Sorry, no birthday present for you due to bad service

I am not normally someone who complains about companies online, especially not a company like TAKELOT, as they have a big brand name to protect. But I need to review this as it was one of the poorest customer services I have had in a long time.

I’ve placed an order with them on Tuesday, knowing that I will have the package (a birthday present for a friend) by Friday. It was directly confirmed with me via email that I will receive it no later than Friday at 17:00. This would have been perfect as I had to travel to limpopo for the weekend to give the intended gift.

Friday morning I received a sms stating that I will receive the package by no later than 17:00 and I thought to myself “wow these people are organized”.

Friday afternoon at 17:10, I phoned their customer care line just to find out if everything was still in order (I know traffic is a thing).

The very professional and friendly guy asked for my reference number and told me that there was an issue with the delivery address I’ve submitted. When I apologised and asked him what I should do next, he offered to phone the warehouse because the driver was still busy with his rounds and could still deliver the package by 18:00 (when he does his last route). He also assured me that he would phone me back directly after talking with the warehouse, just to confirm that everything is in order.

At precisely 17:53 (almost an hour later) he phoned me back with the following answer: “I am sorry, the driver just logged out, I have rescheduled your delivery to Monday morning” (which was too late because I was already ready to leave for limpopo).

When I checked the online track option, it showed that the driver knew by 11:30 that there was an issue with the address, but he couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone and give me a call.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, I am not angry with them for a typing error I have entered, I am DISAPPOINTED by the pathetic way they handled it. By ensuring me that the problem could be fixed (when I phoned them at 17:00), and then playing for time just to let me know that it is too late now, sorry (at 17:53), is totally unacceptable.