Paid Nearly R3,500 Upfront – No Advert, No Service and No Refund

I placed an advert with this company and paid close to R3,500 upfront for a 30-day listing.

After payment, I received an email advising that a link would be sent to me so that I could create and activate my listing. Four days later, I still had no link and therefore no advert.

Trying to get assistance was an absolute nightmare. There is no proper telephone number on the website where you can simply call and speak to someone about a service you have already paid for.

Eventually, someone from Accounts contacted me and explained that there had been an error with their website. At that point I requested a refund because they had failed to provide the service I had paid for. I could not continue waiting for an advert that was supposed to run for only 30 days, so I had no choice but to advertise the position through LinkedIn instead.

It is now approximately a week later, and I have received no refund and no meaningful communication regarding when my money will be returned.

What makes this particularly unacceptable is that they were perfectly capable of taking almost R3,500 from me upfront, yet when they failed to deliver the service, I am left chasing them with no proper way of contacting anyone.

South African consumers have a right to timely performance of paid-for services under section 54 of the Consumer Protection Act, and where a supplier fails to perform to the required standard, the Act provides for a remedy or an appropriate refund.

I am not asking for anything unreasonable. You did not provide the service I paid for. Your Accounts department acknowledged that there was a problem on your side. I requested my money back. Refund me.

Taking payment upfront, failing to provide the service and then making it extremely difficult for a customer to obtain their refund is a disgraceful way to conduct business.

I certainly will not use this company again.