Unacceptable Service Delivery

Item: takealot.com
Rating: 1

Dear Takealot and MrD, I would like to take the time to briefly outline the events that left me disappointed and unhappy with your services this festive season. On 1 December 2016, I ordered a couple of items from the Takealot website. I was aware that one of the items first had to be ordered from the supplier, so I didn't expect the delivery to arrive as soon as most Takealot packages. Takealot informed me that the estimated delivery date was before 17:00 on 15 December 2016 and this suited me because that was the last day of the year that I would be at work. Since the delivery address is at my office I knew that, should the package arrive late, I would ask a colleague to sign for the package. On 14 December 2016, I saw that the item is still on order from the supplier. I was about to email Takealot to ask whether the package would still be on time or if I should organise for someone else to sign for the delivery. As I was checking the order number to reference it in the email, I noticed that the item was now 'At warehouse' (or something similar). I refrained from sending the email because the order was now moving along the delivery process. On 15 December 2016 the order progressed until it said 'En Route' at about 16h30. I was sceptical that the delivery would still be made on that day since it was getting late, but I put in some overtime just in case the driver decided to make a late delivery. I waited until about 18:30 and then gave up and went home. I also requested feedback from Takealot at this time regarding the fact that I received an SMS but no delivery. On 16 December 2016, I received an SMS saying that the order could not be delivered as scheduled and it is rescheduled for that same day before 17:00. I found it strange that a delivery was scheduled on a public holiday, but I stay close enough to my office so that if the driver phones me when he is at my office, I could quickly go and collect it there. At about 14h40 on the 16th I requested more feedback from Takealot, this time asking if I could reschedule my delivery. In this request I explained that I don't believe that they will deliver on a public holiday and that they should either put me in touch with the driver so that we could plan the delivery or they should contact me so I can organise with them to let someone else sign. At approximately 18:00 on the 16th I received an email in reply to the feedback request I requested on the 15th that said my package is rescheduled to be delivered on the 17th of December 2016 before 13:00. We drove down to the coast on the 17th but I organised with a friend that lives near my office to go and collect it if the driver contacts me. At 17h and 18h on the 17th I received emails regarding my two feedback requests asking: "How would you rate the support you received?". The two options I had was "Good, I'm satisfied" and "Bad, I'm unsatisfied". Since I haven't received my package or any help, I clicked "Bad, I'm unsatisfied" in both emails. Both times I was just redirected to a page telling me: "This request is now closed. Unfortunately, that means the ticket can no longer be rated.". On 18 December 2016 I received another SMS telling me that the package could not be delivered as scheduled and is rescheduled to be delivered before 17h on the 19th. This resulted in myself having to make even more arrangements to organise for one of my collegues to sign for my package since I was on vacation. The 19th came and went and still the package was not delivered. On the 20th of December 2016 a consultant phoned me telling me that she sees that my package failed to deliver and asked if she could reschedule it for me. I told her about the multiple times it was rescheduled already and that I would like it to be delivered that same day. I was given the excuse that they have to give the courier 4 hours notice and asked if it would be okay if she scheduled it to be delivered before 14h on the 21st of December 2016. At this stage I just wanted my package to be delivered so that I don't have to worry about it and that I can relax since I was on vacation, so I agreed to that date and time. At aproximately 18h on the 21st I asked my collegue whether my package had been delivered - and still it hadn't. I requested yet more feedback from Takealot regarding receiving an SMS but still no delivery. Later that night at aprroximately 21h45 I received an email stating that my package was delivered at 13h42 that afternoon. In the email that stated that the order was delivered, I discovered a phone number for Takealot. So on the 22nd of December 2016 I phoned Takealot. The consultant I spoke to said that she can't tell me who signed for the package because that is handled by MrD, and that she will escalate my request to them and get back to me. A couple of hours later I phoned Takealot again and asked for MrD's number since no-one got back to me earlier. I receivef three numbers that ended up as follows: The first number was MrD Food and they redirected me back to Takealot, the second number rang a couple of times and then just went dead, and the third number actually took me to MrD Centurion. The consultant at MrD told me that in order for her to tell me who signed for my package she needs to do a fault check. So she did the fault check and got back to me in about 20 minutes. I was shocked by the news she had for me, she said that my package was still at the distribution office and wasn't delivered. I requested immediate delivery with no further excuses. She then organised with a driver and my colleague received my package that day (22nd of December 2016) at about 17h. I understand that the festive season is a busy time for Takealot and MrD, but I find it unacceptable that a customer has to go through so much hassle and admin work in order to get the promised service. If someone from Takealot or MrD contacted me on the 15th and told me that they are having difficulties and that my package will be rescheduled for much later than they initially thought, I would have been happy. But to be left with constant empty promises and the mission of having to trace my own order, is just unacceptable.

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