Takealot, deliver a little

I placed an order for some items, incl a Christmas gift for my son on the 12 Dec. Delivery was stated as by the 22 Dec. On the 21 Dec, only 2 of the 3 items were delivered - the missing item was, of course, my son's gift. I followed up immediately and was told that takealot were following up with the courier - I was told this for 3 days. I called them on the 23 Dec and was told that the item was dispatched and they would follow up. On the 24th I called and was told that item has been claimed and what this usually means is that it was either damaged or lost in transit and there is no more stock available and lucky me, I will receive a credit. Of course, I should receive a credit, you cant charge for what you don't deliver. My issue is why was I only informed on the 24th after I had to call takealot AGAIN that the item was not coming. Why was I not advised before that by takealot? If I had been told on the 22 or 23 Dec I would have had time to make an alternative plan. I have doubts that the item was ever dispatched. This led to considerable stress when the whole point of ordering online is to reduce stress. I am still waiting for my refund and am extremely disappointed by the service I received from a company I used a lot. This is also the second Christmas that Takealot has let me down - a few years ago they delivered a huge fluffy elephant instead of the boardgame I ordered. Moral of the story - if you really need something delivered by a certain time Takealot is not the company for you. Takealot order ***3