Disastrous Customer Service Experience at Makro

I have never imagined that a company as large as Makro could offer such abysmal customer service. Last Monday, on July 15, 2024, my partner and I visited Makro Centurion to purchase a Samsung 13kg top loader washing machine. The sales consultant informed us that they were out of stock except for the display model, and suggested checking the Makro online store for availability. Following their advice, we successfully placed an order online that same evening without any issues. However, all we received was a confirmation of "Order Received" with no further updates.

To our shock, on Wednesday evening around 6:00 PM, my partner received an email stating that our order had been cancelled and we would be refunded. Confused and frustrated, we contacted Makro's call centre on Thursday morning, which turned out to be an ordeal in itself due to their incredibly unhelpful service. We were informed that our order was cancelled due to stock unavailability and that the refund could take anywhere from 2 to 10 working days.

The situation took an even more absurd turn on Friday morning when my partner received another email from Makro Polokwane stating that our order had been packed and was ready for courier delivery. After more calls, we were told that the initial cancellation email was sent by mistake. By this point, we had already purchased a replacement machine from a different provider out of necessity, since Makro had cancelled our order.

We made it clear to the call centre that we were not interested in the machine anymore and demanded our money back. The consultant assured us that the order was cancelled and the refund was processed. However, on Monday morning at 8:00 AM, we received a call from the courier in Polokwane asking when he could deliver the machine. This was utterly frustrating, as Makro still had our money and their product, and we just wanted a refund promptly.

Every day since then, we have been calling Makro, pleading for our money to be returned. It's incredibly tiresome dealing with *********** call centre agents who provide conflicting information every time we call. We are simply asking for our money back as soon as possible, without any more excuses from Makro's useless call centre consultants. This experience has been a nightmare, and we expect better from a company of Makro's stature. Order number