Beware of buying goods that carry a manufacturer's warranty, Take-a-Lot will leave you to your own devices

Be very wary of buying electronic products that come with a manufacturer's warranty. They will not help you if you need to invoke the warranty, in their own words, "We are just a platform." I bought a Hisense U963 cellphone in warranty with Vodacom. It had a defective speaker facility that generated white noise and echo on the phone of the other party. I had to send it to a Vodacom "Advanced" Repair Centre for assessment before Take-a-Lot would refund me -- I fully understand to ensure that it was not damaged. Instead, the repair centre "repaired" the phone. No change. It was sent again. This time it came back, still with the same fault, but minus box and charger, with a protective gel screen fitted by a Vodacom shop st**********, and the SIM2 slot damaged. Take-a-Lot insisted that I had to get a credit note from Vodacom. I contacted Vodacom Customer Care twice received no response. I finally lodged a complaint with the National Consumer Complaints Commission and, 7 months later, and after quoting two breaches of the Consumer Protection Act, Vodacom refunded me in full. All I got from Take-a-Lot was, "Have you reached out to the supplier?"