Takealot selling iPhones (from RBA Global) that belong to others on contract

I recently purchased an iPhone 16 pro from Takealot. It arrived, brand new, but the SIM port didn’t work. I went to my sim service provider, MTN, they asked for the box to check the IMEI number.

Turns out that the phone was taken out on contract last month at an MTN in Alberton, JHB. The woman who helped and found this out at MTN urged me to send it back because should this person fault on their contract payments, MTN would block the phone and it wouldn’t even be able to be used, never mind the thought of having a phone that you’ve paid in full for, belonging to someone else on contract.

I logged a return and requested a refund, it was accepted. They put the money back as credit, I requested it go into my bank account. I then received the money back into my account. And have been mailing them since their initial email regarding the refund to please provide answers on why they are selling what feels like completely ******* goods, urging them to open up an investigation and to avoid this happening again.

I keep getting my ticket opened and closed by different people and am getting NOWHERE with getting answers from them. Despite giving them time and benefit of the doubt to get back to me.

It’s great that I got my money back but how many other people will this happen to before they investigate;

1. The types of suppliers they work with, in this case “RBA Global” - I type it with inverted commas because I can’t find anything about this company online

2 How a brand new phone can be sold legally online on a supposed trustworthy website like Takealot that belongs to someone else on a contract

It’s sickening. I don’t know what to do next.

Has anyone else experienced this?