Shocking Service! Took a Month and Consumer Ombud Involvement to Get My Shoes Back

I returned a pair of shoes that were too big after one wear. Superbalist rejected the return, claiming they were too dirty; fair enough, I didn’t know I had to clean shoes after trying them on once. They said the shoes would be returned to me within 48 hours. It took almost a MONTH.

Throughout this time:

I was given no tracking number,

Received no proper updates,

Was told "we’ll follow up" on multiple calls,

And was ignored on in-app messages and Instagram DMs.

To make matters worse, I was acting on behalf of the account holder (my partner, who is overseas). Even after he gave authorisation and tried to email their POPIA address (which doesn’t even work), we were constantly dismissed.

It was only after I filed a complaint with the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud that they finally sent the shoes. That’s ridiculous.

Why should customers have to escalate to a national consumer body just to get what they were told would happen in 48 hours?

Extremely disappointed. Never shopping here again.