He then provided me with the customer service number, who apparently could help me. I decided to give them a call the next day.

09/11/2023 At 08:16 am I called the customer services dept of HIFI Corp and spoke to Lerato, who told me there is nothing she can do. She did find some stock for the products I wanted to purchase in Gauteng & KZN, but no IBT's allowed, but I could try and arrange one from the store. I called the store at around 08:47 (no answer) and then again at around 09:59, and spoke to Tyronne. The bottom line is that the store does not IBT's, and that no stock from other regions is allowed. I was wondering if the TVs were made in-store. I then spoke to the on-duty manager "Manela", who told me she would email the buyer and find out when they would send stock to the store. She said she would call me back, this was around 10:03.

10/11/2023 I called the store again to speak to Manela, she was busy with a customer. I called at 11:01 again and spoke to her, she hadn't checked her mails yet and was going to get back to me. No call back from Manela.

I am beyond livid with this level of service. None of the people who said they would call me back called, other than the service desk agent who called as a result of me logging a query on WhatsApp. No one at HIFI Corp was able to or willing to, to go the extra mile to help a customer. At every turn, there were stumbling blocks and roadblocks impossible to overcome for these people. All I wanted was the TV at the price they advertised. Nowhere on the website do they tell you that there is no stock in the Western Cape until you click on secure payment and then call the store. When I was doing my application Matthew told me they had plenty of stock, and the TVs weren't being displayed as it wasn't been unpacked yet. I think they holding them back because of the price, as they have two TVs for the same price on the website, but one has a free sound bar. I think this a despicable practice from this retailer and something should be done.