My worst experience to date with Takealot
I purchased a R25k TV (Samsung NEO QLED 50” TV (ID: QA50QN90BAKXXA) which went on special for Black Friday to R16k. Everything was fine until the shipment process.
Extremely frustrating and probably my worst experience with takealot thus far. I had to constantly check the status of the order multiple times per day, make arrangements to be at home for delivery as the dates kept changing and had to contact customer service via phone and email for the last few days just to get a proper, detailed update.
I eventually got through to Tamara M who informed me that the driver “lost” the TV and asked if I would like a replacement or a refund, I obviously requested a replacement as this was a great Black Friday deal (which was now at this point over) and this was a gift for my dad to enjoy watching the World Cup so a refund was definitely not a apart of the plan.
But wait, story gets better…
After receiving ZERO notification updates, I suddenly receive an email that my account was automatically credited! Credited? Why? I didn’t request that. I requested a replacement. Your ******* couriers activities should not have to impact your loyal customers like this.
At this point, I’m calling non-stop and for some strange reason nobody is picking up my calls, eventually I got through to Yamkela and requested to speak to a manager, and she doesn’t answer me, ignored me on the call until I dropped the call. (I know how call avoiding works in a contact centre - I was a team manager for years)
Can you take a wild guess on what happens next?
Got through to Yamkela again! Before we proceeded to verify my account and details, I asked her if her connection line was stable and she confirms it was and it’s working perfectly. I asked this just to ensure that she doesn’t have technical issues resulting in dead silence (again). Then she does the same thing again, goes on mute and waits for me to drop the call (probably not to get flagged by her leadership team), How many times has these agents done this to your customers and does your Ops Manager, Sam Joynt (a Leader who previously worked for earth's most customer-centric company) know about these call avoiding antics?
Utterly disappointing.
I don’t understand why a simple replacement request can’t be actioned? The takealot CS team has failed to update me on the delayed status on delivery of the TV and additionally, I had to call multiple times spanning over multiple days (2 weeks and counting) just to get mixed stories regarding the disappearance and whereabouts of the TV. After dealing with multiple agents, I finally got hold of a Manager (Lawrence) then he informed that the TV is out of stock and that I would have to wait for the TV to be back in stock by suppliers. So far, I’ve heard multiple stories about the missing TV.
1. First agent reported the TV to be lost by the courier team 2. Supervisor Lawrence confirmed it was defective? (Both reasons is not my fault)
it’s been 2 weeks since this inconvenience was caused and I’ve only spoken to ONE manager named Lawrence who promised to help me but ultimately failed.
What was the real reason why it was never delivered? You have a Samsung NEO QLED 55” that is at a CHEAPER price (ID: QA55QN90BAKXXA) compared to the NEO QLED TV (ID: QA50QN90BAKXXA) which I originally purchased on the blue dot sale but no effort was made to ensure I still get a TV replacement. ZERO.
I’ve escalated these agents to be coached (to Manager: Lawrence) as this a terrible Customer journey experience and I’m 100% sure this goes against your company policies.
Please ensure that you have a member of your Senior Leadership Team or your Operations team contact me regarding this.