Shocking service from Woolworths Online

I am genuinely disappointed with the service (or total lack thereof) that I have received from Woolworths. We chose to use Woolworths Online to order Mothers Day flowers and chocolates for our beloved Mother/Grandmother in Pretoria because Woolworths is well-known for its quality and reliability. Our order was due to be delivered on the Tuesday after Mothers Day ...but that order never arrived. I discovered this by chance when chatting to my grandmother the weekend after delivery was due. I emailed the Woolworths helpline immediately and received NO response. It was only when I PHONED to query this that anything was done.

A day later, after being promised that the order would be sent out as a matter of urgency the following morning, I received a lukewarm apology from the manager for the 'inconvenience caused' and was informed that the order has been cancelled (NOT filled, albeit late, as promised)and I would be refunded. At no point in the process was I notified that the store was ' out of stock of the two items in the order' (which was the whole order) nor was I advised that '...as the substitution choice was no for substitution so the order needed to be cancelled'.

This cancellation was more than an inconvenience. It made our 90 year old grandmother and mother feel forgotten on a very special day. The lack of follow up and service delivery is such a disappointment. I would at least have expected Woolworths to contact me to see if we could change the order utilizing what WAS in stock to try and get something similar delivered as a matter of urgency, instead of simply informing me - over a week later and after I had to follow up with you - that I have been refunded. In no way has that made our grandmother/mother feel any more valued. To add insult to injury... when I rep**** to the manager saying that his response was not good enough, he did not even bother to reply. Bad form, Woolies. Shockingly bad form.