Makro Sold Me a Used Demo Laptop as "Brand New" — Now Refuses to Confirm a Refund

I bought an ASUS X1504VAP laptop at Makro Springfield, Durban, on 21 July 2026, paying full retail price (R10,001.70) for what was sold to me as a brand-new, factory-sealed unit.

It wasn't. When I registered the laptop with ASUS, the warranty showed only 8 months remaining, despite being told in-store the laptop carries a 2-year warranty. That discrepancy only makes sense if the unit had already been active for months before I bought it. When I raised this, Makro Springfield staff confirmed in writing that the unit was in fact a demo/display model, sold to me at full new-unit price without any disclosure at the point of sale.

On top of this, the laptop has excessive fan noise, repeated system crashes, and a defective left speaker, faults consistent with a unit that's already seen real-world use.

Despite Makro's own written admission, they are refusing to commit to a refund or a genuinely new replacement. Instead, they insist I hand the laptop back so it can be sent away to the manufacturer for a "technical assessment," with no guaranteed outcome, effectively treating an admitted case of misrepresentation as an ordinary repair claim.

I've formally logged this with the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (***-***), and I've also written to the Moja Love (DStv Channel 157) show X-Repo, because this isn't just about my laptop. If Makro is willing to sell a used demo unit as new to me, I have no reason to believe I'm the only person this has happened to.

If you've bought any electronics from Makro recently, especially a laptop, I'd strongly encourage you to register the warranty with the manufacturer immediately and check the start date against your purchase date. If there's a gap, you may have been sold used stock as new too.