Macro sold me an item that did not work and ignored any attempts at resolution

I purchased a Terrace Leisure offset barrel smoker for R2500 for my son for Christmas 2020. He used it for the first time for New Years dinner smoking a 2kg brisket. According to the recipe the smoker had to be maintained at a temperature of 150 degrees C for about 4 hours. Despite using 3 full 4kg bags of charcoal briquettes, the maximum the temperature got to was 110 degrees. After 7 hours the brisket was nowhere near cooked so we tried to finish it the oven, but it was ruined.

After investigating on line, we identified that the smoker was supposed to be sealed tight to prevent heat loss. We inspected the smoker and noticed that there was a 1 cm gap between the barrel and the lid all across the back of the drum which allowed all the heat to escape, clearly a significant design flaw.

We then used the smoker as a normal braai on two subsequent occasions, by which time the black paint started to blister and peel off the sides from the heat and the drum started to rust. This was even though the smoker is kept on a covered veranda.

I emailed Macro customer care in early Feb, attaching photos of the rust and the gap, and requesting confirmation that I could return the smoker for a refund.

Besides the automated acknowledgement of receipt I had no response, and had to follow up on several occasions, I was eventually informed that the matter had been escalated. Within a day after this response I received an auto email requesting that I rate the service received from Customer Care. After not hearing anything for another day I went into the auto email to rate their service, but when I clicked on the link, received an error response saying that the ticket had been resolved and closed.

I repeated my complaint on 2 subsequent occasions during Feb and the only response I received was that the matter had been elevated despite threatening to report the matter to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman.

These complaints tickets were all closed a couple of days after lodging as "resolved"

In a final attempt to resolve, I physically took the smoker back to Macro, which given the size meant it had to be disassembled. I was informed that I could not get a refund or return as I had not returned it in its original packaging and the item had been used.

I will never shop at Macro again as they are only concerned about the sale, not after sales service.

I am still waiting for resolution via the Ombudsman.