Horrible service from Takealot

Bought a Iphone 14 pro max 256 GB last week from takealot, the phone box was not in good condition and looked like it had been tampered with, when I opened the box to my surprise I found a silver phone which had several scratches and I logged a return Immediately. I have been following up with them this whole week wondering what is happening to my return only to be told that the phone is a dummy, I am very disappointed at the service I received and having paid so much money for a phone that I don't even know what is happening and not even getting straight answers from their contact center, I honestly do not know what to do at this point.