Bad return policy - shipping

<p>This was on my first experience using takealot and shall remain my last purely based on the ordeal experienced returning a product.</p> <p>I had purchased a pair of swedish goggles (Malmsten) through the platform not being able to locate them locally and chose to fetch the goggles thinking that would be quicker since the product was not stored in the Cape Town warehouse. The product arrived and I fetched and used the product. Upon first use the mirror coating came off the lenses and I proceeded to contact the manufacturer and was forwarded back to takealot. Takealot was happy to take the product back for "review" which entailed them fetching the product, with no notice - luckily I was around to return the product and the process take a few days.</p> <p> </p> <p>What really irks me aboutt this experience was that a week later I was informed that I could obtain a credit. When I placed the order I was surprised to see that if I chose to have it delivered I would have to pay an additional R60 or fetch it myself. This left a bitter taste in my mouth because this was not a matter of the price only but the fact that it was a waste of my time to fetch a replacement for a defective product and the the lost training time from not having the goggles to swim with. The customer service was not thorough and also not at all concerned to my concerns. R60 on R200 goggles is exhorbitant considering the product did not deliver. It was more irritating to be told by customer service the product was no longer available yet on the website all the versions of the goggle were still there.</p> <p> </p> <p>Had I known the ordeal I was going to go through over a pair of swimming goggles I would have kept the defective pair or purchased from somewhere else. I am glad this was not over something more in value. As it stands I have had no choice but to fetch the goggles myself, utilizing my time and petrol to fulfill their bad service policies. </p>