Very disappointing online purchasing experience

Sent the below email on 21 September, the only feedback I got was a call from a floor sales person who asked if I the fridge was working and if I would like them to send a technician. 9 Days later, still no response to my email.

Dear Makro Customer Service and Online teams

I hope this finds you all well.

Please ensure that this email reaches the appropriate level of management.

I'm writing this email to share my recent online purchasing experience of a Defy refrigerator, my order number is MAK***.

This is quite a long and detailed email, your patience would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if this type of situation occurs often with online sales, but I really hope that this will help shed some light on the customer's perspective in order to prevent this from happening to other customers.

I placed my order and paid for it on September 11 and opted for courier delivery (R90) to my home address.

I kept checking the status of the order on my online profile on a daily basis, especially because estimated delivery is 2-5 days and I wanted to make sure that there will be someone available at the address when the item is delivered.

On Thursday, September 16, I sent an email to Makro Online to find out what was going on as the order status was still on "Packed" which meant that it had not yet been dispatched. I received an email back from Makro Online on Friday stating that they will follow up and get back to me.

On Thursday evening at around 19:00 I received a call from a courier who was at my home address to deliver this item. This was a massive surprise, especially because the online order status was still "Packed" and no tracking info was available. The problem is that I was away and the courier was unable to confirm when he will be driving through Barrydale again as to deliver on a later date. I had to ask a special favour from my landlord, who luckily has a spare key and was available at the drop of a hat to drive to my address and receive the fridge.

This all could have been avoided if the online order status was updated and tracking information had been made available. I could have planned around the delivery date. But there was zero communication from Makro that allowed for any planning. Please refer to screenshots 1, 2 & 3 of the online order status (In Progress) and inaccurate tracking information (or lack thereof). These screenshots were taken on Sunday, September 19 and remain unchanged at the time of sending this email - that is 5 days after delivery had taken place.

When I got back home, I noticed that the fridge had been delivered upside down. I don't buy fridges often, but I'm confident that it's highly advised against turning a fridge upside down. Oh, that is besides the very large and clear writing on more than one place on the packaging. This just baffles me as the writing on the packaging is clearly upside down. It is also advised against in the instruction manual. Please refer to attached photos 1, 2, 3 & 4. How did the courier not notice this in order to advise against transporting or delivering a fridge upside down? Surely the courier is supposed to know the correct way to deliver a fridge, especially if they have delivered fridges in the past and on an ongoing basis.

I turned the fridge right side up, luckily it is relatively light so I could manage it on my own. As I started removing the packaging, it started to feel like I had bought a used or demo model. Perhaps the fridge was already damaged when it was packaged, maybe the quality control wasn't done properly, that the packaging didn't provide enough protection or the fridge was not handled well during transport.

To list the faults/damage I noticed: - Scratches on the top of freezer door (refer to attached photos 5, 6 & 7) - Excess glue/insulation foam/white residue on top of freezer door that cannot be removed with cloth and soapy water and sits in the groove between the door and top plastic strip (refer to attached photos 8, 9 & 10) I wouldn't have been as bothered by this if it had been on the back or sides, but it's on the front. - Scratches on top of bottom door close to top hinge (refer to photo 11 & 12). Scratches on front towards bottom of fridge body near bottom door hinge (refer to photos 21, 22, & 23). It is almost as if this happened when installing the bottom door. - Deep scratches on the bottom of the plastic drawer and inside at the bottom of the fridge floor (refer to photos 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17). The bottom of the raised section of the drawer has completely mattified in some places and the scratches inside the fridge are a brownish colour which is also rough to the touch and cannot be removed with a cloth and soapy water. Surely there should have been some padding underneath the drawer and the drawer secured in lace with tape to prevent it from moving around during transit? - Dent on the front of the bottom door near the bottom of the fridge (refer to photos 18, 19 & 20). - Egg tray, round clips, ice cube tray and instruction manual were lying loose inside the fridge when I opened it. Surely these things should have been in a packet and taped to the inside of the fridge to prevent these loose objects from falling around and causing damage to the inside of the fridge during transit?

Despite all of this, the fridge seems to be working fine. It makes a bit of a sound but perhaps that is normal. I'm really hoping that the fridge doesn't develop any major mechanical problems down the line because of how it has been handled.

Makro customer services eventually responded on Tuesday, September 21 confirming that their records state that the fridge had been delivered. (Request ***)

I truly hope that this email will land up in the right person's inbox and that some investigation will take place to establish how and where things went wrong.

Your feedback will be highly appreciated.