Takealot is fully automated, no humans to read emails or contact

So usually not a bad company, but this experience was horrific.

I received a tablet recently that I ordered, but I didn't notice that it didn't include earphones, the earphones being included was at the bottom of the ad and no space in the box was included for these earphones.

After a week or two I realised the tablet was defective and logged a return. Takealot collected the package and started their return process.

A few days later I receive an email stating that my return has been declined due to not receiving the earphones. I immediately respond to Takealot saying the earphones were not included and link a few reviews and YouTube videos showing the product shipping without earphones.

No response.

Today I receive an automated email confirming my declined return due to the missing accessory.

Has Takealot really fallen so far to not even have agents to read the emails from their clients? If so then this might be the last order I make with Takealot. Will wait for Amazon instead.