Takealot - all good until something goes wrong, then really terrible customer service.

I have been a regular user of Takealot for some time and always found their prices good and delivery on time. In May I started to have problems where I would place my order and select pay by credit card but always found that I could not connect to the bankserv site which would result in Takealot cancelling my order. I knew that my credit card had a credit balance and worked fine with merchants and also had my computer checked Knowing that all was fine so on my side I checked with Standard Bank and Takealot and decided that the problem must be with Standard Bank. I then wrote several very negative reviews on HelloPeter about Standard Bank. Eventually the IT department of Standard Bank got assisted me to order via my smart phone with the Wi Fi off therefore using Vodacom as my service provider,

My first order using my smart phone was to order a cordless drill for R999,00. on the 3 August. As this was my first attempt using my smart phone, and not being very tech savvy, I did not notice that the item had appeared in my basket and managed to order 2 Ryobi Cordless drills each with their own order number. I was notified by Takealot of the two order numbers and on the 3 August (the same day I duplicated my order) I notified Takealot of the duplication Initially the customer service was excellent ( I wrote a very positive review on about the excellent customer service on hellopeter ) and I was told to notify Takealot when I was advised that my order was to be delivered. This I did again by sms but when the delivery was made there were two Ryobi Drills delivered each in their own box with no order number but with an MDX number. I explained to the delivery person what had happened and he said that he would ensure that the extra drill was returned to Takealot. My wife who was watching said that I should have got a signature for the drill I returned, but being a trusting person I did not.

What followed was an exchange between myself and Takealot by emails and sms where I asked explained the situation again and asked Takealot to either credit my account with the R999,00 or refund the money to my credit card.

I continued to order a new smart phone from Takealot and various other things but noticed that my account had not been credited.

After about three weeks had passed I then inquired from Takealot when my account would be credited.

THAT IS WHEN THE TRUE NASTY SIDE OF TAKEALOT EMERGED.

I was initially told that I had only ordered one drill and had cancelled the other order for the drill. When I sent them part of my credit card statement and refereed them to my order history on Takealot that suddenly changed to that I had accepted both drills.

THIS WAS ALL DONE IN A VERY NASTY MANNER BASICALLY ACCUSING ME OF BEING A ****. I am 72 years old and I dont think that I have ever been treated in such a nasty way or experienced such bad customer service in my life. So now I wait while Takealot check all their systems and staff but absolutely refuse to credit my account. The tone of their communication is totally unpleasant and I must have had dealings with over 10 of their customer service staff.

One would think that any firm who advertises as extensively as Takealot would be concerned about their reputation.

I am the first to admit that I made an honest mistake in duplicating an order but maybe it takes something like this for Takealot true colours to show. It will be interesting to see how this matter ends. Its not now just the money but that Takealot have called me a ****. This is something I will not accept

IT NOW SEEMS AS IF TAKEALOT DONT HAVE A NORMAL EMAIL ADDRESS, I WONDER WHY