Worst online shopping experience

Just after Christmas I purchased an Xbox gift card for R600. I collected it from the CT warehouse on 2 January. When I tried to load the code onto my Microsoft account I received an error message stating the code is invalid and I had to contact the merchant.

I followed the return process as described on the Takealot website and the return was accepted. I also called the call center to make 100% sure, the lady assured me all is in order and the courier will collect the item and they will then let me know what the next steps are.

On the morning of the 3rd just after 09:40 the item was collected by the courier. On the 4th I received a message from Takealot stating the return has been declined as per the policy and that I need to sort it out myself with "Xbox" with no guidance or indication on what to do next.

On the 5th, after an exchange of emails with Takealot in which I had to point out to the service representative dealing with me that I no longer had the item in my possession and therefore I cannot contact Microsoft about the issue, he sent me a picture of the code and said the voucher would be returned to me.

I managed to find the Microsoft contact number on the Internet and after holding on the call for about 15 minutes I was informed by the Microsoft service agent that the voucher code had been redeemed by someone else in the time period after I handed it over to the Takealot courier and my call to Microsoft. Because of client confidentiality he could not tell me which account it was loaded onto and suggested I contact Takealot.

I contacted the Takealot service agent dealing with me via email and explained the situation to him and asked him to escalate the issue, since it would now appear to be a matter of theft. I've since received no feedback from Takealot and a call to the call centre was also fruitless since the service agent could not tell me what the status of the issue was other than that the item is at the warehouse and the return is being evaluated. Overall, this has to be the worst customer service experience I've had in long time and hands-down the worst online shopping experience I've ever had.

Moral of the story - Buyer beware when buying from Takealot.com