ABSOLUTELY NO REGARD, RESPECT AND INTEGRITY FOR ITS CONSUMERS!!

It is with great disgust, disappointment and anguish that I had to resort to publicly calling out what I thought was a reputable company due to its incompetence and lack of respect for its clients.

I have, after several months of tolerating bad service, outrageous delays and every contravention of fair business practices on the part of Home Choice, decided to write this review. I have been a client for several years. However my loyalty counts for nothing considering the lack of customer service and outright incompetence that I have experienced this year.

In May 2020 I decided to buy a laptop for my daughter who is currently studying in university. Unfortunately we realized within the first 2 weeks that there were issues with the laptop and we decided to return it. We went to the Homechoice offices and we were advised to leave it. The initial timeline we were given was 3 weeks.

After about a month of absolutely no correspondence from Home Choice, we called the Joburg offices. That’s when we were informed that the laptop is yet to go to the Repairs department and we were not given a clear indication of what the delay was. A few weeks later, they called me asking if they can erase all the information on the laptop as part of repairing it - we gave them the go-ahead within minutes and I even have this on email.

2 weeks later, I decided to go there physically to find out what was happening. I got multiple versions from different people. One said the laptop had already been delivered to us, the other said it is being held back by us because we did not respond to their email regarding wiping out all documents on the laptop. They opened up their emails and saw our response and said the Repairs department is still busy with it. The confusion, incompetence and nonchalant attitude of Homechoice employees at the Joburg offices as well as the call center is shocking. After this incident I still had to be the one to call Homechoice and follow up on the matter because my daughter is writing her exams in a few weeks time.

I spoke to a consultant on Tuesday who promised to call me with feedback by COB on Tuesday (13/10/2020). AGAIN, I had to be the one to call them and follow up since no one bothered to call me back. I spoke to a lady called Gcobisa who showed absolutely no empathy towards this appalling situation (15/10/2020). I asked to be given a direct contact at the Repairs department and to speak her manager and she blatantly told me they will not tell me anything different from what she has already told me. I called the head office on Friday morning (16/10/2020) and spoke to Sipho and Asavela who kept giving the same Repairs department issue and basically refused to escalate the issue. I then made another call and spoke to a lady called Lennet and her manager Rochell - as well as Rochell's manager, Meryln. None of these people have been helpful no empathetic and it says a great deal about how much Homechoice cares and respects its customers!

The blatant disregard for me as a customer is atrocious. Such arrogance at times like these when businesses are struggling boggles my mind. In actual fact, at no time should clients be treated in this manner.

My daughter is due to write exams in a month's time, she still does not have a laptop. FOUR MONTHS after our initial request to either replace or repair the laptop, we are still being given the run around. You continue to deduct your payments EVERY MONTH with no hesitation and I still don't have my daughter's laptop. To say I am absolutely infuriated is an understatement! I will be taking up this issue with the National Credit Regulator - Homechoice cannot continue to treat clients this way. You have contravened every regulation pertaining to me as a consumer by withholding what is rightfully mine whilst still expecting payment. The length of time taken to resolve this issue has far surpassed what is reasonable.