Poor Customer Care

I am writing to you because I am totally disgusted with the service provided by Hi Fi Corporation.

I am seventy one years old and needed to buy a new laptop. I decided to buy on online. I was advised by many people not to buy from you but went against them and went ahead. Because of my age with hypertension and diabetes, risk of Covid 19, online purchase seemed the best option .

So on 28 December 2020, I purchased the Packard Bell PB 15 Notebook which was advertised with Windows 10 Home with my Debit card to the amount of R4699.00.

I waited for some kind of confirmation of my purchase but none came.

I then wrote on Hi Fi Corp messenger enquiring about this but didn't get much help immediately. After writing to and fro and sending proof of purchase, the provided me with an order number of ***.

Being worried because I did not hear from Hi Fi Corp online I kept writing to Messenger.

Then on 30 December 2021, without any warning a courier delivered the Notebook to my house and my husband received it. The Invoice No. For the purchase is *** and Shipment ID is ***.

When I opened the notebook, the instruction was to go to Settings to activate Windows. I tried but failed. I then wrote back to Hi Fi Corp stating the problem and also I couldn't use the notebook without having the charger plugged in. They told me to take it to the nearest store. I am 71 and this was the reason for buying online

I got a call from a person in the technical division of Packard Bell on 11/01/2021 who agreed with me to change the laptop. But he said someone would phone me first.to arrange a pickup.

Then at 15:45 on the same day a driver from FedEx came to pick up the notebook. I hadn't received the expected phone call nor had he any documentation to say that he was taking it away and refused to give it to him.

I then wrote to various stores explaining my problem and also asked for a refund. I then got a call from a lady who said that a courier would come to pick up the notebook and she assured me that I would get a refund. Nobody came. I wrote back on Messenger and they said to take it in to a store. So today (21/01/2021) in the company of my 81 year old husband, we drove to Arbor Crossing from Queensburgh with the Notebook.

At Customer Care, the assistant certainly was clueless as to what she was about. I explained to her that I needed Windows 10 to be activated and she kept saying 'office'. She then told me that Windows 10 is on the Notebook and I would have to buy the Windows package to activate it. She made it appear that she was calling somebody but of course after 71 years, one can easily tell when a person is lying. I asked to see the manager a number of times but she wouldn't call him. She then told me she was installing Windows which wasn't true. She asked for the Invoice which of course I didn't have because Hi Fi Corp didnt give me one in the first place. All I had was the delivery note. Eventually after one and a half hours, I asked again to see the manager. She goes and comes bad saying the manager is on the way. A person comes in and he is one of the floor staff (You can't fool a 71 year old). Anyway I finally got through to him that the notebook I had was different to the one on the floor because my one hadn't had Windows 10 Home activated. He finally saw the light and asked her to arrange for it to be taken in for an assessment

I would appreciate it if you could please assist me in sorting this matter out R4699 is a lot of money to a pensioner let alone buying the Windows10 package. I realise days have passed but I have been trying to sort this out even before I received the Notebook and I do need it to work