Takealot go back to basics.

I have been buying from Takealot since 2005, before they were called Takealot, they were known as Take2. And their service was superb, not just their customer care but their deliveries as well. I once even received an order within 18 hours after ordering & to make it better, it was delivered on Christmas Eve. This was back in 2012. Take2, actually made an effort to listen to the customer if there was an issue.

But those days are gone after the joining of Take2 & Kalahari.net. Ever since then, its been a downward spiral for both customer care & deliveries. In my opinion they have become too big for their own shoes & its too far gone to apply the breaks. Almost anybody can now sell on Takealot, there is even knock off products being sold & there is absolutely no quality control whatsoever. Understandable that some of the products are sold as a third party but they are using Takealot's name, therefore, Takealot should inspect the products before shipping. That way they can **** out the knock off & defective products.

Over a month ago I purchased a duvet cover. I had to send it back 8 or 9 days after delivery due to about 4 holes on the cover. The return was rejected due to not being within the 7 days. I explained to them that I am physically disabled living in a Nursing home & that I have to wait when the nursing staff change sheets, hence the delay in returning the duvet cover. I asked them to reconsider the rejection, of which they said they would take it under advi*****t but instead of contacting me to advise the rejection still stands, no, they just send the product back with holes & when I tried to write a review about it on their site, it was deleted.

Also, of late, I only place orders for In Stock items but I have no idea why because, although the items are In Stock, I still have to wait 4 - 8 days for delivery & I must state, I live in a major city area. This is highly confusing because Takealot advertise, "Pay today, Get it Tomorrow". But I have never been given the option for next day shipping for quite a while, even when I meet all the criteria for next day shipping. And when I query it with support, I get told that the items still need to be shipped to the warehouse BUT & a big BUT, when I placed the order, it stated IN STOCK at the warehouse for me to qualify for next day shipping. So why does it then have to be shipped to the warehouse again, if it's already in the warehouse.

I currently have an order with 3 items in it. All were In Stock at the JHB warehouse & the criteria states that deliveries for DBN must all be In Stock at the JHB warehouse. I placed the order on the 12 March but it's only arriving on 19 March... What happened to NEXT DAY SHIPPING as per Takealots own rules & criteria?

Unfortunately Takealot do not have strong competition. Their closest rivals, "Raru" were closed down & "Loot" is not as well advertised. Because they hardly have any competition, they will continue down this downward spiral until self destruction, which is a pity because I miss Take2 days. I find myself ordering more from Dischem, Clicks & Makro, simply because they don't mess me around & actually listen to me, if I have an issue.

Takealot, stop thinking you are Amazon & put the customer first again because at the end of the day, without a customer, you have no business, no matter how good your product is.