Everything that is wrong with online shopping

My wife has downloaded the Spree app and decided to try it out. After going through the entire process to purchase the item, she gets an error message. Despite this, a deduction appears on my cheque card.

I call the call centre and I'm told that their was an error on their system. The money was "reserved" on my card and a "ghost order" has occurred. I was then instructed to go through the payment process again and promised it would not double-debit my card, as their system would match my payment to the ghost order that was placed.

Instead their system cancelled the order without releasing the funds back into my account!

The call centre agent then tells me to contact FNB to release it for me. Instead FNB tells me that I need to fill out a form, after which it would take 5 to 7 working days for the funds to be released back into my bank account. But in order for me to complete the form I need written evidence from spree about what happened.

But I was on a call remember, so I tried to email them, message them on FB and any other way that I could think of and no reply. A further 2 working days has passed. Still not reply.

There's no store to go to to complain. And this is why I will never support Spree again and will discourage everyone I know from ever shopping through them.

Superbalist and Takealot are the only true online retailers in South Africa