Disappointed in the customer service.

I placed an online order on 24 January. On Wednesday, 28 January, I was informed that the order had not yet been dispatched. As I required the items by Thursday, 29 January at the latest, I decided to cancel the order. On 28 January, I received an email from Zakiera Mahatey confirming that the order had been cancelled and that a refund would be processed, with a confirmation email to follow once completed.

On Friday, 30 January, I phoned to follow up as I had not received any refund confirmation. I was informed that I should not be concerned, as refunds can take up to 5 working days to process.

By Wednesday, 4 February (day 5), I followed up again. I was informed that the refund had allegedly been processed, and the agent could not understand why I had not yet received the payment. I was told she would confirm the exact processing date and call me back. No call back was received. When I attempted to phone again later that day, the number was no longer in service.

I then contacted Pick n Pay Customer Care, where I was informed that the order number I provided does not exist. I was told this would be investigated and that I would receive a call back — which again did not happen. I later received an email stating that the order number supp**** does not seem to exist.

On 5 February, after another call and a 15-minute wait, I was informed that Pick n Pay Clothing is unable to process the refund back into my bank account (which was my original method of payment), and that I would need to go to the store from which the items were ordered to obtain the refund. Despite repeatedly explaining that I do not live in a town with a Pick n Pay Clothing store — which is the reason the order was placed online — the agent continued to insist that I go to the store.

I ended the call and phoned again shortly thereafter to confirm this process. During this call, I was advised that refunds can take up to 5 working days to reflect in my bank account and that the matter would be escalated, as we were already on day 6.

At this point, I find the situation unacceptable. I do not believe it is reasonable to have to repeatedly follow up, receive conflicting information, or be instructed to travel to a store that is not accessible to me in order to receive a refund for a cancelled online order.

I am deeply disappointed with the service received