Poor service on refund

I returned an item at the VAAL store on 07/10/2023. On the day, I was given a credit note and informed that a refund would be made to my credit card within 7 days. On return, it was confirmed that the item was not damaged and in good order (it was still in the original packaging.

I called the national call centre on 18/10/2023 to follow up on the refund, and was advised that the refund was still pending, but the matter would be escalated. I called again on 20/10/2023, as I had not received any communication on the matter as promised. I was advised that the refund was still pending and the consultant explicitly requested that I be contacted regarding the status of the refund.

I called again on 24/10/2023 and spoke to Nkosinathi who provided a masterclass in indifference and poor customer service (in much the same manner as Makro as a whole). - I was advised that the refund was still pending as the item still had to be assessed, despite the fact that it was assessed on 07/10/2023. As a result, the refund would still take 7-14 days after the assessment is completed. Later on in the call he advised that the delay was because of my bank. Which one is it? If one of the above, the other is a blatant lie.

- I was advised that the usual queries are escalated and responded to within 48 hours, but as a repeat caller, it has been escalated to the highest level. I would expect that the fact that I had received no response after 6 days would be sufficient reason to escalate. Why is the onus on the customer to follow up?

My simple questions are: - Why has this taken so long? - When will I get my refund? - Why is the follow up on a query managed so poorly?