Terrible experience

Hello Peter

My wife and I have had the worse experience ever when we decided to buy a brand new Defy Fridge Model C300 /226l from Makro Springfield Park in Durban. We paid for the fridge on Sunday the 24.02.2019 and scheduled delivery for Saturday the 02.03.2019 as thats when we moved into our new place. Delivery was received promptly at 12 noon on the 02.03.2019 and the assistant advised we should allow the fridge to stand for 3 hours for the gas to settle. We followed those instructions. At 3pm we plugged in the fridge and went to do our monthly groceries as we just moved in. We got back at 5pm and loaded our fridge with all our perishables and meat stuff. I noticed that the freezer part seemed to be cool but the fridge part seemed like it was not working. It raised concerns but we said we will monitor it. By Sunday the 03.03.2019 it was definitely not working and the freezer had stopped cooling as well so we went to the returns department same day at 2pm. They said they have to log a call and a technician will come out to view the faulty brand new fridge within 72hours. Someone visited on Wednesday the 06.03.2019 ,3 days later and had a look saying the compressor needs to be replaced, need to flush the unit and regas. By this time we were besides ourselves.A new unit less than 3 days old needs to be repaired, thats absurd, we proposed a brand new unit. We have a newborn baby and his yogurt and purity started going off by Wednesday. I followed up with customer services and spoke to (Defy agent) and he advised the (Regional Service Manager Defy) in Durban needs to make a decision as we have refused to get the device repaired. I sent the trailing email below for a conclusion as this has been dragging on for almost a week. We made use of cooler boxes and buying ice daily trying to save our meat and vegetables.

Finally Ismail confirms yesterday the 07.03.2019 that I must go into the store and they will uplift and replace. I visited the store this morning 08.03.2019 and they did all the paperwork so I am expecting a new fridge tomorrow and the will collect the brand new defective one.

After all the exhausting fighting all my meat stuff and my kids stuff had gone off. Makro now says defy is held responsible as they are the manufacturer and they are the retailer so they wont get involved for the compensation of my lost perishables due to them selling me a defective product. Defy have come back to say the warranty does not cover the perishables only the unit.

Do we have a justified fight against Makro and Defy? Can you help us get justice as consumers as we feel ******, short changed and sidelined by these retail giants and consumers need to be aware so that they cant get bul**** if not careful. Also to create consumer awareness

I also have photos as proof of all my food products and a video for proof if you need.

Regards

Algin Goldman **********