Horrible online shopping experience at Woolworths

I ordered newborn clothes online (09/04) to the value of R1 587. These items were for my sister who was due to give birth on 20/04. With all the chaos happening in the country, we had to cancel her baby shower last minute and realised that we would not have baby essentials when the baby arrived.

I looked online at various retailers and ended up giving my business to Woolworths purely because they specified a time and date that the clothes would be delivered (22/04 -24/04 between 9am-5pm). The days came and passed and no delivery. I followed up with the tracking of my order, calling and emailing to ask where it was in the logistics chain so I could make alternative arrangements. I received an automated response.

Whilst I understand that most companies are experiencing delays due to Covid19, it is far worse to mislead customers, promising delivery dates that are simply not attainable! If it weren't for the delivery date, I would have gone elsewhere to buy a lot more for a lot less! At this point my nephew has been born and desperately needs clothes!

By the 29/04 stores have now opened and I am still sitting without the baby clothes! I email Woolworths to say that should the items not get delivered by COB that day, I would like to cancel my order. I also try to cancel my order on the site but to no avail. I eventually get a response stating that Woolworths has closed their online deliveries but I am 'more than welcome to purchase the baby clothing at my nearest Woolworths store'. I check my bank account and I see the money has been returned.

I then proceed to buy baby clothes at a competent retailer using these funds.

08/05 I get an email saying my order is now being processed! To which I respond to again CANCEL! Today 12/05, the money is deducted from my account for the second time after refusing to accept the delivery. In the trying times we are all living in and having received significant pay cuts in my salary, I must now pay for items I no longer need with money I no longer have.

For a clothing retailer who charges such a high premium on their goods, this is definitely not the service I expect from Woolworths.