Takealot returns causes great inconvenience and after 2 months not resolved

This review is based on returning an item to Takealot (TaL) which is outside of their normal procedure.

Over the years I have bought a number of Hisense TV’s from Take-a-Lot and believe these are good value for money.

This review relates to a specific return of a Hisense TV I bought on 23 October 2017 from Take-A-Lot. On 25 February 2020 I received a JBL Soundbar5 from Tal which I had to settle on since they could not supply the chosen Denon soundbar and unilaterally cancelled the order without giving me the option to discuss the matter with the supplier. Immediately we found a problem with the Hisense TV ARC connection which I then escalated to Hisense given that this TV is under warrant (extended) for 5 years.

On 17 March 2020 Hisense advised as follow “Kindly note that we do not have the service agent in your area to repair the TV. Kindly contact the store where you have purchase the unit so that they can apply for credit on your behalf “

I communicated this with Boitumelo Ngala at Takealot who escalated the matter to Sikelwa Nqolowa (also at Takealot). On 18 March I received the following communication from him “Mar 18, 13:51 SAST Hi Wim

Thank you for your prompt response

The options that one gets when logging a return are

Replace the item Credit my account Refund

Please don't forget to include the collection address when you reply

Kind Regards Sikelwa Nqolowa"

The TV was collected on 19 March 2020, return RRN-bc3e-f4f1 refers

I promptly rep**** that I would be happy with a credit in light of the fact that I will replace the unit.

Numerous eMails have been sent to Take-a-Lot and to date (nearly 2 months later) I am still awaiting the resolution of this matter. I do understand that the lockdown has delayed the process, but I question the following:

1. Why did it take a week to log the return as received by TaL (Collected 19/3 as per your system. Warehouse receipt 26/3) 2. Why do I not get communication from TaL, and when I explained the issue to their tech department I had to resend the eMail (as well as the Hisense mail) at least 5 times. It got to a point where I actually tried to escalate this ridiculous to and fro 3. When will the credit be processed to resolve this issue?

Unfortunately this is now the second bad experience I have had with TaL (the other being the ordering of a Denon Heos Home Cinema Soundbar for which I eventually had to settle for the JBL Soundbar) since February 2020.

Therefore, although TaL delivers a reasonable service, with an out of the ordinary return you get shoved from pillar to post with very little recourse, and no real way to escalate the issue