Very poor customer service experience

I was today exposed to a very poor example of a company hiding behind its rules with no customer care and certainly no concern for customer satisfaction.

Let me be open and upfront--the whole experience was based on my mistake and Makro Woodmead's very poor implementation of the basics of customer service and concern for customer satisfaction.

My mistake was to believe that Makro would stand behind the quality of the products it sells AND to believe that Makro Woodmead would be concerned about their customer's experience. I was wrong on both counts!

Makro Woodmead's point of view appears to be that the customer is wrong!

Details of my experience: I purchased (on Wednesday 17 January 2024) a suitcase that I was to use on an international flight. This is an important point--the intent was that the suitcase would be strong enough to survive the mistreatment that all luggage experiences on flights--local or international! On Thursday 18 January 2024 my wife noticed that one of the corner reinforcing inserts was cracked. Today, Friday 19 January 2024 I returned to Makro Woodmead to exchange the suitcase for one that was not damaged to be met by an attitude that can best be described as unhelpful. The position taken by both the salesperson and her manager was that I must have abused the product (dropped it, etc). That the product was clearly not up to the intended use (as luggage to be used on an international flight) was irrelevant. The only action that they would consider was to send the suitcase back to the manufacturer for assessment--to take at least 6 weeks! And since the manager involved in the debate thought that I had abused the suitcase concerned the suitcase would not be exchanged no matter the assessment from the manufacturer.

I have no choice but to use this suitcase--I leave on my travels within the next 10 days. BUT I will not use Makro Woodmead for any purchases unless they are the only source, in other words where I have no choice but to risk being abused again!

My advice to all readers--check in great detail every aspect (quality and or intended use) of the purchases of durable or semi-durable products that you make at Makro before you go through the checkout BECAUSE once you have paid for those products any problems that you might have will be your fault. Makro will not deviate from its own rules which are designed to protect Makro and to try to place any cost/inconvenience on the customer.