PEP Parklands manageress - ARROGANT ATTITUDE AND REFUSES TO REFUND FAULTY PHONE PURCHASED.

I am incredibly unhappy and so very angry at the service I have received at the PEP PARKLANDS BRANCH, from the manageress.

i purchased a phone (Mint Orion) from your parklands branch on the 24th of Dec, as a gift for my boyfriend. He is unfortunately not happy with the phone, has tried using the phone and finds that the phone is incredibly slow, the apps run so slow that they end up freezing & crashing. Even the MTN app meant for the phone keeps giving an error when trying to install it. The phone struggles to stay connected to the network, so constantly searches for the network .. i gave him the receipt and told him to see if there was a different phone that would be better for him to use, otherwise he should request a refund.. he went back to the branch Thursday 27th Dec and after not seeing anything else suitable for him within the price range he spoke with the manager, and explained the phone was a gift, and that it’s not working properly, its very slow and the apps are freezing and crashing and he would like a refund... the manager scrolled through the phone for a few seconds, and then refused to do a refund saying there is nothing wrong with the phone.

On Friday 28th we both went to the store to speak the manager.. and this time I actually took photos and a video clip of the errors the phone was giving to prove to her that the phone is giving problems and we would like a refund. She refused to look at the proof I had and refused to look at the phone, saying there is nothing wrong with the phone. She then gave me the contact number for head office and told me that I must phone them and ask them for a refund because she cant authorize it. I told her that she is the manageress, she has authorization to do refunds, and if she doesn’t , then its part of her job to call head office and request authorization for the refund.

She then started assisting someone else , and blatantly ignored us while we stood there waiting for her to finish, which she was clearly taking her time.. my boyfriend got so angry that he walked out the store.. I told the manageress that I am well within my rights to return the phone for a refund…I told her to show me where in the returns policy does it state that refunds are not done on cell phones, and she just stared at me blankly, I told her there is nothing on the receipt, nothing visible in the store, and the cashier said nothing to me when purchasing the phone, even after I told her it was a gift . I was there within the 7 days, the phone had no physical damage, I had the box with all components and the receipt.. but she still refused.

My boyfriend then walked all the way to the PEP store in Table Bay Mall, and spoke with the manageress there, who explained that she unfortunately couldn’t refund the phone at her branch, he had to go the branch he bought the phone from. But that we are entitled to a refund, she cant understand why we were being denied . she even checked the phone and saw that the phone would freeze and apps would crash. She advised him to return to the Parklands branch and as the manageress has the authorization to refund him.

So on Sunday 30th Dec my boyfriend went back to the Parklands branch and spoke to the manageress again.. and she STILL refused to refund us. He explained to her that he had been to the Table Bay branch, and that the manageress there checked the phone and she agreed that it had problems, and that we were entitled to a refund as we were within the 7 days.. and her response to that was, “that each branch has their own way of running things” SERIOUSLY?!! .. so basically the Parklands branch doesn’t follow PEP’s store policy and that manageress does what she pleases?!

your policy allows for refund /exchange within 7 days if the product is not suitable or faulty etc.. there is no physical damage to the phone, its is still new, but it is unfortunately too slow, and its frustrating when apps suddenly freeze and crash while ur busy and continuously loosing network signal.. He needs a phone for work, but this phone unfortunately gives way too many problems. Therefore I would like a refund, please. I spent R499, which may not seem like a lot of money, but it is for me. Unfortunately I don’t know much about phone specs and your staff at the branch don’t seem to know anything about the phones specs either and could not even advise me on my purchase.

Monday 31st I contacted the PEPCELL helpdesk and explained the situation and the consultant told me that the manager should have refunded us, and that she is meant to call them to confirm authorization, not the customer. she called the store and spoke to the manageress.. ... SHE STILL REFUSES TO DO THE REFUND!!

i was then told by the consultant to call the customer service helpdesk and log a complaint.. ********** 000... so i have called. .. and have been on hold listening to ****ty music for 30min so far...

i will not let this go... I want my money back .. and i want someone from PEP who has some authority over the store managers to contact me back to sort this out ... !!!