Damaged item won't be replaced

I ordered a cabinet from takealot, and didn't have space to assemble it yet. So when I finally opened the box, the one panel was damaged. I logged a return on takealot, and they collected the item, just to be told that it is outside of the 7 day return and they will not replace it, even though it was clearly damaged. They claim it was damaged by the user, but I have 3 witnesses that can confirm that the panel was damaged when we opened the box. This policy is unacceptable and should be based on each case